Feb. 8, 2012

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Missouri State has 11 points at the half from senior Caleb Patterson and 7 rebounds from Keith Pickens to lead the Bears to a 31-25 halftime lead over Southern Illinois here in Missouri Valley Conference play.

The Bears took charge in the first 10 minutes, getting a layup by Michael Bizoukas for the first basket of the game and held off three Saluki ties in the first 10 minutes to keep control.

A technical foul was called on SIU's Jeff early at the 13:47 mark of the first half after he slapped the floor after a rebounding foul. His second and third fouls sent him to the bench for the remainder of the first half and put Isaiah Rhine on the line for a pair of technical shots to break a 6-6 tie at the time.

At the 11:10 mark, Patterson returned to the floor for the first time since Jan. 25 and converted a traditional three-point play 18 seconds later to put MSU up 15-10.

The Salukis, however reeled off a 20-1 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to take a 20-17 advantage before Patterson got it back to a one-point game with a pair of free throws with just over eight minutes to go in the opening stanza.

The lead would change hands five more times over the next three minutes before a put-back by Pickens put MSU up 25-24. The Bears went on a 6-1 run to end the half, including a layup just before the horn to take a 31-25 advantage into the locker room.

MSU was 12-for-23 (.522) from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 0-for-5 from bonus distance. Paul Lusk's club was also 7-for-9 (.778) at the line with a 17-14 rebounding advantage. The Bears turned the ball over seven times in the early going.

SIU was 10-for-26 (.385) from the field and 2-for-9 (.222) from three-point range. The Salukis were 3-of-6 (.500) from the charity stripe and had four turnovers.

Mamadou Seck had six points to lead Southern Illinois.

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