CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- — Bowen Born's 18 points helped Northern Iowa defeat Valparaiso 77-66 on Wednesday night.

Born shot 5 for 13 (4 for 6 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free throw line for the Panthers (12-9, 8-3 Missouri Valley Conference). Tytan Anderson scored 17 points and added 10 rebounds. Michael Duax shot 5 of 9 from the field and 4 for 4 from the line to finish with 15 points, while adding seven rebounds.

Ben Krikke finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Beacons (9-13, 3-8). Kobe King added 14 points, 12 rebounds and two steals for Valparaiso. Nick Edwards also had 12 points and three steals.

Northern Iowa took the lead with 11:10 remaining in the first half and did not give it up. Born led his team in scoring with 11 points in the first half to help put them ahead 45-28 at the break. Northern Iowa turned a five-point second-half lead into a 14-point advantage with a 9-0 run to make it a 68-54 lead with 5:05 left in the half. Anderson scored eight second-half points in the matchup.

NEXT UP

These two teams both play Saturday. Northern Iowa visits Indiana State while Valparaiso hosts Evansville.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.