In the second game of 2012 MVC tournament quarterfinal action on Friday, Illinois State advanced with a 54-42 win over Northern Iowa. The Redbirds move on to face top-seeded Wichita State on Saturday afternoon.
Related: Missouri Valley Tournament 2012: Bracket, Second Round Schedule And More
Both teams struggled to shoot the ball Friday afternoon, with Illinois State shooting 34.5% from the field and UNI hitting just 25.5% of its shots. The two teams combined for a 10-43 effort from beyond the arc.
One area that helped propel the Redbirds to victory was defensive rebounding -- UNI managed just six offensive boards for the entire game, which is to sat that the Panthers grabbed less than 14% of their own misses. The poor shooting and lack of second chance opportunities made for a really tough day at the offensive end.
Jackie Carmichael paced Illinois State with 16 points and 15 boards. Johnny Moran led Northern Iowa with 13 points.
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