ST. LOUIS (AP) - Teke Cotton scored nine straight points to fuel a 17-3 pull-away run in the first half and No. 8 Wichita State beat Southern Illinois 56-45 in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Friday night.
Fred VanVleet had 13 points, four assists and three steals for the Shockers (28-3), who beat Southern Illinois (12-21) for the third straight time. They will face Illinois State in the semifinals Saturday.
Cotton topped 1,000 career points and finished with 12 points, three assists and a block. Ron Baker had 10 points, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Jalen Pendleton had 12 points and Anthony Beane 10 for Southern Illinois (12-21), which shot 34 percent and committed 18 turnovers.
NO. 11 NORTHERN IOWA 71, BRADLEY 46
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Nate Buss scored a season-high 23 points and Northern Iowa overwhelmed Bradley in the second half for a rout in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
The second-seeded Panthers (28-3) advanced without much from Valley player of the year Seth Tuttle, who made his first basket with 13:47 to go and finished with 10 points on 3 for 9 shooting.
Deon Mitchell added 14 points, five assists and two steals for the winners, who led 34-32 early in the second half before taking control with an 11-0 run. Northern Iowa has won 17 of 18 and faces Loyola on Saturday in the semifinals.
Reserve Omari Grier had 16 points and Josh Cunningham added 14 points and six rebounds for Bradley (8-24), the 10th seed.
NO. 14 BAYLOR 77, TEXAS TECH 74
WACO, Texas (AP) - Taurean Prince scored 24 points, Kenny Chery and Rico Gathers added 18 apiece and Baylor rallied from 12 down in the second half to beat last-place Texas Tech.
Chery was serenaded with a senior night twist of the Canadian national anthem before the point guard from Montreal made four of seven from 3-point range. Fellow senior Royce O'Neale hit consecutive 3s to break a 65-65 tie and give the Bears (23-9, 11-7) their first lead.
Devaugntah Williams was 8 of 9 on 3-pointers and scored a career-high 28 points for the Red Raiders (13-18, 3-15).
The victory assured Baylor no worse than the No. 4 seed for the Big 12 tournament next week. The Bears could finish as high as second.
NO. 25 MURRAY STATE 80, MOREHEAD STATE 77
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Cameron Payne hit a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left, and Murray State blew an 11-point lead before beating Morehead State in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament semifinals.
The Racers (27-4) extended the nation's second-longest winning streak to 25 only after giving up a 43-32 halftime lead. They trailed 71-60 with 6:31 left before Jarvis Williams sparked an 18-6 run to finish the game.
The Racers hit eight of their final nine shots with Payne finally giving them their first lead since midway through the half.
He finished with 25 points and Williams had 23 for the Racers.
They will face Belmont in the championship game Saturday night.
Morehead State (17-17) was playing its third game in as many days. The Eagles missed six of their final seven shots.