St. Louis, MO -- (Sports Network) - Osiris Eldridge scored 13 points and raked in eight rebounds as Illinois State rolled into the Missouri Valley Conference final with a 56-42 rout of upstart Northern Iowa.

Eldridge was the only scorer in double figures for the second-seeded Redbirds (24-8), who will take on No. 20 Drake (27-4), the tournament's top seed, on Sunday with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament at stake.

Boo Richardson had nine points and five assists, and Brandon Sampay also scored nine for Illinois State, which has won six straight entering Sunday's clash with Drake. The Bulldogs edged Illinois State in two close contests during the regular season, beating the Redbirds 79-73 on January 19, and 73-70 on February 5.

Eric Coleman scored 14 points and ripped down 15 rebounds for Northern Iowa (18-14), which had won three in a row, capped by a surprising, 54-49 victory over the Southern Illinois Salukis in the quarterfinals. Adam Koch added 10 points for the Panthers.

Illinois State took control with a 14-0 run midway through the first half, and took a 33-18 lead at the intermission. The Panthers cut to within seven points late in regulation, as a layup by Coleman sliced the deficit to 49-42 with 5:07 left.

Northern Iowa went cold down the stretch, however, and didn't score another point the rest of the way. Illinois State closed the game with a 7-0 push to clinch a spot in the MVC final.