TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State's Brandon Murphy put back of a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer, going up and around four Northern Iowa defenders for the offensive rebound, netted the Sycamores a 69-67 win over the visiting Panthers inside Hulman Center.

The Sycamores improved to 8-9, 3-2 MVC and are now just one game behind Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference race as part of a five-way tie for second place, while Northern Iowa fell to 8-9, 0-5 MVC. The win was Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing's 68th in conference play as the Sycamore leader -- and he is just one shy of Royce Waltman's school record of 69.

Jordan Barnes led the way for the Sycamores with a career-high 27 but it was a miss of his 12th attempt from long distance with four seconds remaining which set up Murphy's heroics. Murphy scored nine points and pulled down four rebounds, none bigger than when he jumped higher than four Panthers to get his palm of the ball and forced it back up off the glass and into the newly replaced nets at Hulman Center for a key MVC win as the buzzer sounded. A short video replay upheld the basket and sent off a celebration on the floor and in the stands.







Indiana State was at or above 50 percent shooting in both halves, hitting 13-of-26 shots in the first half and then blazing the nets to the tune of a 14-of-25 margin in the second half to finish the game with a 52.9 shooting percentage. ISU found success behind the arc, hitting 9-of-21 attempts, including five from Barnes. UNI hit 25-of-59 shots (42.4 percent) in the game, including eight 3-pointers and converted seven offensive rebounds into 13 second chance points. ISU finished with eight off second chance opportunities, including Murphy's big two at the end of the game.

ISU owned the glass by a 35-28 margin, led by a career-high nine rebounds from Barnes. He also had two steals as he hit 10-of-18 shots and his 27 points.

Senior Brenton Scott continued his stellar play with 13 points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers to go with five rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Scott now has 1,561 career points as he passed Eddie Bird for No. 7 on the ISU scoring chart and is now just one away from tying David Moss for sixth (1,562) and is seven away from Jake Odum (1,568) to crack the Top 5 in scoring all-time for Sycamore Basketball. Additionally, he now has 243 career 3-pointers and is only 40 behind Michael Menser who currently holds the school record with 283.

It proved to be a game of wild swings as ISU got trifectas from Scott and Clayton Hughes on their first two possessions for the 6-0 lead and added a conventional 3-point play from Emondre Rickman at the 16:24 mark for the quick 9-0 cushion. UNI, winless heading into the game in league play, countered with the next 11 points and held ISU scoreless for exactly three minutes as Tyreke Key drove in for a lay-up to knot the game at 11. The Panthers locked down again and went on a 10-0 run capped by a Tywhon Pickford jumper at the 7:34 mark to lead 26-15 before Murphy scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the UNI lead down to 26-19 with 6:25 remaining.

The lead would grow back to 11 against before Barnes buried a 3-pointer and then a jumper with 1:05 remaining to make it 36-31. Pickford added a jumper with 33 seconds remaining to go into the half with a 38-31 lead. 

Isaiah Brown got UNI off to a good start with a lay-up to stretch the Panther lead out to 40-31 before Barnes hit his first trey of the second half to draw within 40-34. Wyatt Lohaus gave the Panthers a 44-35 advantage with a jumper at the 16:17 mark before Barnes hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Clayton Hughes buried another from the corner to tie the game at 44 with 14:42 on the clock.

Brown answered with a trey of his own and UNI took a 50-45 lead before Barnes hit a long jumper to draw the Sycamores within three points at 50-47. Barnes lay-up with 10:29 remaining gave the Sycamores their first lead since early in the game at 51-50, but Klint Carlson came right back with a jumper. Scott countered with his second 3-pointer of the game and it started an 8-0 run which ended with a Tyreke Key jumper at the 7:22 mark for the 59-52 lead.

Brown once again worked his magic late in the game with a driving lay-up with 1:16 on the clock to draw the Panthers within a point at 63-62 before Barnes answered with a lay-up of his own with 51 seconds to go to stretch the lead out to 65-62. Juwan McCloud committed a turnover with 40 seconds on the clock before Barnes was fouled and hit two from the free throw line with 27 seconds remaining as ISU led 67-62.

Lohaus answered with a 3-pointer in transition just six seconds later to cut the ISU lead down to 67-65. With 18 seconds remaining, McCloud stole in the in bounds pass and Brown fed Pickford with a lay-up with 13 seconds to go to knot the game at 67. That opened the door for Barnes' miss from the top of the circle and Murphy's put back at the buzzer for the thrilling 69-67 victory.

Tywhon Pickford led four Panthers who reached double figures scoring as he tallied 18 points in the game.

ISU now hits the road for a key Missouri Valley Conference road swing as they travel to Missouri State on Sunday, January 14 for a 3 pm (ET) battle with the Bears. The game will air live world-wide on The Valley On ESPN3.