Nov. 22, 2015 Final Stats
Final Stats | Season Stats | Puerto Rico Tip-Off | Tickets for WWU game
SAN JUAN, P.R. - Gavin Ware scored 25 points, and Mississippi State (2-3) held off a late surge by Missouri State here Sunday to claim an 84-70 win in the seventh-place game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Ware finished 12-for-16 from the field to lead a group of four Bulldogs in double figures in the scoring column, while Travis Daniels added 9 points and 8 rebounds for the SEC squad.
Missouri State which cut a 20-point deficit down to four in the second half, got 17 points from sophomore Chris Kendrix, while Camyn Boone scored 13 - 11 in the second half. Dorrian Williams also contributed 12 points and a team-high 5 rebounds for Missouri State (0-4).
Down 45-27 at the intermission, Missouri State started the second half on a 19-6 outburst to cut its deficit to 51-46 with 12:27 to go. Boone tallied 9 points on the run, while Kendrix added 8.
Kendrix was pivotal again moments later with and "and one" bucket and free throw that got the Bears within 55-51 with just over 10 minutes left in the contest.
Ware responded with a dunk for the Bulldogs, but Boone didn't let the Mississippi State big man steal the show for long, responding by backing him down for a close-range bucket to make it 57-53 on Missouri State's next trip.
Boone hobbled off just before the under-eight media timeout, and the Bulldogs responded with a quick 6-0 outburst to get their lead back to 10. Loomis Gerring knocked down a pair of fouls hots, and Kendrix scored on a dunk-back to bring Missouri State back to 63-57 with just under six minutes to play, but the next five minutes belonged to the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State responded with a 14-5 run that included an exclamation-mark dunk by Ware, and held off late pressure by the Bears to secure a 14-point decision.
"We have some kids who won't quit," said Bears' head coach Paul Lusk. "We dug ourselves a big hole, but only committing three turnovers the second half gave us an opportunity. We found a way to get back in the game, but couldn't finish it."
In the first half, Mississippi State shot 70.4 percent from the field and forced 11 Bears' turnovers to lead by 18 at the break. The Bulldogs took a 15-point advantage before the 12-minute mark, knocking down 9 field goals in less than 8 minutes to set a furious tone from the opening tip.
The Bears rallied midway through the opening half with a pair of 3-pointers by Dequon Miller and jumper by Gerring to bring the Bears within 26-16 at the 7:36 mark. But Mississippi State used a 9-2 outburst over a three-minute span before the intermission to lead by as many as 20.
For the game, the Bears out-rebounded Mississippi State, 33-28, recording 14 offensive caroms and marking the squad's third straight effort with double-figures on the offensive glass. After a slow start, MSU was 24-for-56 (.429) from the field, 5-of-17 (.294) beyond the arc and an impressive 17-for-23 (.739) at the foul line.
Mississippi State finished 35-for-59 (.593) overall, but made just 16 shots in the second half and just 2-of-12 from bonus distance. The Bulldogs finished the game with 10 turnovers, 7 steals and 9-of-13 (.692) from the stripe.
Boone and Miller both averaged 11.7 points per game for Missouri State at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off event, while Obediah Church posted 10.0 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds over three games on the island.
Missouri State returns to JQH Arena on Friday to battle William Woods in the home opener at 2:05 p.m. Tickets are on sale at MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or on game day at the MSU Athletics Box Office at JQH Arena and (417) 836-7678.
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