CEDAR FALLS (AP) — Anthony James scored 19 points and Jake Koch and Seth Tuttle each had double-doubles Saturday night as Northern Iowa defeated Illinois State 80-72 in the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season finale for both schools.
Koch had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Tuttle had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Marc Sonnen also scored 18 points for the Panthers (18-13, 11-7), who will be the No. 3 seed in the MVC tournament next weekend in St. Louis.
Tyler Brown led the Redbirds (17-14, 8-10) with 28 points and nine rebounds. Johnny Hill scored 14 for Illinois State.
UNI held a 42-26 rebounding advantage, including 19 offensive boards that led to an 18-4 edge in second-chance points.
The Redbirds jumped to a 19-8 lead, but the Panthers came back to lead 39-32 at halftime.