Missouri State pulls away from UCA
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. The Missouri State Bears made it four straight over Arkansas teams Saturday night, beating the University of Central Arkansas Bears 63-46 at JQH Arena.
The MSU Bears (5-3) also own victories over Arkansas, Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock this season, all on their new court. They have held the Arkansas teams to an average of 47 points. The latest victory did not come without a fight, though, as UCA, down 21 points early in the second half, got to within six points but the home Bears made their free throws, with an occasional 3-pointer tossed in for good measure, down the stretch to pull away to the 17-point victory.
"You can't believe how proud I was of our guys at halftime at 20-11,' said UCA head coach Rand Chapppell, who was facing his alma mater for the first time. "They just battled so hard and competed in a place like this. It's easy to drop your head and let the other team run some things off on you.
"We had a slow start to the second half but I think we made a tremendous run and we weren't out of the picture with five or six minutes to go.'
The first half was all defense, or at least a lack of offense.
The teams combined for just 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the half, with MSU leading 8-6. UCA went nearly eight minutes midway through the first half without scoring while MSU pushed out to a 17-10 lead. Neither team scored from the 10:07 mark to the 5:17 mark. At one point in the half, both teams were shooting three of 16 from the field, or 18 percent.
After the long scoring drought, senior center Brian Marks scored on a turnaround inside for the Bears to make it 13-10 with 2:45 left in the half. Cardell McFarland made a driving layup for the MSU Bears for a 17-10 lead before Marks made one of two at the free -throw line with one minute remaining.
The Bears misfired twice from 3-point range in the final two minutes and MSU's Justin Fuehrmeyer got loose for a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left for a 20-11 lead. After the halftime buzzer, UCA's Marcus Pillow was called for a technical foul.
That proved to be the momentum boost MSU needed as Chris Cooks started the second half by making both technical free throws to start a 12-2 run to open the half. Wade Knapp scored inside and then added a dunk and Ryan Jehle popped back-to-back threes for a 32-13 lead just two minutes into the half.
UCA came right back with 10 consecutive points to cut the deficit to 34-23 on a pair of free throws by Brooks Taylor. Weems answered for MSU with two free throws and a long 3-pointer from the right wing for a 39-23 advantage.
The Bears stayed within 12 for the next four minutes before UCA got an inside basket by Rueter to cut it to 10 point before Taylor hit a 3-pointer UCA's first of the night and a free throw to draw the Bears within 45-39 with six minutes left to play.
The MSU Bears made only one of seven free throws over a four-minute period after hitting their first 12. Laurie's second free throw gave MSU a 53-43 lead with three minutes left and he followed with a 3-pointer to push the MSU lead back to 13 points with 2:25 remaining. From there, the home Bears made two 3-pointers (9 of 23 for the game) and three free throws to seal it.
"We turned it into an old-fashioned dogfight in the first half,' said Chappell, who played for what was then Southwest Missouri in the early 1980s. "If we could have gotten a couple more shots to fall, we might have taken control of the game and had a chance to get an upset here tonight.
"But they are a good, poised team and they got to the foul line some there late. They made every free throw there for awhile and got away from us. But I thought our guys did a great job hanging in there.
Brooks Taylor and Pouncy finished with 12 points each, while Rueter added 10. Marks had a game-high 12 rebounds. UCA outrebounded MSU 39-28 and held the home Bears to just two offensive rebounds.
UCA made only one of 13 from three-point range and 19 of 53 (35.8
percent) overall.
"I think we were pretty well guarded and didn't have very many
comfortable looks,' said Chappell. "Marcus is 0 for 6 and 1 for 11. He
had good numbers coming into the game and if he his typical four or five
buckets, with a couple of 3s, we probably have a chance.'
UCA returns home for five consecutive games, beginning with a 7
p.m. tipoff Wednesday against Ecclesia.