ST. LOUIS—Bradley guard Sam Maniscalco patiently waited six days to get even.
Maniscalco bounced back from one of his worst performances of the season to score a career-high 31 points on Friday in leading Bradley over Creighton 81-62 in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Fifth-seeded Bradley (16-14) will face top-seeded Northern Iowa (26-4) in a semifinal game Saturday.
Maniscalco hit 18 of 19 free throws, including eight in a row during a 29-second span to trigger a 14-2 second-half run that broke open a close game. The Braves made 19 successive foul shots in the second half and finished 27-for-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.
Creighton had won eight of the previous nine games between the teams, including a two-game sweep during the regular season.
Bradley went on an 8-0 run early in the second half to take a 40-35 lead and then made 19 free throws in the final 9:47 to seal the victory.
Maniscalco scored just three points on 1-of-7 shooting in Bradley’s 82-71 loss at Creighton on Saturday. He bounced back in a big way Friday.
The Braves overcame a 35-32 early second-half deficit with sharp shooting from the field and at the line. They hit 14-of-27 shots from the floor (51.9) in the second half and were flawless at the foul line.
Maniscalco has made 37 of his last 38 free throws in MVC tournament play. He played 33 minutes Friday without a turnover and stretched his streak to 170 minutes without a miscue covering the last five games.
Bradley is looking to reach post-season play for a school-record fifth year in a row.
Creighton, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, has won a league-best 10 tournament championships—five more than any other school.
Bradley used its second-half blitz to turn a 55-51 lead into a 69-53 cushion. Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Taylor Brown had key baskets in the run.
Creighton jumped out to an early 9-0 lead before Bradley battled back to score the final eight points of the first half. Maniscalco hit a pair of 3-pointers and Warren sank a short jumper to give the Braves a 32-31 lead at half.
Bradley and Northern Iowa split their two regular-season meetings. The Braves handed Northern Iowa one of its three conference losses with a 68-59 win on Feb. 13 in Peoria.
