Getty Noah Carter looks to help Northern Iowa get past Illinois State on Friday, March 4.
Top-seeded Northern Iowa (18-10) faces No. 8 seed Illinois State (13-19) in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Friday, March 4.
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The game (1 p.m. ET start time) will be televised locally on Bally Sports Midwest, but if you don’t have cable or you live out of market, anyone in the US can watch Northern Iowa vs Illinois State live on ESPN+:
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You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Northern Iowa vs Illinois State Preview
Arch Madness has arrived. That isn’t a typo. It’s the official nickname for the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis.
Northern Iowa will tip off its action in as the tournament’s top seed on Friday, but the Panthers won’t get an easy out in the quarterfinals. Eighth-seeded Illinois State pushed the Panthers to the brink on Feb. 15.
UNI squeaked by 72-70 in that game where Noah Carter led the way for the Panthers with 23 points and three assists. Carter and Tywhon Pickford sealed the game on free throws in the final 1:14 when the Panthers trailed 70-69.
Illinois State trailed by seven a couple of times in that game but made a run in the second half to make it a one-point game throughout the final 3:20. The Redbirds stuck around after Antonio Reeves buried a three-pointer to cut the Panthers lead to 65-64. Kendall Lewis scored five points down the stretch and Lewis added a free throw for the 70-69 lead. The Redbirds just couldn’t finish.
Illinois State finished the deal in a 58-53 win on Thursday night for the play-in game against No. 9 seed Indiana State. Reeves led the Redbirds with 15 points, and Lewis grabbed eight rebounds.
That made for back-to-back wins over the Sycamores by the Redbirds. Illinois State beat Indiana State 86-66 on Feb. 26 to snap a five-game losing streak. It hadn’t been pretty for a while in Normal, Illinois, with the Redbirds stumbling down the stretch with one win in 11 games amid Feb. 14 departure of fired head coach Dan Muller.
UNI meanwhile comes into the MVC tournament on a four-game winning streak. That includes splitting games with Loyola Chicago, which made the Final Four and the Sweet Sixteen in the past four years. The Panthers seek their first firs trip to the NCAA tournament since 2016 but will need to win the MVC tournament in order to make it.
A.J. Green leads the Panthers in scoring with 19.1 points per game. The junior guard also averages 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
Carter scores 14.8 points per night. The sophomore forward also post four rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest.
For Illinois State, Reeves leads the team in scoring with 20.2 points per night. The junior guard hits .396 from three-point range and .808 at the free-throw line. He also averages 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest.
Sy Chatman has also been a threat all season for the Redbirds. The junior guard averages 13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per night.
Senior guard Josiah Strong gives the team a boost with 11.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and a steal per game.