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ST. LOUIS - Trey Campbell hit six 3-pointers in scoring 23 points and Northern Iowa defeated UIC 84-69 to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and an automatic NCAA bid on Sunday.
The Panthers (23-12) won the tournament for the sixth time and earned their ninth NCAA appearance and first since 2016. Sixth-seeded UNI became to lowest seed to win the tournament and the first to win four games in four days.
This was the first MVC title game berth for UIC since the Flames joined the conference in 2022.
UIC was playing for a conference title for the first time since the Flames earned a Horizon League title game berth in 2020. A win would have earned UIC its first conference tournament crown and NCAA Tournament berth since 2004.
The red-hot Panthers will make the Flames wait longer for their first NCAA Tournament berth in 22 years.
Campbell was 8-of-13 shooting, including 6 of 9 from the arc, for the Panthers, who shot 63% and were 12 of 23 on 3-pointers. Ben Schwieger was 7-of-8 shooting and made three 3-pointers to finish with 18 points. Will Hornseth and Leon Bond added 10 each. Tristan Smith had a game-high eight rebounds to go with nine points.
Elijah Crawford scored 28 points on 13-of-29 shooting to lead the fifth-seeded Flames (19-15). Ahmad Henderson II added 13, and Rashund Washington Jr. and Jayce Nathaniel 10 each. UIC shot 44% against the nation's top scoring defense (61.1 ppg).
The Panthers led all the way and were ahead 48-41 at halftime. After hitting just one of its first six shots to open the second half, the Panthers made seven in row, including a pair of 3s from Campbell and another by Schwieger, to lead by 13.
The Flames rallied behind Nathaniel and Crawford who scored all the points in a 9-2 run to get within six. Campbell stopped that run with a straightaway 3-pointer to begin a 13-2 run that ended with UNI up by 17 — their largest lead — with 37 seconds left.