The Northern Iowa Panther (16-17, 11-9) take on the Bradley Braves (19-14, 11-9) at Noon today (Sunday) in St. Louis, during the Missouri Valley Conference Tourney Championship at the Enterprise Center. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last played on Feb. 6, when the Braves shot 54.9 percent from the field while holding Northern Iowa to just 44.6 percent en route to the eight-point victory.

Bradley’s Elijah Childs has averaged 12.1 points and 7.9 rebounds while Darrell Brown has put up 14.9 points. For the Panthers, AJ Green has averaged 14.7 points while Wyatt Lohaus has put up 10.5 points. Green has connected on 34.3 percent of the 198 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 9 of 25 over his last five games. He’s also made 85.7 percent of his foul shots this season.

Northern Iowa is a perfect 13-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 43.8 percent or less. The Panthers are 3-17 when allowing the opposition to shoot any better than that. The Braves have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Panthers. Bradley has an assist on 41 of 63 field goals (65.1 percent) over its past three matchups while Northern Iowa has assists on 29 of 67 field goals (43.3 percent) during its past three games.

Bradley is ranked second among MVC teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 28.1 percent. The Braves have averaged 9.4 offensive boards per game.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wyatt Lohaus had a career-high 27 points as Northern Iowa narrowly defeated Drake 60-58 in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday.

Trae Berhow had 12 points and six rebounds for Northern Iowa (16-17). Anthony Murphy had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (24-9). Tremell Murphy added 13 points.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Iowa’s Megan Gustafson flicked the ball away one last time Saturday night then pumped her fists and shouted with glee. Yes, the two-time Big Ten player of the year can finally forget about all those early exits and disappointing finishes and focus on becoming a conference champion. Gustafson scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds to help the 10th-ranked Hawkeyes fend off Rutgers’ frantic fourth-quarter charge and hold on for a 72-67 victory. Iowa will face No. 8 Maryland on Sunday in the title game. “It feels pretty great,” Gustafson said after posting her second double-double in two days. “Right now, this is kind of all we’ve got and we just have to keep it going. I’m just really excited to put it all out there tomorrow.”

While the Hawkeyes (25-6) have been in this situation before, Gustafson has not. Iowa last played for the tourney crown in 2014 and won its second and most recent title in 2001. In previous three trips to Indianapolis, though, Gustafson won only two games and never made it past the quarterfinal round. The postseason has been equally problematic with three wins in two trips to the WNIT and a first-round loss in her first NCAA Tournament appearance last season.

Now, if the Hawkeyes take down Maryland for the second time in a month, Gustafson will finally have the line she so desperately wants on an already stellar resume. The Hawkeyes are one win away from that elusive the conference crown. All that stands in their way is a rematch with No. 8 Maryland. Iowa won the only other meeting this season, 86-73 on its home court. But on a neutral court will be a more difficult challenge.
UP NEXT for Iowa: The conference’s regular-season runner-up will face regular-season champion Maryland in today’s (Sunday’s) title game. Pre-game at 4:45 on KJAN, with the tip-off at 5.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Bridget Carleton scored 18 points, Madison Wise had 15 with 10 rebounds and second-seeded Iowa State defeated 10th-seeded Kansas 75-58 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament on Saturday night.

Kristin Scott also had 15 points for the Cyclones (24-7), who play third-seeded and No. 21 Texas game in Sunday’s semifinals. It is the first semifinal appearance for Iowa State since 2013.

Iowa State, which opened league play with a 38-point win over Kansas and closed it with a 20-point win, shot 52 percent in the second half and 46 percent for the game. The Cyclones knocked down 10 3-pointers. Wise had her first double-double of the season.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Becca Hittner scored 21 points and No. 22 Drake rolled by Bradley 95-63 on Saturday to wrap up its third consecutive outright Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title. Up next is the conference tournament in Moline, Illinois, beginning Thursday. Drake and Bradley have first-round byes. The Bulldogs (25-5, 17-1) won their 10th straight game after shooting 58 percent, making 9 of 20 from the arc and 26 of 31 free throws. Drake outrebounded the Braves 47-26.

Sara Rhine added 12 points and nine rebounds and Maddy Dean also had 12 points. Drake led by 13 after one quarter, 22 at halftime and 32 heading into the final period. Shunseere Kent led Bradley (20-9, 10-8) with a career-high 25 points. Gabi Haack added 13 points. The Braves shot 31 percent and made only 5 of 24 3-point attempts. Drake swept the season series, having won at Bradley 92-63 on Jan. 4.