ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wyatt Lohaus scored 15 points, Hunter Rhodes added 14, and No. 8 seed Northern Iowa never trailed in beating No. 9 seed Evansville 60-50 in the opening round of the 2018 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday night.

Klint Carlson scored nine points with 10 rebounds and Bennett Koch scored eight points with 11 boards as the Panthers (16-15), ranked fourth in the nation in scoring defense (62.9 ppg), held MVC leading scorer Ryan Taylor to two points on 1-of-13 shooting.

Northern Iowa advances to face top seed Loyola-Chicago (25-5) today (Friday).