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Northern Iowa advances with rout of Bradley

Mar 7, 2015 - 4:39 AM St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Nate Buss netted 23 points in a reserve role to help 11th-ranked Northern Iowa advance to the Arch Madness semifinals with a 71-46 win over Bradley.

The second-seeded Panthers (28-3) only led by two at halftime, but dominated the final 20 minutes en route to a comfortable win over the lowly Braves (9-24), losers in seven of eight.

Deon Mitchell tallied 14 points with five assists and Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Seth Tuttle contributed 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Buss scored nine in the first half, and UNI led 27-25 at the break despite Tuttle and the starters shooting just 4-for-10 from the field.

The second half was a different story.

Matt Bohannon's 3-pointer 7 1/2 minutes in capped an 11-0 run and pushed the Panthers' lead to 13 points. A 7-0 spurt just past the midpoint of the half made it 62-39, and UNI rolled from there.

Omari Grier paced Bradley with 16 points.

Northern Iowa will meet Loyola-Chicago in Saturday's semifinal.

Game Notes

Bradley was the 10th seed in the MVC tournament ... UNI has won 17 of its last 18 games, with its lone loss coming in the regular-season finale to Wichita State ... Josh Cunningham scored 14 points for Bradley.