ST. LOUIS — Isaiah Rivera scored eight of his 28 points in the second overtime as No. 11 seed UIC upset No. 6 Southern Illinois 84-82 on Thursday in a first-round game in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
UIC advances to face No. 3 seed Bradley in a Friday quarterfinal.
Rivera added nine rebounds and five assists for the Flames (12-20). Ethan Pickett scored 16 points, going 7 of 11, while Christian Jones added 15 points.
Xavier Johnson led the way for the Salukis (19-13) with 27 points, seven assists and two steals. Trent Brown added 16 points, and AJ Ferguson had 12 points and 14 rebounds.
UIC entered halftime up 41-27 behind Pickett’s 11 first-half points. Jaden Brownell scored six second-half points and Jones hit the tying layup with six seconds left in the second half to send the game to overtime.
Evansville 59, Illinois State 53: Ben Humrichous had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and his personal 8-2 run in the final eight minutes secured the 10th-seeded Purple Aces’ wire-to-wire upset.
Evansville (16-16) will face No. 2 seed Drake (25-6) in a second-round game Friday.
Myles Foster scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead No. 7 seed Illinois State (15-17).
Belmont 86, Valparaiso 61: Malik Dia had 22 points and 10 rebounds in the fifth-seeded Bruins’ victory against the 12th-seeded Beacons. Belmont will face fourth-seeded Northern Iowa in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Brigham Rogers added 15 points and Ja’Kobi Gillespie 10 for Belmont (20-12).
Isaiah Stafford led Valparaiso (7-25) with 20 points and four steals. Cooper Schwieger added 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and Jerome Palm had 10 points and 14 rebounds. The loss was the Beacons’ 12th in a row.
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