AP PHOTO - Northern Iowa’s Trey Campbell celebrates after scoring 23 points to help the Panthers defeat Illinois-Chicago in the championship game in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS — Trey Campbell hit six 3-pointers in scoring 23 points and Northern Iowa defeated UIC 84-69 to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and an automatic NCAA bid on Sunday.

The Panthers (23-12) won the tournament for the sixth time and earned their ninth NCAA appearance and first since 2016. Sixth-seeded UNI became to lowest seed to win the tournament and the first to win four games in four days.

“I can’t wait,” UNI head coach Ben Jacobson said. “But for these guys, like, that’s what I’m happiest about, is that these guys get to experience it. They earned it. They earned it. This is the best thing you can do as a college basketball player in a college team is what these guys are doing right now. That’s what I’m happiest about, is they get to experience it.”

Campbell was 8-of-13 shooting, including 6 of 9 from the arc, for the Panthers, who shot 63% and were 12 of 23 on 3-pointers. He was named the recipient of the Doug Elgin Award, presented annually to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Ben Schwieger was 7-of-8 shooting and made three 3-pointers to finish with 18 points. Will Hornseth and Leon Bond III added 10 each. Tristan Smith had a game-high eight rebounds to go with nine points.

Elijah Crawford scored 28 points on 13-of-29 shooting to lead the fifth-seeded Flames (19-15). Ahmad Henderson II added 13, and Rashund Washington Jr. and Jayce Nathaniel 10 each. UIC shot 44% against the nation’s top scoring defense (61.1 ppg).

The Panthers led all the way and were ahead 48-41 at halftime. After hitting just one of its first six shots to open the second half, the Panthers made seven in row, including a pair of 3s from Campbell and another by Schwieger, to lead by 13.

The Flames rallied behind Nathaniel and Crawford who scored all the points in a 9-2 run to get within six. Campbell stopped that run with a straightaway 3-pointer to begin a 13-2 run that ended with UNI up by 17 — their largest lead — with 37 seconds left.

Bond and Crawford both earned all-tournament, as did Drake’s Jalen Quinn.

UNI 84, Illinois-Chicago 69

N. IOWA (23-12) — Hornseth 4-4 2-3 10, Smith 3-6 3-4 9, Campbell 8-13 1-1 23, Weisbrod 2-6 3-3 9, Bond 5-8 0-0 10, Schwieger 7-8 1-2 18, Taylor 2-4 0-0 5, Hutchins 0-0 0-0 0, Diouf 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 31-49 10-13 84.

ILLINOIS-CHICAGO (19-15) — Momoh 0-1 0-0 0, Crawford 13-29 1-1 28, Johnson 0-4 0-0 0, Lowery 2-4 0-0 4, Washington 4-8 0-0 10, Henderson 3-10 6-6 13, Silverstein 2-2 0-0 4, Nathaniel 3-4 2-2 10. TOTALS 27-62 9-9 69.

Halftime–UNI 48-41. 3-Point Goals–UNI 12-23 (Campbell 6-9, Schwieger 3-4, Weisbrod 2-5, Taylor 1-3, Bond 0-2), UIC 6-17 (Nathaniel 2-2, Washington 2-5, Henderson 1-3, Crawford 1-5, Johnson 0-2). Rebounds–UNI 25 (Smith 8), UIC 19 (Crawford, Washington, Silverstein 4). Assists–UNI 25 (Smith 7), UIC 13 (Crawford 5). Total Fouls–UNI 14, UIC 14. A–6,750 (21,000).