Missouri State senior all-conference performer Blake Ahearn sizzled in his best shooting night of the season and junior Deven Mitchell was almost as accurate with a one-two punch that fired the basketball Bears past the visiting Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers 79-60 in non-conference action Wednesday night in Hammons Student Center.
The nation’s leading free throw shooter each of the past three seasons, Ahearn hit 16 of his 18 shots in the game as he connected on 6-of-8 from the field, including all four of his three-point tries, and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line to finish with a season-best 26 points.
Mitchell hit 8-of-11 from the floor and added both his free throw attempts to collect 18 points and led the Bears on the boards with seven rebounds. Nathan Bilyeu was also in double figures for Missouri State with 10 points.
A 16-0 Missouri State run over a four-minute period late in the first half yanked the momentum of the contest away from the Panthers. UWM was hot early and built its lead to 25-17 with 8:44 to play in the half. A trio of threes and two free throws by Ahearn led the charge as the Bears went ahead to stay at 33-25 with 4:26 to play.
Trailing 39-32 at the half, the Panthers cut the Bears’ lead to 43-40 five minutes into the second half but MSU came alive again with an 8-0 run and UWM didn’t get closer than nine the rest of the way.
Missouri State won its third game in a row and the Bears ran their current home win streak to 12 straight, longest HSC win string in 14 seasons. Missouri State is now 7-1 overall while UW-Milwaukee, an NCAA tournament second round team in 2005-06, slipped to 2-8.
The Bears’ defense held the Panthers to .390 (23/59) shooting from the field; the fifth game in the past six a Missouri State foe has been contained below 40 percent from the field. The Panthers, led in scoring by Avery Smith’s 21 points, had a 31-28 rebound edge for the contest but Missouri State hit .609 (14/23) from the field in the first half and .583 (28/48) for the game. The Bears had a dozen steals and forced 18 turnovers.
The Bears, now 6-0 at home and 1-1 on neutral sites this season, make their first road start of the campaign Saturday (Dec. 9) when they play at another 2006 NCAA tournament team, North Carolina-Wilmington, in Wilmington, N.C. Tipoff is 6 p.m. (CST).
