ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference player of the year looked the part when it counted. His Northern Iowa teammates stepped up, too, when the game looked hopeless.
Seth Tuttle had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, leading the 11th-ranked Panthers back from an 18-point first-half deficit to beat Illinois State 69-60 in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship game on Sunday.
"I knew we weren't out of it," said forward Nate Buss, who had 15 points and two blocks. "We're not ranked 11th in the country for nothing. We're not just going to lay down and die.
"We knew we were going to come back."
The Panthers (30-3) took control with a 25-4 run that erased a 36-22 halftime deficit. Jeremy Morgan had 3 three-pointers in the run and Tuttle, the Valley player of the year and tournament MVP, added eight points, often getting loose from constant double-teaming.
"He really exerted his will," Illinois State Coach Dan Muller said. "When were in zone, they got it in to Tuttle, when we went man, they got it in to Tuttle."
Daishon Knight had 16 points for fourth-seeded Illinois State (21-12), which needed a victory to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998. Knight had 25 points in the Redbirds' semifinal upset of top seed Wichita State.
Northern Iowa won the championship for the third time in seven years and has won 19 of 20 games.
"That was different than just about every game I've been a part of," Coach Ben Jacobson said. "We had more than our hands full at halftime."
The winners shot 23 percent in the first half and 54 percent the rest of the way, and held Illinois State to 33 percent in the second half.
"We were the ones on our heels and we just told each other 'That's what we've got to do, we've got to reverse it,'" Tuttle said. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of that."
Deontae Hawkins added 14 points with four three-pointers for Illinois State, which did much of the scoring on transition in the first half but couldn't capitalize on early chances in the second.
ATLANTIC SUN
Ospreys get first berth
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Demarcus Daniels scored 22 points off the bench, and North Florida beat USC Upstate 63-57 on Sunday in the Atlantic Sun Conference final to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth.
Jalen Nesbitt added 16 points for the Ospreys (23-11), who snapped a five-game losing streak against the Spartans (23-11).
Upstate had won both previous meetings this season and looked like they might sweep the series when it scored the first 11 points of the second half. The Spartans erased a 12-point deficit after the break and led 48-44 midway through the second half.
But Daniels and Nesbitt took over down the stretch, getting in the lane and making things happen. They finished a combined 14 of 30 from the field.
Ty Greene led the Spartans with 21 points on 9-of-23 shooting.
BIG SOUTH
Ellis heading back
CONWAY, S.C. -- Warren Gillis scored 22 points and Elijah Wilson had 14 of his 19 in the second half to lead Coastal Carolina to its second consecutive NCAA berth with an 81-70 victory over Winthrop in the Big South Conference Tournament championship.
The Chanticleers (24-9) defeated Winthrop in the finals for a second consecutive year, using a 15-4 run at the start of the second half to take control of a game tied at 38-all.
Coastal Carolina's victory brings the 10th NCAA Tournament appearance for Coach Cliff Ellis, the only Division I coach with 150 or more victories at four separate schools. Ellis last year joined the club of 11 coaches who have taken four teams to the NCAAs. Now, he's done it multiple times at each of his four stops: South Alabama, Clemson, Auburn and Coastal Carolina.
Keon Johnson led Winthrop (19-13) with 18 points.
In games involving Top 25 teams on Sunday, Frank Kaminsky scored 20 points and Bronson Koenig touched off a 16-0 second-half run with two three-pointers to lead No. 6 Wisconsin to a 72-48 victory over No. 23 Ohio State. The Badgers (28-3, 16-2) had already clinched the Big Ten regular-season title and top seed in the conference tournament. Koenig had 15 points and Nigel Hayes 10 for Wisconsin, winners of three in a row and 13 of 14. D'Angelo Russell had 17 points for the Buckeyes (22-9, 11-7), who had a three-game win streak ended. ... Markus Kennedy scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and No. 22 SMU won its first league title in 22 years, rallying past Tulsa 67-62 in a game that decided the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship. The victory gave Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown and the Mustangs (24-6, 15-3) another item for their NCAA Tournament resume a year after getting snubbed and reaching the NIT championship game. James Woodard scored all of his career-high 30 points on three-pointers for the Golden Hurricane (21-9, 14-4), who settled for second place after starting 10-0 in the conference but finishing 4-4 under first-year Coach Frank Haith.
Sports on 03/09/2015