EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Michael Osei-Bonsu registered his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds on his birthday here Sunday, but it was not enough as the Bears fell to Evansville, 57-40, in MSU's first Valley road game of the season.

The Bears (7-6, 0-2) also got 12 points from Dez White, including three of the team's five 3-pointers on the afternoon.

Evansville (4-9, 1-1) was led by Cameron Haffner's 13 points, while Joshua Hughes tacked on 11 points and 9 rebounds, and Tanner cuff scored 10 for the Aces.

The Bears trailed by three at the half and quickly knotted the score on a 3-pointer from Zaxton King coming out of the break. Osei-Bonsu's stick-back 75 seconds later answered a Haffner three and made it a one-point contest.

Evansville the embarked on an 8-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes to lead by nine at the 16-minute mark, before an Osei-Bonsu hook shot and triple by White trimmed MSU's deficit to four.

Just before the under-12 break, a double-technical sparked a 6-0 outburst from the home side to extend Evansville's lead to double digits for the first time, 40-30. 

MSU would trim the deficit to 40-36 with 8:39 to play after quick mini-run of its own with four points at the line and a layup from King. But the Bears scored just two field goals the rest of the way, while the Aces ended the game on a 17-4 run, including three triples, to put things out of reach for the Bears..

The Bears shot season-lows .259 (14-of-54) from the field and .200 (5-of-25) from three, but out-rebounded the Purple Aces, 41-35, while collecting 8 steals and forcing a dozen turnovers. MSU's shooting percentage was the squad's lowest since 2015.

White eclipsed 500 career points in the contest while becoming the first MSU player since 2016 (Jared Dixon) to snag 6 steals in a game. King's two treys on the night gave him multiple 3-pointers in 10-of-13 games this season.

Evansville finished 18-of-47 (.383) overall from the field, 8-of-22 (.364) from three and 13-for-20 (.650) at the line.

In the first half, Evansville ended the period on an 8-1 run to lead 23-20 at the midway point. The Bears forced 9 UE turnovers and snagged 6 steals while holding the Aces to 39.1 percent from the field but couldn't find the shooting touch on the offensive end. Dez White racked up a game-high 8 points in the first half, including a pair of threes.

The Bears return to Great Southern Bank Arena on New Year's Day to square off with Valparaiso at 7 p.m. Tickets for the Valpo game are available at MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or through the Missouri State box office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.