Friday, March 6th, 1:05 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Scottrade Center (22,612) -- St. Louis, Missouri. Television: FSN-MW. Home Record: ISU 5-9, UNI 11-4. Away Record: ISU 4-10, UNI 8-4. Neutral Record: ISU 2-1, UNI 1-2. Conference Record: ISU 7-11, UNI 14-4. Series Record: Indiana State leads, 20-17.

GAME NOTES: The first quarterfinal-round matchup in the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament pits the top-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers against the ninth-seeded Indiana State Sycamores. The winner of this game moves on to the semifinals to take on either Southern Illinois or Bradley on Saturday. The Panthers went 14-4 in conference this year and that was good for a first-place tie with Creighton. It marked the first first-ever MVC regular-season title for UNI, which held the tie-breaker with Creighton and was awarded the top seed in this event. The Panthers' highest seed prior to this season was No. 2 in 2004, the year the program won its lone tourney championship. As for Indiana State, it kicked off the tourney with an opening-round game last night, knocking off eighth-seeded and defending champion Drake, 62-55. The win continued the Sycamores' late-season charge, as they have now captured victories in seven of their last eight outings. ISU is now 18-26 all-time in this event and the team is one step closer to notching its first title since 2001. The Sycamores leads the all-time series with Northern Iowa, 20-17, and the two teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season.

The Sycamores jumped out to a 33-20 halftime lead and they fought off Drake in the second half for a 62-55 triumph in opening-round action on Thursday. ISU shot 41.7 percent from the floor compared to just 38.0 percent by Drake and it also hit seven three-pointers and 15 free throws. Jay Tunnell led the charge with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Rashad Reed turned in 15 points and a pair of steals. Harry Marshall, though, was limited to just six points and that was surprising considering he was averaging a team-high 14.4 ppg heading into the tourney. Tunnell is second in scoring at 12.3 ppg and he also pulls down 6.1 rpg, while Reed contributes 10.7 ppg.

The Panthers are a balanced group that depends on strong defense to win games, and they are limiting opposing clubs to just 63.6 ppg. Offensively, Adam Koch heads the team with 11.9 ppg and he has also been a factor on the glass with his 5.1 rpg. Kwadzo Ahelegbe is next in line at 11.1 ppg and he has been in charge of setting up Koch and company, distributing a team-high 3.1 apg. Jordan Eglseder, a 7-1 center, is an intimidating force in the paint and he turns in 10.3 ppg to go with a team-best 6.6 rpg.

UNI is the fresher team here and its balance and tough defense should be enough to get it past an ISU squad that has played well of late.

Predicted Outcome

Northern Iowa 66, Indiana State 62