Northern Iowa beats Indiana State 71-69

Mar 1, 2015, 03:32 pm

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Seth Tuttle scored 23 points Saturday as Northern Iowa beat Indiana State 71-69 in a game in which both teams lost double-digit leads.

Indiana State (21-9, 12-16 Missouri Valley) had a chance to win, but Jake Odum's 3-point try at the buzzer missed.

The win guarantees Northern Iowa (16-14, 10-8) the No. 3 seed in the MVC Tournament and gives coach Ben Jacobson his 166th victory, tying him with O.M. "Hon" Nordly (1938-43 and 1946-54) for all-time UNI wins.

Nate Buss scored 14 and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Panthers and Deon Mitchell scored 10.

Odum led the Sycamores with 16, Khristian Smith had 15, Manny Arop and Dawon Cumming scored 10 apiece and Arop grabbed 11 rebounds.

Northern Iowa had a 27-17 first-half lead, but Indiana State rallied to lead 39-35 at halftime. The Sycamores' 11-point second-half lead fizzled and Tuttle's 3 at 3:37 put Northern Iowa up 70-67.