Austin Phyfe matched his season high with 21 points as Northern Iowa narrowly defeated Illinois State 65-60 in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tourney on Thursday night.

Tenth-seeded Illinois State face No. 2 seed Drake in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Tywhon Pickford had 11 points and nine rebounds for Northern Iowa (10-15). Nate Heise added six rebounds. James Betz had three blocks.

Trae Berhow, whose 13 points per game entering the contest was second on the Panthers, shot only 20 percent for the game (2 of 10).

Dusan Mahorcic had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Redbirds (7-18). He also committed seven turnovers. Antonio Reeves added 10 points. DJ Horne had 10 points and seven rebounds.