CEDAR FALLS (AP) — Deon Mitchell scored 17 points and No. 10 Northern Iowa beat Evansville 68-57 on Wednesday night, setting up a showdown with 11th-ranked Wichita State for the Missouri Valley title.
Paul Jesperson added 11 points for the Panthers (27-2, 16-1 MVC), who are tied with the Shockers atop the conference. The two teams will meet Saturday in Wichita for the regular season championship and the top spot in the league tournament.
After Evansville went on a 13-1 run early in the second half to cut the Panthers lead to 45-40 with 12:02 left, the Panthers scored eight straight over the next 2:54 to put the game away.
D.J. Balentine had 16 Points to lead Evansville (19-10, 9-8).
Egidijius Mockevicius had his 17th double-double of the season for the Purple Aces with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Leading 36-24 at the half, the Panthers stretched their advantage to 17 at with 16:29 left in the game on a layup from Marvin Singleton. The Aces would draw within 45-40 on Mislav Brzoja’s layup with 12:09 left, but the Panthers would go on a 15-4 run over the next 5:23 to stretch their lead back to 16 on an acrobatic dunk from Tuttle.
The Aces could get no closer than 11.
Northern Iowa: UNI held Senior Night for five seniors: Nate Buss, Max Martino, Deon Mitchell, Marvin Singleton and Seth Tuttle. All save for Martino play significant minutes for the Panthers, which is why Wednesday served as a reminder of the rebuilding job Ben Jacobson will have next winter.
Northern Iowa and Wichita State face off on Saturday.