ST. LOUIS (AP) - Sam Maniscalco scored a career-high 31 points on 18-of-19 free-throw shooting to lead Bradley over Creighton 81-62 in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Friday.
Fifth-seeded Bradley (16-14) will face top-seeded Northern Iowa (26-4) in a semifinal game Saturday. The Panthers beat Drake 55-40.
Maniscalco hit eight successive free throws in 29 seconds to trigger a 14-2 second-half run that broke open a close game. The Braves made 19 straight foul shots in the second half and finished 27-of-28 from the line.
Andrew Warren added 14 points for the Braves, who broke a six-game losing streak against fourth-seeded Creighton (16-15).
Kenny Lawson led the Bluejays with 17 points. Josh Jones chipped in with 11 points and Justin Carter added 10. Carter had a game-high 13 rebounds.
Bradley went on an 8-0 run early in the second half to take a 40-35 lead.
NOTES: Maniscalco's 18 free throws made were the most-ever by a Bradley player in a MVC Tournament game, one more than Hersey Hawkins made versus Indiana State in the 1988 quarterfinals at Carver Arena ... With 19 attempts Maniscalco also equalled the Bradley record for free throw attempts in a MVC Tournament game initially set by James Gillingam versus Indiana State March 1, 2002 ... Maniscalco was fouled on three different 3-point attempts and sank all nine of the resulting free throws, including six in a span of 29 seconds that triggered Bradley's deciding 14-0 run ... Scoring the first 14 points of his MVC Tournament career, junior guard Andrew Warren became the 44th member of Bradley's 1,000-Point Club ... Bradley shot a season-best 96.4 percent from the free throw line by draining 27-of-28 from the stripe ... Bradley's defense limited Creighton to a season-low 31.8 percent shooting from the field, the second-best field goal percentage defense in Bradley's MVC Tournament history ... Although Creighton grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, the Bluejays held only a slim, 19-14 edge in second-chance points ... Bradley won the battle of bench scoring for the second straight game against Creighton as the Braves reserves outscored the Bluejay reserves, 17-9 ... Bradley wore black uniforms for the second time in program history and for the first time away from home ... Chris Roberts gave the Braves the lead for good, 36-35, with a follow slam with 16:11 remaining in the game ... The Roberts dunk was the No. 2 play in ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of March 5, putting the 6-foot-4 high-flyer in the highlight segment for the fourth time in the last two years.
