Boxscore

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri State came from 13 down in the second half here Wednesday night to spoil the University of Evansville's attempt to win its third straight game.  The Bears outscored the Aces 32-16 over the final 13 minutes to pull out a 65-62 win.  Evansville is now 14-8 overall and 6-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  MSU is 10-13 and 3-9.

The Aces went up by 13 in the first seven minutes of the second half, outscoring the Bears 16-3 to go up 46-33.  But the Bears used a zone defense to slow down UE's offense, and got a strong second half from Chris Cooks, who scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the final 20 minutes.  Down by five in the final minute, Evansville cut the deficit to two on two occasions, and had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but Jason Holsinger's 24-footer fell short.

Evansville led by as many as eight in the first half thanks to 11 points from Nate Garner and 10 from Shy Ely, but the Bears battled back to tie the game 30-30 on Justin Fuehrmeyer's 22-footer in the final second.  Missouri State, shooting just 31 percent behind the arc this season, hit five of 11 three-pointers in the first half.

Garner scored a career-high 24, Ely added 15, and Pieter van Tongeren scored 10 for Evansville, but the Aces finished just 9-for-17 from the free throw line, and 1-for-10 from three-point range.

The Aces head home to begin a two-game homestand, beginning Saturday at 7:05 against Wichita State, followed by next Wednesday's game against Illinois State at 7:05.