Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament Recap

MVC Tournament Semifinals Recap - Northern Iowa vs Bradley

(1) Northern Iowa 57, (5) Bradley 40

Northern Iowa's basketball team might have had some slight issues with the NCAA Tournament bubble heading into the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, but after two days of Arch Madness in St. Louis, the poised Panthers are resting a lot more comfortably.

A team that needed to send a positive message to the Division I NCAA Men's Basketball Committee has done just that in the Gateway City. Saturday, Coach Ben Jacobsen's ballclub wolfed down its second victory in 28 hours. A decisive 17-point pasting of the Bradley Braves in the afternoon's first semifinal should enable UNI to survive a possible loss in Sunday's championship game.

Had the Panthers bowed out before the final round of the Valley tournament, they might have had reason to sweat it out on Selection Sunday, but now, only a massive loss - akin to what Creighton suffered in last year's semifinals at the hands of Illinois State - could potentially bar the Sons of Cedar Falls, Iowa, from advancing to the field of 65.

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There was no guesswork involved in this thorough thrashing of Coach Jim Les' Bradley bunch. Much as defense carried UNI to a 33-4 run and a lopsided win over Drake in Friday's quarterfinals, so it also was that the Panthers blunted the Braves by working harder at the defensive end of the floor.

Northern Iowa - which fell behind Drake, 24-13, in the first 12-plus minutes on Friday - didn't waste time at the outset of this encounter at the Scottrade Center. The top seed in the Valley acted the part of a regular season champion by storming to a 19-6 lead and maintaining competitive control from that point onward. UNI harassed Bradley from the opening tip, so much so that the beleaguered Braves hit only six field goal attempts in the first half and just 13 for the game. A particularly telling reflection of the Panthers' comprehensive dominance was borne out by the fact that Bradley committed more turnovers (14) than made field goals (13).

Bradley depends on its backcourt for production, especially in the form of guard Sam Maniscalco, who scored 31 points in BU's quarterfinal win over Creighton on Friday. In this game, however, Maniscalco got shut down by the Panthers' guards, as the junior from Chicago tallied just 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting. Maniscalco's running mate, guard Andrew Warren, fared little better. The other key cog in BU's offensive arsenal managed just 12 points on 2-of-8 shooting; Warren needed eight free throws in order to post his very hollow dozen. Outside of Maniscalco and Warren - who didn't even play well to begin with - no one else on Bradley scored in double figures, and that spelled doom against the defense-first Panthers, who cruised to a 50-26 lead at the 9:58 mark of the second half and then were able to rest starters in advance of Sunday's final.

Northern Iowa should be off the bubble. Win or lose on Sunday, the Panthers have put in the hard yards and shown the Selection Committee they deserve an NCAA bid.

What's Next

The fact that UNI played in the day's first semifinal will give the Panthers an edge against their opponent in the championship round; the fact that they were able to go to the bench well before the end of this game will only add to their advantage against the winner of the day's second semifinal between Illinois State and Wichita State. Northern Iowa needs a full tank of energy in order to impose its style on other Valley teams; because this Bradley blowout was done and dusted roughly 30 minutes in, Ben Jacobsen should have a healthy and hungry team for tomorrow's contest, which will be shown nationally on CBS television.

> Follw the entire 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament here at MVC-fans.com

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer