The Missouri State Bears heated up an otherwise frigid opening night of the 20th Annual Price Cutter Classic by catching fire early and cruising to an 89-49 victory over Alabama State Thursday evening at Hammons Student Center.
The Bears wasted little time in igniting their offense, as Blake Ahearn and Nathan Bilyeu buried three pointers to spark a 12-0 run that saw Missouri State connect on its first five shots of the ballgame to build a 12-2 lead just three minutes into the contest. Missouri State outscored the Hornets 20-8 in the paint in the first half, and center Drew Richards was a major contributor to the Bears’ success inside against an undersized Alabama State squad. The 6-9 junior was dominant early on, hitting four of his five field-goal attempts in the opening half to pace the Bears with 10 points. After Alabama State cut the Bears’ lead to 18-14 at the 11:41 mark, Richards jump-started a 9-0 scoring run with an authoritative dunk, then knocked down a short jumper to push the lead back to eight points. Next, Richards delivered a bone-jarring screen in transition on the Hornets’ Tahrea Jackson that freed Shane Laurie to find Spencer Laurie on the left-wing for a wide-open three- pointer that extended the Missouri State advantage to 27-14.
Missouri State shot 59.3% (16-of-27) for the half and led by as many as 22 points before the Hornets ended the half with a 6-0 scoring spurt to close the gap to 41-25 at the break. It was more of the same in the second half, as the Bears scored the first 10 points of the period behind the free-throw shooting of Ahearn and Richards. The duo combined to go 6-for-6 from the line over the first three minutes of the half to push the lead to 51-25 and squash any thoughts of a comeback by the Hornets.
Alabama State never got any closer than the halftime score, allowing Barry Hinson to empty his bench. The Bears’ reserves picked up right where the starters left off, outscoring the Hornets’ bench by a 43-6 margin in the ballgame. Junior forward Deven Mitchell was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the foul line to lead the Bears with 14 points off the bench, while junior transfer Dex Manswell gave the crowd its money’s worth with an emphatic dunk late in the contest.
In all, the Bears enjoyed a 38-14 scoring advantage in the paint, handed out 24 assists and out-rebounded Alabama State by a 44-31 margin. Missouri State also held the Hornets to just 30.5% (18-of-59) shooting from the field for the game, while knocking down 30-of-57 (52.6%) field goal attempts, including 9-of-19 (47.4%) from three-point range.
Richards finished with 12 points, and Ahearn chipped in 13, as all but one Bear scored at least four points in the game. Moses Edun, who scored 14 of the Hornets’ 25 points in the first half, finished with a game-high 18 points, while Andrew Hales turned in a 15-point effort for Alabama State.
The Price Cutter Classic continues Friday evening with a 7:05 p.m. contest between Alabama State and Santa Clara at Hammons and concludes Saturday night with the Bears meeting Santa Clara at 7:05 p.m.
