Adam Koch stepped up when No. 24 Northern Iowa needed him the most.
Koch scored 11 consecutive points for the Panthers down the stretch, helping them rally for a 55-52 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday.
Northern Iowa (21-2, 12-1 Missouri Valley) improved to 11-0 at home this season with its seventh straight win over the Salukis in Cedar Falls. Koch had 16 of his 21 points in the second half.
“We were in a tough spot there,” said Koch, a 6-foot-8 senior. “That’s one of those spots where we really need to make a lot of plays.”
Koch took care of most of them.
“He was terrific down the stretch,” Panthers coach Ben Jacobson said. “He’s come through for our team a number of times. Today, obviously, it really stood out, because it was consecutive baskets down the stretch. His play was really good.”
Tony Freeman scored 17 points and Justin Bocot finished with 10 for Southern Illinois (13-10, 5-8), which went 8 for 17 from the free-throw line.
The Panthers trailed 47-42 before Koch took over. He hit two free throws, a 3-pointer and scored inside to tie it at 49. He added four straight free throws in the final minute, and Ali Farokhmanesh also had two foul shots in the final seconds for Northern Iowa.
“He played like an older guy,” Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery said of Koch. “They went to him exclusively down the stretch. He made every play, every free throw, every tough play, drew every foul, and that’s what you want from your older guys.”
Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored 10 points for the Panthers, all in the second half.
Freeman made consecutive 3-pointers to give Southern Illinois a 25-23 lead early in the second half, but Farokhmanesh got the lead back for Northern Iowa with a 3. At that point, Freeman had outscored his teammates 14-11.
Freeman also made a tiebreaking 3-pointer during an 8-0 run that gave the Salukis a 42-35 lead with 6:09 left. Bocot, who had five points during the surge, capped it off with a steal and dunk but was whistled for a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
Farokhmanesh went 1 for 2 on the resulting free throws and Johnny Moran hit a 3-pointer to get the Panthers right back in the game.
“I think we do a good job of staying levelheaded and not getting too upset or too high,” Koch said. “Tonight we just hunkered down and executed when we needed to.”
The game was tied at 18 after an ugly first half. Southern Illinois shot 35 percent and committed 12 turnovers before intermission, while Northern Iowa shot 33.3 percent and had nine turnovers.
It was the lowest-scoring half of the season for the Salukis and the second-lowest for the Panthers.
Illinois State 71, Drake 68
NORMAL — Lloyd Phillips scored 17 points, including a 3-pointer with 24 seconds to play, and Illinois State held on to beat Drake 71-68 Saturday night.
Osiris Eldridge had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Redbirds (16-8, 7-6 Missouri Valley), who rallied from an early 20-9 deficit. Dinma Odiakosa added 11 points.
Phillips’ 3-pointer gave Illinois State a 68-67 lead. Eldridge made one of two free throws with 11 second left.
Josh Young led Drake (11-14, 6-7) with 22 points. However, the senior guard missed the back end of a one-and-one with 1 second remaining that would have tied the game at 69. Eldridge grabbed the rebound and was fouled, then made both free throws for the final margin.
Earlier in the game, Young became Drake’s all-time leading scorer with 1,665 points — eight more than Red Murrell, who played from 1955-58.
Adam Templeton scored 15 points for the Bulldogs.
Missouri State 70, Creighton 52
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Will Creekmore scored 13 points and Justin Fuehrmeyer had 12 as Missouri State ended an eight-game losing streak to Creighton with a 70-52 victory Saturday night.
Kyle Weems and Adam Leonard each added 11 points for the Bears (16-8, 6-7 Missouri Valley), who never trailed and led by as many as 14 in the first half and 28 in the second.
Kenny Lawson Jr. scored 15 points for the Bluejays (12-12, 7-6), who shot just 35.8 percent and matched their season low for points.
Missouri State led by 11 at halftime then put the game away by starting the second half with a 23-6 run for a 58-30 lead with 8:59 to play. Creighton didn’t get closer than 17 the rest of the game.
The Bears outscored the Bluejays in the paint 42-26 and outrebounded them 40-27.
Wichita State 76, Indiana State 70
WICHITA, Kan. — Clevin Hannah scored 16 points and hit clutch 3-pointers that ignited a furious rally as Wichita State beat undermanned Indiana State 76-70 Saturday night.
The Shockers (20-5, 9-4 Missouri Valley) trailed 58-43 with 9 minutes to play. J.T. Durley scored 14 of his 15 points in the second half.
Indiana State (14-10, 6-7) suited up just eight players and was without three of its top four scorers due to injuries.
But the Sycamores went on an early 15-1 run and led by 16 early. Jordan Printy scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the first half. The Sycamores led 37-28 at halftime.
Two 3-pointers by Hannah were part of a 20-5 run to pull even at 63-63 with 3:54 remaining. Two free throws by Durley 34 seconds later gave the Shockers their first lead since 3-0. A 3-pointer by Hannah made it 72-65 with 1:25 on the clock.
