Missouri Valley Tournament: Valparaiso upsets UIC behind All Wright’s 22 points; SIU and ISU advance

All Wright had 22 points, leading No. 11 seed Valparaiso to a 67-50 upset of sixth-seeded UIC in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday night at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

The Beacons will take on No. 3 seed Northern Iowa on Friday in the quarterfinals.

Cooper Schwieger had 17 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks for Valpo (14-18). Ethan Pickett led the Flames (17-14) with 11 points.

Valparaiso took the lead with 17:14 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. The score was 37-21 at halftime, with Schwieger racking up 15 points. Valparaiso pulled away with a 10-0 run in the second half to extend its lead to 24.

Southern Illinois 86, Indiana State 85

Davion Sykes made a game-winning layup with 4.1 seconds remaining to give No. 8 seed Southern Illinois the victory against ninth-seeded Indiana State.

Ali Dibba had 30 points and nine rebounds for the Salukis (14-18), who advanced to play top-seeded Drake on Friday in the quarterfinals. Kennard Davis added 22 points and Drew Steffe 10. Sykes finished with eight points off the bench.

Aaron Gray had 27 points and eight rebounds for the Sycamores (14-18).

Illinois State 70, Missouri State 54

Johnny Kinziger had 13 points in No. 5 seed Illinois State’s first-round victory against No. 12 Missouri State. The Redbirds (19-13) play No. 4 seed Belmont in the quarterfinals.

Dalton Banks added 12 points and eight assists and Chase Walker scored 11 for ISU. Vincent Brady II and Michael Osei-Bonsu led the Bears (9-23) with 10 points apiece.

Murray State 74, Evansville 53

Terence Harcum scored 31 points to lead No. 7 seed Murray State over 10th-seeded Evansville. The Racers advance to face No. 2 seed Bradley in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Harcum shot 10 of 11 from the field, including 7-for-7 from 3-point range, and Kylen Milton added 14 points for Murray State (16-16).

Tayshawn Comer’s 22 points led the Purple Aces (11-21), while Connor Turnbull added 16 points and three blocks.

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.