Indiana State too much for UNI in MVC men’s basketball tournament semifinals

Top-seed Indiana State put its top-ranked offense in the Missouri Valley Conference on display in a 94-72 MVC Tournament semifinal win against Northern Iowa Saturday afternoon at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

The Sycamores (28-5) built an early lead with 13-4 and 10-2 runs, shooting nearly 52 percent from the floor and making 8 of 16 3-point attempts.

Jacob Hutson — who finished with a team-high 21 points for UNI — scored 13 in the first half to keep the Panthers within striking distance. Meanwhile, Indiana State all-MVC first-team honoree Robbie Avila, and MVC second-teamers Ryan Conwell and Isaiah Swope all reached double figures in the first half, making 8 of 15 3s.

“We had a great run,” UNI Coach Ben Jacobson said. “The guys did a tremendous job to get us into a tie with Belmont for fourth and fifth and (ultimately) get that fourth seed. We finished playing our best basketball. We didn’t have enough today in this game, but we had a heck of a (last) month.”

Trailing 44-33 entering the second half, UNI continued in its struggle to keep pace with the Sycamores’ offense that ranks 12th in the nation in scoring.

Indiana State outscored the Panthers 26-9 in the first nine minutes after the break, extending its lead to 70-44.

Indiana State shot 63 percent in the second half to keep the Panthers from getting within any closer than 17, while making 15 of 29 3-point attempts.

“From a scheme standpoint I didn’t do a good enough job in terms of having us in a place where we could limit their (3-point) attempts,” Jacobson said.

Bowen Born and Nate Heise joined Hutson in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Tytan Anderson — who scored 19 points and grabbed an MVC Tournament-record 19 rebounds in Friday’s quarterfinal win against Belmont — was limited to seven points and eight rebounds as he battled foul trouble.

Avila led four Sycamores in double figures with 21 points. Conwell finished with 20, while Julian Larry had 17 points and Swope finished with 15.

“(Avila) causes a lot of problems defensively,” Hutson said. “He makes it very difficult for teams to (prepare) against, especially in such a short turnaround.”

The loss more than likely ends an up-and-down season for UNI (19-14).

All but senior forward Cole Henry are slated to return next season

“When you take a look at our season, I always think the first thing that comes to mind is just the growth that we’ve had," Born said. “Especially over the past month is where I feel like we’ve made the most growth.”