The Missouri State basketball team could not overcome a 16-2 Utah scoring run in the first half and a 7:17 scoreless drought in the second stanza Saturday afternoon in a 66-54 non-conference loss to the Runnin’ Utes at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Bears fell to 5-3 on the season while Utah improved to 6-3.
After MSU senior Dale Lamberth sunk a three-pointer to make it 9-6 Bears with 14:17 remaining in the first half, the Utes reeled off a 16-2 run over the next 6:43 to double-up the Bears by a 22-11 score before Drew Richards’ layup halted the Utah spurt.
Utah 7-footer Luke Nevill extended the lead to 26-13 for the home team with consecutive layups, but Lamberth answered with five quick points to pull the Bears back within eight with 4:26 left. The Runnin’ Utes then closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 37-20 lead into intermission.
Missouri State held the Utes scoreless for the first 4:25 of the second stanza but were only able to shave six points off the lead before Nevill ended the drought with a dunk an MSU turnover on the next possession resulted in a Utah layup to push the Ute lead back to 15 at 41-26.
The Bears quickly responded with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to single digits for the first time since it was 26-18 in the first half. A Chris Cooks layup extended the run to 9-0 for the Bears, but Utah ended it with a three for a 44-35 lead.
MSU’s Deven Mitchell got the Bears within seven a second time at 44-37 with a layup at 11:31, but Missouri State went cold after that, suffering through a scoreless drought of more than seven minutes before a Shane Laurie three at the 4:14 mark made it a 52-40 Utah advantage.
The Bears shot just six free throws, making three, while Utah made 17-of-18 (.944) from the charity stripe.
MSU’s Lamberth and Utah’s Nevill tied for game-high scoring honors with 18 points apiece while each shot 7-for-12 from the field. Lamberth drained four treys in seven attempts. Mitchell added 14 for the Bears and Richards finished with nine points and six boards.
Missouri State shot .442 from the field compared to .489 for Utah, and the teams were nearly even in every category aside from free throw shooting, where the Utes held a 14-point advantage.
The Bears continue their stretch of five games in nine days at home on Monday (Dec. 17) against Texas-Pan American in the first round of the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic. Tip-off from Hammons Student Center is set for 7:05 p.m.
