Bears Top Nevada 68-46 in Season Opener
November 11, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2011
Box score (PDF)
RENO, Nev. - Led by a career-high 17 points by senior Caleb Patterson, the Missouri State Bears (1-0) defeated Nevada here, 68-46, in the season opener for both clubs and Paul Lusk's premier as MSU head coach.
Anthony Downing scored 12 off the bench for the defending Missouri Valley Conference champions, while Nathan Scheer added 11. Kyle Weems, who sat most of the first half in foul trouble, scored four points, but was picked up by nine points from Jarmar Gulley and eight by Bizoukas.
The Bears forced 14 turnovers, drew six charges and matched the bigger Wolf Pack on the boards, 42-42.
MSU turned a seven-point halftime lead into double figures right out of the second-half gates. Gulley scored on a put-back 30 seconds into the second stanza, and Bizoukas stole the in-bound pass and converted it into two points to give the Bears a 35-24 advantage.
The Bears would only extend their lead from there, pushing the lead to 49-27 on a Downing three-pointer at the 13:45 mark and then by 26 points on a Scheer three - his third of the night - with 9:23 remaining.
Nevada (0-1), the WAC preseason favorite, was held to just 13 field goals and shot 26-percent (13-for-50), while making good on just 5-of-25 (.200) from long range and 15-for-29 (.517) at the line.
Kevin Panzer's 10 points led the home team.
In the first half, MSU had two starters on the bench most of the half in foul trouble and led 31-24 at the intermission. Bailing the Bears out of their early foul issues was Patterson who scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes.
MSU jumped out of the gates with a 9-3 lead in the first two minutes, 22 seconds as the Bears knocked down their first four field goal attempts. Nevada made the first shot of the game, a three-pointer from the right wing by Malik Story, but missed its next seven shots to fall behind to the visitors from the Missouri Valley Conference.
The tides turned briefly at the 15:43 mark when MSU standout Weems picked up his second foul and rode out the remainder of the half on the bench along with fellow starter Jarmar Gulley who picked up his second with 12:31 on the clock.
Nevada responded with a 7-0 run to take a 10-9 lead, including five points at the charity stripe. Patterson broke a Missouri State dry spell of more than four minutes with a jumper at the 13:15 mark to put the Bears back ahead briefly. However, Nevada jumped back ahead 13-11 on a three from Panzer 30 seconds later.
The Bears then knocked down three straight three-pointers as Keith Pickens, Scheer and Patterson all drained long-range bombs against the Nevada zone over a 90-second span to build a 20-13 lead at the 6:31 mark. Patterson added seven points the rest of the way, and the Bears went into the locker room with a 31-24 lead.
The Bears finished 27-for-62 (.435) from the field, including 48-percent in the second half. MSU also was 9-for-27 (.333) from three-point range and 5-of-7 (.714) at the line. Gulley had a team-high nine rebounds, while Bizoukas had six assists.
Lusk's troops head to Arkansas State (0-1) on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. as the wrap a two-game road swing to start the season.
