Northern Iowa (10-15, 8-11) vs. No. 2 seed Drake (24-3, 15-3)
Missouri Valley Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Enterprise Center, St. Louis; Friday, 6 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the MVC semifinals is up for grabs as Northern Iowa and Drake prepare to square off. In the regular season, Drake won both of the head-to-head matchups. The teams last went at it on Feb. 17, when the Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field while limiting Northern Iowa to just 43.9 percent en route to an eight-point victory.
FAB FRESHMEN: Northern Iowa’s Austin Phyfe, Bowen Born and Nate Heise have collectively scored 45 percent of the team’s points this season and have accounted for 51 percent of all Panthers scoring over the last five games.MIGHTY MURPHY: Tremell Murphy has connected on 38 percent of the 92 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 6 for 18 over his last five games. He’s also made 66.7 percent of his free throws this season.
WINLESS WHEN: Northern Iowa is 0-9 when scoring fewer than 64 points and 10-6 when scoring at least 64.
UNBEATEN WHEN: The Bulldogs are 23-0 when they make four or more 3-pointers and 1-3 when they fall shy of that mark. The Panthers are 5-0 when they hold opponents to 60 points or fewer and 5-15 when opponents exceed 60 points.
DID YOU KNOW: The Drake offense has recorded a turnover on only 15.9 percent of its possessions, which is the 25th-lowest rate in the country. The Northern Iowa defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 17.6 percent of all possessions (ranked 275th among Division I teams).
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