ST. LOUIS -- Wes Washpun's jumper from the top of the key bounced high off the back of the rim and fell in at the buzzer and Northern Iowa survived after squandering a 17-point lead, beating Evansville 56-54 in the Missouri Valley Conference title game on Sunday.
Washpun had 18 points, five rebounds and three assists for Northern Iowa (22-12). Klint Carlson added 17 points for the fourth seed, which repeated as champion. The Panthers beat top seed Wichita State in overtime in the semifinals before dispatching second seed Evansville (25-9) for the third time this season -- all of them close.
D.J. Balentine had 20 points and Jaylon Brown added 18 for Evansville, which hasn't made it to the NCAA Tournament since 1999. The conference tourney winner gets an automatic bid and Wichita State could get an at-large bid.
Northern Iowa has won the tournament four of the last eight years, and enters the NCAA Tournament having won 12 of 13 games. The Panthers twice led by 17 points late in the first half and in the opening minute after the break when Jeremy Morgan's 3-pointer made it 35-18.
The shot. The bounce. The reactions.
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Brown and Balentine had big second halves for Evansville, scoring 16 and 15 points. Evansville twice led by a point in the closing minutes.
Northern Iowa led 32-18 at halftime, the second-fewest points scored in the first half by Evansville this season. The Purple Aces mustered just 16 in the first half at Northern Iowa in the regular season finale.
A 21-4 run capped by five points from Carlson gave Northern Iowa a 26-9 lead.
Carlson had 13 points in the half and Balentine, the leading active scorer in the NCAA, was held without a point for more than 17 minutes.
