ST. LOUIS – Justin Gant made a free throw with 2.5 seconds remaining and Devonte Brown blocked Ned Cox's shot just before the buzzer as Indiana State defeated Evansville 51-50 in the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals on Friday.
The fifth-seeded Sycamores (18-13) advanced to play MVC regular-season champion Creighton on Saturday.
Brown led Indiana State with 11 points, but the big play was his blocked shot after the Purple Aces' length-of-the-court pass was deflected to Cox, who drove toward the basket only to have his layup try knocked away as time ran out.
RJ Mahurin scored 10 points for the Sycamores. Egidijus Mockevicius led Evansville with 11 points and seven rebounds. He fouled out on the play that sent Gant to the line, where Gant made the second of two free throws after neither team had scored for 3 minutes.
DJ Balentine had 10 points for the fourth-seeded Purple Aces (18-14).
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