Feb. 18, 2015 Final Stats
Final Stats (PDF) | Season Stats | MVC-Only Stats | Highlights | Lusk Postgame | Players Postgame | Tickets for Bradley Game
SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State freshman Chris Kendrix notched game highs with 20 points and 8 rebounds to help lift the Bears (10-17, 4-11 MVC) to a 60-56 Missouri Valley Conference victory over visiting Indiana State here Wednesday and snap a four-game conference losing streak.
The Bears also got 16 points from Dorrian Williams and 6 rebounds from Loomis Gerring to help the winning cause.
Gerring's two free throws with 31.1 seconds to play gave the Bears a 59-56 lead at the time, while the junior notched two key rebounds in the final 71 seconds to help the home side seal the victory.
Indiana State (13-14, 9-6) missed its last four field goal attempts on the night, including a potential game-tying 3-pointer by Khristian Smith with 7.6 seconds to go. Kendrix gathered in the rebound and was fouled by the Sycamores with just under 4 ticks showing. After missing the front end of the two-shot situation, the freshman splashed home the second free throw to put the game out of reach and secure his first 20-point game.
Sycamore freshman Brenton Scott led his club with 16 points behind four 3-pointers, while Smith scored 13.
The Bears held their first opponent under 40 percent shooting in five games as ISU finished at 39.3 percent from the field, including 35 percent in the second half.
The game featured 8 ties and 14 lead changes, none more critical than a jumper by Williams with 49 seconds left in the game that inched the Bears ahead 57-56 just moments after Camyn Boone missed a pair of potential game-tying free throws. Scott followed Williams' basket with a missed 3-pointer on the ISU end, and Gerring corralled the ensuing rebound and eventually sank the biggest free throws of the game.
Missouri State out-rebounded its fourth opponent in six games, 34-30, with 16 second-chance points by the Bears on 14 offensive caroms, including 5 by Kendrix.
With the win, the Bears also secured a .500 record or better at home for the 44th consecutive season as they improved to 7-6 at JQH Arena this winter.
For the game, MSU was 21-of-52 (.404) from the field, 4-of-11 (.364) beyond the arc and 12-of-17 (.706) at the line - all in the second half. MSU also snagged 6 steals and got two of its three blocked shots from senior Christian Kirk.
ISU, which had won two of its last three coming into the game, was 22-for-56 overall from the floor, 9-of-21 (.429) from long range and 3-of-6 (.500) at the line.
In the first half, a Williams 3-pointer just before the horn gave Missouri State a 28-27 lead at the intermission to wrap a 12-point half for the junior guard.
The Bears jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first eight minutes before the Sycamores converted five straight field goal attempts to tie the game, 17-17, with just seven-and-a-half minutes left in the period.
Williams later knocked down his first trey of the half to swing momentum back to the home side, 23-20, before ISU's Smith scored 6 unanswered to give the visitors a 23-20 lead at the 3:07 mark.
Kendrix would later tie the game at 25 on his second trey of the half, before Smith knocked down a pair of charity shots on ISU's final possession of the opening period. Williams then sprang loose from the right wing with 4 seconds left in the half and splashed home the clutch trey to give the Bears the lead after 20 minutes.
The Bears now turn their attention to the Drake Bulldogs (8-19, 5-10), Sunday's opponent for a 1 p.m., game in Des Moines, before their home finale Feb. 25 against Bradley at 7:05 p.m. on Senior Night at JQH Arena. Tickets for the Bradley game, which is also being billed as a White Out game, are available now at MissouriStateBears.com or by calling (417) 836-7678 during regular box office hours at The Q.
#MSUBears
