UNI Is NCAA Tournament Bound As MVC Champions

UNI went to St. Louis with the goal of winning the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament championship. Mission accomplished.

The 11th-ranked University of Northern Iowa Panthers rallied early in the second half to erase a 14-point halftime deficit to claim their fourth MVC tournament title, beating Illinois State 69-60 at Scottrade Center Sunday afternoon (March 8, 2015).

As MVC tournament champion, UNI (30-3) gets the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the third time under Head Coach Ben Jacobson. It's the seventh time in school history that the Panthers have qualified for college basketball's premiere event.

It didn't look like UNI would come anywhere close to winning the title in the first half. The Panthers struggled offensively in the opening 20 minutes, shooting just 19 percent while making only 5-of-27 attempts. At one point, UNI missed 15-straight shots as Illinois State (21-12) built an 18-point lead. The Panthers missed all seven three-point attempts in the first half and trailed 36-22 at intermission.

The game changed quickly early in the second half. UNI erased the 14-point deficit with a 25-4 run during an 8-minute, 30-second stretch after intermission. Jeremy Morgan (Iowa City, Iowa) had three 3-pointers in the run and Seth Tuttle (Sheffield, Iowa) added eight points.

A steal and layup by Tuttle with 13:31 remaining gave the Panthers their first lead at 41-40. UNI took the lead for good on an 8-0 run after the Redbirds tied the game at 47-47.

Tuttle led the Panthers with 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Nate Buss (Charles City, Iowa) added 12 points for UNI.

Daishon Knight had 16 points for fourth-seeded Illinois State, which needed a win to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. The Redbird got to the MVC title game by upsetting top-seeded and eighth-ranked Wichita State on Saturday.

It's the third Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship in seven years for UNI, which has won 19 of 20 games.