A Missouri State team that’s excelled in all phases of basketball at various times the first half of the season, turned in a crowd-pleasing 40-minute show that was even better than the eye-popping final numbers as the Bears blew past the Evansville Purple Aces 106-54 Tuesday night to run their Hammons Student Center winning streak to 15 games while climbing into a tie for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
   Statistical superlatives were everywhere and the 7,205 who witnessed the contest were on their feet all night as the Bears hit the century mark in scoring in an MVC game for the first time in 16 years. And, it was the highest point total for any Valley team in a league game since 1998. It was the most points ever for an MSU team in a game against an Evansville program that’s been a keen rival of the Bears in a series that’s flourished since both schools were Division II national powers nearly a half century ago. It was the Bears’ fifth straight win over the Aces and 11th in the last 12 meetings.
    After a fast start that resulted in 56 percent shooting for the first half, the Bears got even hotter after intermission, cranking home 21 of 29 from the field (.724) for a final .635 (40/63) figure that’s the best for a Bears’ club since a .639 night against Troy on Dec. 11, 2004. It was the Bears’ third-highest point total in a game in the 25 years MSU has been in Division I and the third-highest in 470 games over 31 seasons in Hammons Student Center. It was also the third 100-point outing MSU has had in its eight seasons under head coach Barry Hinson.
    The Bears won their third in a row overall and climbed to 4-1 in the league to move into a three-way tie for first with UNI and Creighton. Missouri State is 13-3 overall while Evansville fell to 9-8 on the season and 2-4 in MVC play.
    The Bears own the longest current home floor win streak in the MVC and their 15th straight Hammons triumph is within two of the only longer home win streak in HSC history, a 17-game run in 1987-88 and 1988-89.
    Senior Tyler Chaney continued his red-hot shooting as he hit all five three-point attempts in a 7-of-8 night to score 21 points in just 22 minutes in the game. It was Chaney’s second straight 20-point game, the third of his 94-game MSU career. His nine boards led Bear rebounding for the fifth game in a row and he had five assists and a steal. Chaney is 14-of-16 from the field and 10-of-11 from three-point range his last two games while averaging 8.2 rebounds his last five games.
    Chaney had lots of help as Deven Mitchell was 6-of-7 from the floor and scored 16 points, Nathan Bilyeu was 5-of-7 and scored a dozen, Dale Lamberth was 5-of-7 and had 12 points and Blake Ahearn scored 11 while extending his current consecutive free throw string to 26 in a row. Lamberth had seven rebounds and Mitchell five, while Chaney, Spencer Laurie and Justin Fuehrmeyer each had five assists. All 11 Bears who played reached both the scoring and rebounding columns and nobody was in the contest for more than 25 minutes for Missouri State.
    Missouri State jumped ahead 16-1 at the start and led by 28 before Evansville got it back to within 53-30 at the half. The onslaught continued in the second half as the lead hit 40 for the first time at 81-39 with 10:26 to play. The margin got to 50 at 99-49 with 4:09 left and the Bears actually led by 57 before the Aces got the last five points of the contest.
    The Bears’ defense limited Evansville to .345 (20/58) shooting from the field as Missouri State piled up a 43-24 rebound margin. Matt Webster led Evansville scoring with 16 points and Jason Holsinger scored 14.
    The Bears are on the road for their next two games, starting with a visit Saturday (Jan. 13) to Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill. Tipoff is 2:05 p.m.
