ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The University of Northern Iowa basketball team likes living dangerously, often leaving its fans on the edge of their seat.

Friday was no different at the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

Trailing ninth-seeded Indiana State by six points and 8 1/2 minutes left, UNI was on the brink of being the first top seed bounced in the quarterfinal round in the tournament's 33-year history.

But like it's shown most of the Valley season, the Panthers are a resilient bunch.

Fueled by a 13-2 surge, the Panthers outlasted the pesky Sycamores 73-69 at the Scottrade Center and advanced to Saturday's semifinal against Bradley at 1:30 p.m.

"There was plenty of time to come back," guard Ali Farokhmanesh said. "We looked at each other and said, 'Hey, we're not ready to go home yet.'"

Just like the two meetings during the regular season, both decided by fewer than five points, Indiana State made UNI sweat this out.

In a game that featured 17 lead changes and eight ties, the Sycamores shot 54 percent in the opening half and buried 10 3-pointers - the third time they've done that against UNI this year.

"I think Northern Iowa knows they were in a game," said Indiana State coach Kevin McKenna, whose team won seven of its last eight coming in. "We competed really hard."

"They play us so well," forward Lucas O'Rear said. "They shoot the ball well every time we play them."

However, UNI (21-10) has found itself in this predicament before, particularly in conference play where its racked up seven wins against league opponents by seven points or less.

"It's kind of like we're used to situations like this," guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe said. "You don't always want to put yourself in that situation, but it happened today and we took care of it."

Aaron Carter's 3-pointer gave Indiana State (11-21) its biggest cushion, 58-52.

"I felt confident, like we had the game won," Indiana State's Jay Tunnell said, "but that's why they're the conference champs. They never laid down. They kept coming at us."

After UNI head coach Ben Jacobson called a timeout with 8:38 left, the game swung in two plays.

Adam Koch, who battled foul trouble much of the contest, scored on a design play. Meanwhile, the Sycamores turned it over on their ensuing possession.

"Those two possessions might have been the game," Jacobson said. "To come of that timeout, if we don't score and they do, it's a nine-point game going into a media timeout. That's a different deal."

UNI snared the lead for good, 61-60, on Ahelegbe's jumper in the lane. The Panthers punctuated the 13-2 flurry with a Farokhmanesh 3-pointer from the right wing.

"We've got a lot of plays, but that wasn't one of them," Jacobson said of Farokhmanesh's 3. "(Ali) did that on his own. He's good for that. Obviously, it was a huge basket."

From there, UNI held on. Despite missing five free throws in the final minute, Farokhmanesh buried two foul shots with 4.1 seconds left to secure the win.

"As a team, we've done a good job all year of getting stops and making baskets when it matters," Koch said.

Koch and Ahelegbe finished with 19 points to lead UNI, while Farokhmanesh had 13. Ahelegbe also finished with a career-high seven rebounds and five assists.

"We just couldn't really match that physicality inside that they bring," said McKenna, whose team was outrebounded 32-23 and yielded 17 second-chance points.

Indiana State's Rashad Reed had a game-high 21 points, while Tunnell finished his college career with 17 points and eight rebounds.

"We had a good effort," Reed said, "but they're the conference champs and they threw a harder blow than what we threw."

Contact Matt Coss at (319) 291-1468 or matt.coss@wcfcourier.com

RUNOUTS

Score: Northern Iowa 73, Indiana State 69

Leaders of the pack: UNI's Kwadzo Ahelegbe and Adam Koch each had 19 points. Ahelegbe also had a career-high seven rebounds and five assists. Rashad Reed ignited Indiana State with 21 points.

Off the bench: Lucas O'Rear had seven points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes for the Panthers.

Game changer: Trailing by six with 8:45 remaining, UNI scored 13 of the next 15 points to grab a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Next up: UNI plays Bradley, a 67-55 winner over Southern Illinois, in Saturday's semifinals at 1:30 p.m.

Indiana State Mn FG-A FT-A Rb As PF TP

Tunnell 36 6-10 3-4 8 3 2 17

Leitnaker 15 2-3 1-2 3 0 3 5

Reed 38 9-14 0-0 3 4 4 21

Marshall 28 2-7 1-2 2 4 3 7

Printy 34 2-7 0-0 1 3 3 5

Crawford 4 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0

Carter 19 2-5 2-2 2 0 0 7

Richard 26 3-6 0-0 3 0 2 7

Team 1

Totals 200 26-53 7-10 23 14 18 69

Northern Iowa Mn FG-A FT-A Rb As PF TP

Koch 23 7-10 4-5 3 0 4 19

Eglseder 18 2-4 3-4 5 1 1 7

Farokhmanesh 30 3-4 4-6 0 0 1 13

Ahelegbe 34 6-13 5-8 7 5 1 19

Moran 23 1-5 0-0 1 0 1 2

Brown 23 1-3 1-2 3 0 2 3

Dunham 22 1-4 0-0 2 1 0 3

O'Rear 27 3-5 1-1 8 0 3 7

Team 3

Totals 200 24-48 18-26 32 7 13 73

Indiana State 37 32 - 69

Northern Iowa 37 36 - 73

3-point goals - ISU 10-25 (Reed 3-7, Marshall 2-4, Tunnell 2-4, Printy 1-4, Richard 1-3, Carter 1-2); UNI 7-13 (Farokhmanesh 3-4, Ahelegbe 2-3, Dunham 1-2, Koch 1-2, Moran 0-1, Brown 0-1). Turnovers - ISU 8 (Richard 3); UNI 9 (Eglseder 2, Ahelegbe 2, Moran 2). Steals - ISU 5 (Reed 2); UNI 3 (Farokhmanesh, Ahelegbe, Dunham). Blocks - ISU 3 (Richard 2); UNI 2 (Koch, Ahelegbe).

Officials - JD Collins, John Higgins, Tim Higgins. Att - 10,631.