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SPRINGFIELD – Visiting Murray State blitzed the home-standing Bears, 77-53, here Wednesday at Great Southern Bank Arena to hand Missouri State its third straight loss.
 
The Racers (7-9, 4-1 MVC) got 19 points from JaCobi Wood, 18 from Quincy Anderson and 13 from Rob Perry to win their fourth in a row.
 
The visitors shot 54 percent in the second half and 51 percent for the game while out-rebounding the Bears by a 39-35 margin.
 
Missouri State (9-7, 1-4) got a team-high 17 points from Alston Mason who was 3-of-5 from 3-point range, while Chance Moore added a dozen points to go with his 5 rebounds.
 
The Bears seemed to shake their recent woes early, jumping out to an 8-2 lead before the first media timeout on early triples from Matthew Lee and Moore, in addition to a slick stick-back from Donovan Clay.
 
Murray State responded with the first of three significant runs on the night, an 8-0 outburst over a three-minute stretch, to grab a 10-8 advantage. The Bears answered with a trey by Nick Kramer and a free throw from Mason to retake the lead, 12-10, with just under 12 minutes left in the half.
 
But then the bottom fell out for the Bears. The Racers embarked on a 30-3 run over the next nine minutes, tarnished only by a 3-pointer by Mason. MoState went 1-for-15 from the field and 0-for-4 at the line during that decisive stretch that also included three 3-pointers from Murray State.

Murray led 42-19 at the half, before the visitors opened the second half with a 14-4 run to push ahead, 56-23, their largest lead of the game.
 
For their part, the Bears owned the final eight minutes of the night, outscoring the Racers 17-8 over the last 8:28 of the contest. Mason had 10 Bears' points during that stretch with Tyler Bey adding three more.
 
Missouri State finished the game 20-of-58 (.345) from the field, 8-of-32 (.250) from long range and a season-low 5-of-15 (.333) at the foul line with a dozen turnovers.
 
Clay matched Moore's 5 rebounds to share the team lead, while the senior dished out 4 assists. Fellow senior Dawson Carper racked up 5 points on 3-of-5 shots with 4 rebounds in a 14-minute appearance.

The loss marked the worst home defeat for the Bears since a 72-46 setback against Loyola Chicago on Jan. 30, 2021.
 
The Racers accounted for 42 points in the paint and 23 fast-break points as part of their 31-of-61 performance from the field.
 
The Bears will look to get back on track this weekend when they begin a two-game road swing Saturday at Evansville (6 p.m./ESPN+) ahead of a matchup at Indiana State next Tuesday.
 
MSU returns to Great Southern Bank Arena on January 20 to play Illinois State at 1 p.m. Tickets for the Illinois State game are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the Great Southern Bank Box Office, (417) 836-7678, during regular business hours.