CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – No. 12 Wichita State saw its 27-game MVC unbeaten and 13-game conference road streaks come to end against No. 18 Northern Iowa, Saturday afternoon at the McLeod Center, 70-54.

WSU (19-3, 9-1 MVC) had a chilly shooting night, missing 19 of 24 shots from deep.

Fred VanVleet paced the offense for the second straight game with 18 points, doing most of his damage at the foul line, where he was 10-for-11. Ron Baker added 12 points and three steals.

The Shockers fell to an MVC opponent for the first time since a loss to Creighton in the 2013 MVC Tournament Championship. It was their first regular season loss since the 2013 regular season finale – also against Creighton – in Omaha.

UNI (20-2, 9-1 MVC) shot a blistering 60 percent in both halves and knocked down 5-of-7 from three to become the first Shocker opponent of the year to break 70 in regulation.

Seth Tuttle led the way for the Panthers with 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting and finished 10-of-13 at the foul line. Wes Washpun added 16 of his own.

UNI – which comes to Wichita on Feb. 28 in the last game of the regular season – moved into a first-place tie with the Shockers with eight games to go.

WSU led 18-16 with 10:19 remaining in the first half, then managed just three more points over the next 9:30. UNI took advantage with a 19-3 run and would take a 37-24 lead into the break.

The Shockers were unable to make up ground early in the second half, instead falling into a 19-point hole just over three-and-a-half minutes in.

A mini 5-0 run sparked by back-to-back Darius Carter buckets briefly cut the lead to 49-35 at the 12:24 mark, but UNI answered with four-straight. That was the closest the Shockers would come the rest of the way.

WSU continues on the road on Wednesday at Bradley. Tip time is set for 7:00 p.m. CT on Cox Channel Kansas.

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-Wichita State-