No. 19 Northern Iowa 54, Illinois State 53: Nate Buss buried the game-winning 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining as the visiting Panthers extended their winning streak to seven games.

Seth Tuttle added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Northern Iowa (18-2, 7-1 Missouri Valley), which erased a 12-point deficit with just under 11 minutes remaining. Marvin Singleton tallied nine points while Matt Bohannon and Buss had eight apiece for the Panthers, who went 11-of-16 from the free-throw line.

Bobby Hunter scored 13 points off the bench for Illinois State (12-8, 4-4), which couldn't survive 34.4 percent shooting from the floor. Reggie Lynch and Paris Lee contributed 12 points apiece while leading scorer Daishon Knight was limited to nine on 4-of-16 shooting for the Redbirds, who finished 6-of-11 from the foul line.

Buss drilled a 3-pointer to spark an 11-0 surge to pull Northern Iowa within 46-45 before Lee ended a six-plus minute scoring drought by knocking down a long jumper to put Illinois State in front by three. Tuttle evened the score at 51-51 before Lee's clutch layup put the Redbirds in front by two with 26.7 seconds left, but Knight missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to open the door for Buss' late heroics.

Northern Iowa held Illinois State to 35.7 percent shooting but committed eight turnovers in the first half as the teams went into the break tied at 24-24. Lee buried back-to-back 3-pointers and Hunter added five points as part of a 16-2 surge to put Illinois State in front 42-33.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Northern Iowa has held eight straight opponents to 60 points or fewer. … Illinois State fell to 1-10 against ranked teams at Redbird Arena . … Tuttle has posted two double-doubles in his last three outings.