Dec. 3, 2011

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Missouri State has fought back from a huge early deficit to trim New Mexico's lead to 39-23 at the half here in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.

The Bears have 7 points from Caleb Patterson and overcame a 2-for-10 start from the field to finish the half 10-for-25 (.400). Nathan Scheer has added 5 points to the Bears' cause.

New Mexico, which has a game-high 11 points off the bench from Demetrius Walker, stormed out to a 23-4 lead before the Bears got their engines going. A three-pointer by Scheer at the 9:45 mark made it a 23-7 game. A Christian Kirk dunk on the team's next possession cut the MSU deficit to 24-9.

From there, UNM climbed ahead 36-12 over the next three minutes, getting the benefit of 14 first-half free throws to pad their advantage.

After a Corey Copeland three-pointer at the 6:22 mark, MSU went on a 9-2 run to make the halftime deficit reachable.

The Bears did not attempt a free throw in the first half and were out-rebounded 20-15 with 10 turnovers for the visitors.