Jan. 14, 2015 Final Stats
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SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State held the Missouri Valley Conference's top scorer to just 7 points and 2-for-12 from the field, but it was D.J. Balentine's bank shot with 5.8 seconds remaining that was the difference as Evansville clipped the Bears, 56-54, here Wednesday in a key MVC battle at JQH Arena.
Mislav Brzoja scored a game-high 18 points for Evansville, while Egidijus Mockevicius added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Purple Aces who were held to their third-lowest field-goal percentage of the season (.400).
Missouri State, which played without the services of its top scorer Marcus Marshall due to a team suspension, had four players in double figures, including 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists by Dorrian Williams. Christian Kirk added 12 points, freshman Chris Kendrix contributed 10 points and 5 rebounds in his return to the starting rotation, and Tyler McCullough notched 11 points for the Bears.
After falling behind by 12 in the first half, the Bears trimmed their deficit to 31-25 at the break and evened the score at 36 on a McCullough dunk and free throw with 14:38 remaining.
The home club, which made four more field goals than Evansville on the night, took its first lead on a hook shot by Kirk with just under 13 minutes remaining and then built its advantage to 40-37 moments later with a pair of free throws from Williams.
Mockevicius responded by scoring Evansville's next 8 points to lead an 8-4 Aces run over a five-minute span that gave Marty Simmons' squad a 45-44 advantage.
Missouri State battled back from there with Williams scoring on a short jumper and Kendrix adding a close-range bucket around the six-minute mark that put the Bears ahead 48-45.
After Brzoja's second 3-pointer of the night tied the game, 48-48, McCullough answered with a 16-footer with 4:23 left in the contest. The Bears made all four free throw attempts they took from there, but they would not make another field goal down the stretch.
After Brzoja's final trey of the night splashed home at the 2:43 mark to push Evansville ahead 54-52, McCullough knocked down a pair of free throws at the minute mark to knot the score. Evansville got two cracks at the winning shot thanks to a foul call with 38 seconds left. UE was not in the bonus, but set up the winning play on a drive to the bucket and shot off the glass by Balentine who entered the game ranked No. 4 nationally in scoring.
Missouri State had two shots on its final possession - the first on a close-range shot by Williams that was smothered out of bounds by Mockevicius, and the latter by Austin Ruder whose 3-pointer out of the left corner as time expired rimmed out.
The Bears (8-9, 2-3) dropped their third straight league game despite matching the Aces on the boards, 31-31, after getting out-rebounded 8-0 in the early going. MSU finished 20-for-55 (.364) from the field, 2-of-13 (.154) from long range and 12-of-14 (.857) at the stripe with 10 turnovers.
Evansville (13-4, 3-2), which was ranked third nationally in team field goal percentage, was just 16-for-40 (.400) from the field and 6-of-12 (.500) beyond the arc. But ample free throw chances in the first half pushed the Aces ahead early and helped them complete an 18-for-22 (.818) night from the foul line.
In the first half, Evansville secured nearly half its points in free throws, making 14 of 15 charity opportunities to take a 31-25 lead into the break. MSU made three more field goals than the Aces in the first half but was out-rebounded by a 20-14 margin and surrendered an early 11-0 run.
Evansville broke into a double-digit lead just over 4 minutes into the game, 13-3, after the Bears made just two of their first 15 field goal attempts.
MSU heads back to the road for a Sunday matchup against No. 23 Northern Iowa at 3 p.m. The game will be played before a national TV audience on ESPNU. The Bears then return home on Jan. 21 to clash with arch rival No. 13 Wichita State at 7 p.m. Tickets for the WSU game are on sale at MissouriStateBears.com or at the MSU Athletics Box Office at JQH Arena during regular box office hours at (417) 836-7678.
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