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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Missouri State went nearly nine minutes without a field goal midway through the first half to squander an early lead, and host UNI held off a late surge by the Bears in a 71-56 Panthers' victory here Saturday in the regular-season finale for both clubs.

The loss puts Missouri State as the No. 7 seed for this week's MVC Tournament. The Bears will play No. 10 seed Valparaiso at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.
 
UNI (15-15, 7-11 MVC) was led by seniors Klint Carlson and Hunter Rhodes with 16 and 13 points, respectively. The Panthers shot 51 percent from the field and made eight 3-pointers.
 
MSU (17-14, 7-11 MVC) got 14 points from Jarred Dixon, 11 from Jarrid Rhodes and 11 from Alize Johnson, while Obediah Church contributed a career-high 13 rebounds.
 
After trailing by 14 at the break, MSU came out with a purpose to start the second half, getting a bucket from Johnson, a couple of layups by Dixon and a triple from freshman Mustafa Lawrence to make a dent. Johnson's layup at 15:53 got MSU within 46-36, and Rhodes' layup with 14 minutes to go made it 48-40.
 
UNI responded with a 5-0 outburst, capped by a Carlson hook shot to push the home side ahead by 13 again, but Dixon's 3-point play and Church's dunk made it 53-45 with 9:21 to go.
 
Later in the half, Ryan Kreklow drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to get the Bears within nine. His triple gave him 112 for his career and ties him for 10^th on the MSU career list.
 
With just over six minutes to go, the Bears made their final surge, using a pair of free throws by Kreklow and Rhodes to make it 61-52. But, on UNI's next possession, Rhodes dropped in his third trey of the game to dash MSU's comeback hopes.
 
MSU, which dropped its fourth straight, finished 19-of-52 (.365) from the field, 7-of-21 (.333) from long range and a perfect 11-of-11 (1.000) at the stripe. The Bears also out-rebounded the Panthers by a 30-29 margin and committed just nine turnovers.
 
The Panthers converted 26-of-51 shots with Wyatt Lohaus and Carlson each making 5-of-7. UNI also finished 8-of-21 (.381) from bonus distance and 11-of-12 (.917) at the line with six turnovers.
 
The first half started well for the visitors as Missouri State led 5-0 out of the gates, 10-6 just three minutes in, and 15-11 after a three by Ross Owens with 13:17 to play in the stanza.
 
UNI answered Owens' bucket with five straight points by Lohaus to give the Panthers their first lead, but Missouri State responded with a perimeter jumper from Tanveer Bhullar and a triple by Dixon to restore order, 20-16, at the midway point in the half.
 
But from that point on, the Bears went ice cold from the field, going nearly nine minutes without a bucket and making just one field goal in 15 tries the rest of the half – a three by Jarrid Rhodes at the 1:45 mark. Meanwhile, UNI put together runs of 10-0 and 11-0 to lead by as many as 15 and went into the intermission with a 39-25 advantage.
 
Updated Sunday, 8:15 a.m.
The 2018 MVC Tournament (March 1-4) gets underway Thursday at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Missouri State is the No. 7 seed by virtue of the RPI tie-breaker and will play No. 10 Valparaiso Thursday at 8:30 p.m.  The winner plays No. 7 seed Southern Illinois on Friday at 6 p.m.  Bracket