Sam Maniscalco scored a career-high 31 points on 18-of-19 free-throw shooting to lead Bradley over Creighton 81-62 in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Friday.
Fifth-seeded Bradley (16-14) will face top-seeded Northern Iowa (26-4) in a semifinal game Saturday. The Panthers beat Drake 55-40.
Maniscalco hit eight successive free throws in 29 seconds to trigger a 14-2 second-half run that broke open a close game. The Braves made 19 straight foul shots in the second half and finished 27-of-28 from the line.
Andrew Warren added 14 points for the Braves, who broke a six-game losing streak against fourth-seeded Creighton (16-15).
Kenny Lawson led the Bluejays with 17 points. Josh Jones chipped in with 11 points and Justin Carter added 10. Carter had a game-high 13 rebounds.
Bradley went on an 8-0 run early in the second half to take a 40-35 lead.
