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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Nate Funk scored 21 points and Tyler McKinney sparked a late surge, lifting Creighton to a 83-82 victory over Northern Iowa on Wednesday night.
Johnny Mathies scored 17 points and McKinney had 14 for the Bluejays (15-9, 7-6 Missouri Valley Conference).
Ben Jacobson scored 31 points, including a 3-pointer with less than a second to play, and Eric Coleman 10 for Northern Iowa (16-8, 7-6).
Northen Iowa used a 12-0 run highlighted by three 3-pointers in a span of 1:42 to go ahead 40-36 with 17:05 to play.
The lead changed hands eight times in the second half and it was tied at 60 when Tyler McKinney made a 3-pointer to put the Bluejays ahead to stay. McKinney followed with a layup and Funk scored to make it 67-60.
That was followed by a rare double-foul on a drive to the basket by Northern Iowa. Two officials had opposite rulings and Northern Iowa retained possession with 3:34 left. However, the Panthers didn't score and Mathies made two free throws to make it a 9-0 run.
The teams traded points on their next four possessions before Creighton wrapped it up with free throws to offset the scoring of Jacobson, who had three of UNI's 11 3-pointers.
Creighton made six of its first seven shots to take a 14-3 lead just 4:20 into the game. Each starter scored one of the first five field goals before the Bluejays cooled off slightly, finishing the half shooting 52 percent (14-for-27). They had a 33-24 lead with 1:06 left in the half but surrendered the last four points to lead by five.
