TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State raced out to a fast start and never looked back en route to a high energy 71-54 victory over visiting Northern Iowa inside Hulman Center on Senior Day. Seniors Allante Holston, Devin Thomas and Emondre Rickman played their final home game and were honored in both pregame and postgame ceremonies.

ISU concludes the regular season with a 15-15, 7-11 MVC record while Northern Iowa is 14-17, 9-9 MVC. The Sycamores have secured the No. 8 seed at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and will play No. 9 Valparaiso on Thursday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. (ET) at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The winner of that game will turn around and play the league's No. 1 seed on Friday, March 8 at 1 pm (ET).

The Sycamores won for the fourth time in a row over the Panthers and improved to 94-10 under ninth-year head coach Greg Lansing when limiting teams to 63 points or less. It was also all-time victory No. 1,496 in the storied history of the Sycamore Basketball program and the 88th MVC regular season or tournament victory during the last nine years -- the 3rd most wins among the current league membership during that time frame.

As he has done most of conference play, the Sycamores were led in scoring by Tyreke Key who poured in 20 points. He was 9-of-13 from the field, hit a pair of 3-pointers and added three steals in the early part of the game. Cooper Neese returned to double figures once again with 14 points as he hit all four of his field goal attempts, including both of his 3-pointers and added two steals with an assist. Jordan Barnes knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10. Barnes now has 214 trifectas in his career which is just one away from tying Jordan Printy for third all-time at ISU.

ISU blazed the nets to the tune of a 26-of-51 margin (51 percent), including a 13-of-23 mark (56.5 percent) in the second half. The Sycamores were 8-of-15 from distance (53.3 percent) in the game. UNI was limited to just 20-of-53 from the field (37.7 percent) and hit six 3-pointers in the contest -- all coming in the second half.
Indiana State's defense recorded 13 steals in the game and forced 16 UNI turnovers which resulted in 19 Sycamore points.



AJ Green drove to the bucket for a lay-up on their second possession, but ISU countered with 12 in a row beginning with a Neese 3-pointer and ending with a Bronson Kessinger lay-up at the 16:14 mark for a 12-2 lead. After the Panthers drew within eight points, the Sycamores scored six in a row capped by an Emondre Rickman steal and lay-up for the 18-4 advantage. An Allante Holston jumper with 2:59 on the clock ran the lead out to 31-13 but UNI scored late in the half to draw within 35-19 at the break.

UNI got the Sycamore cushion down to 37-24 early in the second half, but Barnes countered with a 3-pointer at the 16:08 mark for a 44-26 lead. Christian Williams tallied a steal and fast break lay-up with 13:46 remaining to push the lead up to 20 points at 48-28 before UNI scored in a row ending at the 11:05 mark to trim the advantage down to 48-35.

Barnes hit another trifecta with 9:40 on the clock to restore order and stretch the lead back out to 51-35. A De-Avion Washington steal and feed to Key for a fast break lay-up with 5:39 remaining stretched the Sycamore lead back out to 60-41. UNI would get as close as 11 with just under two minutes to go but Williams hit two at the free throw line with 1:32 remaining and Neese's lay-up with 30 seconds to go closed the game out on a 6-0 run for the Sycamores and ISU took the win 71-54.

Spencer Haldeman hit four 3-pointers in the game to score 16 points to lead the Panthers.

As mentioned earlier, the Sycamores will be the home team in the Arch Madness opener on Thursday, March 7 at 7 pm (ET) against Valparaiso. The game will air live on the MVC TV Network as well as ESPN3 or ESPN+ and the Fox Sports Go app.