FINAL STATS
ST. LOUIS - Arch Madness lived up to its name, as Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Kyle Weems (Jr., Topeka, Kan.) came through again when his driving bank shot rolled around the rim and in with 1.4 seconds left to cap Missouri State's furious comeback in the game's final three minutes and secure a 58-56 MSU win over eighth-seeded Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals here Friday.
Cuonzo Martin's Bears (24-7) showed the heart of a regular-season champion and the fortitude of a veteran team, overcoming an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance and a 56-47 deficit with only 2:49 left on their way to advancing to their first MVC Tournament semifinals 2007.
Adam Leonard (Sr., Lee's Summit, Mo.) and Weems took turns scoring during the Bears' 11-0 run to close the game. Leonard hit two deep threes, the latter of which tied the game with 46 seconds remaining. Weems sandwiched a three of his own between Leonard's two clutch shots before nailing the game-winner, which gave the Bears their first lead of the game.
The defense held the Salukis scoreless for the game's final 2:49 minutes of action, including a key stop with 16 seconds left after forcing Kendal Brown-Surles into a tough, off-balance shot that went begging.
Leonard was the game's high scorer with 20 points. Weems chipped in 14, including the most important two of all. It was the first 20-point effort of the season for Leonard.
The Bears shot only 33.3 percent (18-54) from the field and 60.0 percent (15-25) from the free-throw line, which was uncharacteristic of the team that finished the season second in The Valley in field-goal percentage (46.6%) and third in free-throw shooting percentage (73.6%).MSU was also 7-for-24 (.292) from three-point range, marking the most three-point attempts by a MSU team in the Valley Tournament.
SIU was as equally surprising. The MVC regular-season's worst shooting team, 42.4%, was 23-44 from the floor (52.3%) and 4-8 from behind the arc. The hot start helped the Salukis build a 32-24 halftime lead.
The Salukis had an answer for every Bear run until the last three minutes of the game. MSU went on a 11-5 scoring run in first 5:14 of second half to cut the to two at 37-35. But SIU scored nine of the next 11 points to match their halftime lead of eight at 46-38 with 9:50 remaining.
The Bears would again make a run, cutting the lead to four on a pair of Weems free throws, 46-42 with 6:53 to play. The Salukis responded by going stretching the lead to 56-47 with a Justin Bocot layup, their last field goal of the game.
The shooting percentages told the story of the first half, as SIU has got off to a 58.3 clip (14-24) while the Bears shot a paltry 25.0 percent (6-24) en route to a 32-24 Saluki lead at the break.
MSU had good looks throughout the first 20 minutes, but could get nothing to drop from the field. The charity stripe was not any more charitable, as the Bears made only nine of 16 free throw attempts.
Despite the sluggish start, MSU was able to keep the lead to single digits behind Leonard's 11 first-half points. The senior hit two of the Bears' three field goals from behind the arc in the first stanza.
After the Salukis jumped out to a 17-9 lead with 12:48 remaining, Jermaine Mallett (Sr., Jackson, Miss.) sparked a short-lived MSU scoring binge and ended a 6:21 field goal drought. His tip-in off a Kyle Weems' missed jump shot was the first of nine points in 3:29 minutes, which culminated with Caleb Patterson's (Jr., Ames, Okla.) 15-foot jumper that cut the lead to 22-20 with 6:03 to go in the half.
SIU responded to the Bears' threat by scoring 10 of the game's last 14 points before intermission. Kendal Brown-Surles scored nine first-half points, including the Salukis' first seven points of the game.
Mamadou Seck was the top Saluki performer, going for 15 points and 14 rebounds. Brown-Surles and Justin Bocot each had 11.
The top-seeded Bears will meet Creighton (19-13) in Saturday's first semifinal. Tip-off will be at 1:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Midwest with the winner advancing to Sundays 1:05 p.m. championship game on CBS. Creighton was a 60-57 winner over two-time defending MVC Tournament champion Northern Iowa on Friday afternoon.
