OMAHA, Neb. (AP)—Creighton beat Northern Iowa 63-55 Saturday to earn a split of their season series and set up a rematch against the Panthers on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
The teams tied for fourth place in the MVC, but Northern Iowa (19-12, 10-8) will get the No. 4 seed over No. 5 Creighton (18-13, 10-8) in Friday’s rematch in St. Louis by virtue of a better non-conference strength of schedule.
Doug McDermott had 13 points and Kenny Lawson Jr. 11 for the Blue Jays, who hit 8 of 14 3-point attempts and shot 50 percent overall from the field.
Johnny Moran scored 16 points for Northern Iowa, while Jake Koch and Anthony James added 10 each.
Creighton scored the game’s first eight points and led by as much as 16-7 early on. Northern Iowa closed the half with a 17-8 run to take a 28-24 lead, but the Bluejays opened the second half with a 14-3 surge to go on top 35-28.
