No. 15 Northern Iowa 61, Indiana State 51: Seth Tuttle tallied 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the visiting Panthers held off the Sycamores to preserve their spot atop the Missouri Valley Conference.

Jeremy Morgan collected 12 points and nine rebounds for Northern Iowa (21-2, 10-1 MVC), which swept the season series from the Sycamores for the first time since 2009-10. Wes Washpun added 10 points off the bench.

Devonte Brown scored 14 points to lead Indiana State (11-12, 7-4), which has lost four of its last six after a 5-0 start to league play. Tre' Bennett added nine points off the bench and Jake Kitchell had seven points and nine rebounds.

Morgan and Deon Mitchell hit triples coming out of the break to extend the lead to 15, and it was an 18-point game midway through the half. The Sycamores finally began having success by driving to the basket and pulled within 57-46 on a Kitchell 3-pointer with just over three minutes left, but the Panthers sealed it at the line.

Northern Iowa reeled off nine straight points to take a 17-8 lead with less than 11 minutes left in the half and stretched the advantage to 33-22 on Morgan's 3-pointer on the Panthers' final possession of the half. The Panthers shot 56 percent in the first half and held on despite making only seven field goals after the break.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Northern Iowa was whistled for its first foul with 4.4 seconds left in the first half, and neither team attempted a free throw until Indiana State's Devonte Brown made a pair with 16:13 remaining. … Northern Iowa has shot for a higher percentage than its opponent in 22 of its 23 games. … The Panthers have held 18 of their 23 opponents under 60 points, going 17-1 in those contests.