Terre Haute, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - No. 14 Northern Iowa took over control of the Missouri Valley Conference on Saturday and continued its roll with a convincing road win over Indiana State.
Seth Tuttle scored 15 points with eight rebounds and five assists to lead the Panthers in their 10th straight win, a 61-51 decision over the Sycamores at Hulman Center.
Northern Iowa (21-2, 10-1 MVC) grabbed first place in the conference standings with a 70-54 home win against then-No. 12 Wichita State over the weekend thanks to Tuttle, who supplied a career-high 29 points against the Shockers.
The Panthers had not won 10 straight since a 15-game winning streak during their 30-win campaign in 2009-10. Jeremy Morgan had 12 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Indiana State (11-12, 7-4), which entered the game ranked third in the conference standings, has lost four of its last six overall. The Sycamores had won five straight at home, all in conference play, until Northern Iowa sent them to their sixth straight loss against a Top-25 foe.
Devonte Brown's 14 points was the only double-digit scoring effort for the hosts.
The Panthers picked right up where they left off on Saturday, shooting 56 percent from the floor and limiting Indiana State to 34.6 percent shooting over the first 20 minutes.
"We needed to do a better job of guarding the low block," UNI head coach Ben Jacobson said. "We made a decision and a real effort to keep the ball off the block, and our communication was good."
Justin Gant made a 3-pointer to tie the game early, then Northern Iowa went on a 13-3 run that Wes Washpun capped with back-to-back layups for a 21-11 edge.
The Sycamores cut the margin to six late in the half, but Washpun found Morgan for a 3-pointer that staked the visitors to a 33-22 lead at the break.
Morgan and Deon Mitchell each hit a 3 around a Jake Kitchell basket that stretched Northern Iowa's lead to 15 early in the second.
Paul Jesperson's layup made it a 49-31 edge for the Panthers, who kept their opponent under 60 points for the fourth straight game.
"I'm a little disappointed in our effort," Indiana State head coach Greg Lansing said. "I thought we were a little bit selfish on the offensive end."
Game Notes
Washpun scored 10 points off the bench in the win ... Indiana State was held to 31.8 percent from beyond the arc ... The Panthers' bench outscored the Sycamores' reserves 24-15 ... Brown had a game-high six turnovers.
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