ST. LOUIS - Nate Buss scored a game-high 23 points, leading a hot-shooting Northern Iowa (28-3) squad to a 71-46 win versus No. 10 seed Bradley in the third quarterfinal game of the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Championship Friday night at Scottrade Center.

While Bradley (9-24) was missing 10 of its first 12 field goal attempts, No. 2 seed and 11th-ranked UNI quickly built a 15-5 advantage. After Cunningham broke the cold spell with a 3-pointer with 7:37 left in the half to get Bradley within 15-8, the Panthers answered with consecutive treys for a 21-8 advantage. But Cunningham broke the first-half seal for the Braves, who closed the half by making eight of their final 10 field goal attempts. Omari Grier scored eight points during Bradley's 10-0 run to close the half, capping the sudden flourish with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to get the Braves within 27-25 at the break.

The Braves made it a 12-0 run when Cunningham dunked home the tying points with 19:27 left to play, but Bradley went on another lengthy cold spell by making only three of its next 15 field goal attempts. The Panthers took advantage, using an 11-0 run to take a 45-32 lead on Matt Bohannon's 3-pointer with 12:36 left. UNI made 12 of its first 14 field goal attempts of the half, further pushing its lead to as many as 27 points.

Grier paced Bradley with 16 points, while Cunningham added 14. Buss led four Panthers in double-figures: Mitchell chipped in 14, Jeremy Morgan 11 and Seth Tuttle 10.

The Panthers advance to Saturday's 4:05 p.m. semifinal game versus the winner of Friday night's matchup between No. 3 seed Indiana State and No. 6 seed Loyola Chicago. Top-seeded and 8th-ranked Wichita State will face No. 4 seed Illinois State in Saturday's first semifinal game, a 1:30 p.m. contest at Scottrade Center.