CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Tywhon Pickford and Austin Phyfe combined to score 43 points and Northern Iowa held off Valparaiso late, 81-76 to earn its first Missouri Valley Conference victory on Saturday night.
Northern Iowa now has won 23 of the 25 meetings between the schools.
The Panthers took a 32-21 lead after a half and Phyfe converted a three-point play and a layup to push the lead to 23 points, 46-23 five minutes into the second period. Northern Iowa maintained a 20-point advantage for the next 10 minutes before the Crusaders finally managed to cut the deficit to single digits on a Micah Bradford jumper with 2:37 left to make it 71-62.