Anthony James scored 16 points and Northern Iowa used a 13-0 run late in the first half to down Indiana State 65-48 on Wednesday night.
Marc Sonnen added 15 points and Jake Koch 11 for the Panthers (11-4, 1-2 Missouri Valley).
Dwayne Lathan led the Sycamores with 15 points (10-4, 1-2). Carl Richard scored 10.
The Panthers shot 43 percent (24 of 56) but converted 7 of 15 3-pointers. Indiana State was limited to 37 percent from the floor (18 of 48).
Lathan cut the Sycamores' early deficit to 15-11 with 8:23 left. But then Northern Iowa strung together 13 consecutive points for a 28-11 lead with 2:40 to go in the first half.
The Panthers led 32-16 at the break, but Indiana State trimmed it to 33-28 on Jordan Printy's 3-pointer with 17:24 to play.
However, Northern Iowa closed the game with a 12-2 run.
