Boxscore
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- A back-and-forth game suddenly went one way in the second half Tuesday, and it was Missouri State's way as the Bears improved to 11-1 with a 74-60 victory over the University of Evansville (6-5). Tuesday's game at Roberts Stadium was the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.
Missouri State hit 14 of its first 21 shots in the second half, and turned a 40-40 tie into a 72-51 lead on Kyle Weems' three-pointer with 3:44 to go. Jermaine Mallett (17), Weems (14) and Caleb Patterson (12) led the way for the Bears, who hit 11 of 20 three-point attempts and shot 56 percent overall for the game (30-for-54). Denver Holmes scored 15 and James Haarsma added 10 to lead Evansville, which hit 24 of 51 shots for 47 percent.
Evansville had won three years in a row at Roberts Stadium against Missouri State before the Bears broke the streak on Tuesday.
"They picked up their pressure in the second half, and we didn't respond the way we needed to," said UE Coach Marty Simmons. "We had too many breakdowns defensively, but they deserve a lot of credit for hitting their shots and slowing our offense."
Evansville is back in action Friday at MVC pre-season favorite UNI. Game time is 7:05 CST.
