SPRINGFIELD – Led by 30 points from Kobi Williams, Missouri State shot 48 percent from the field and knocked down 13 threes to dispatch visiting Maryville University, 92-67, here Friday in the Bears' only official exhibition game of the preseason.
 
Williams, a transfer from Truman State, was 7-of-12 from 3-point range and 9-of-15 overall to lead four MSU players in double figures. Seniors Michael Osei-Bonsu (13) and Logan Epes (11) also posted double digits in the scoring column with Keith Palek III adding 13 as well.
 
Palek and Osei-Bonsu shared the team lead with six rebounds apiece, with five other maroons snagging five caroms apiece. The Bears held a 52-38 rebounding advantage and racked up 20 second-chance points off 18 offensive boards.
 
Ten of the dozen players who saw action for Coach Cuonzo Martin's squad found the scoring column and all 12 snagged at least one rebound.
 
Missouri State finished 31-of-64 (.484) overall from the field, 13-of-33 (.394) from long range and 17-for-27 (.630) at the free throw line with 23 assists, 12 steals and 7 blocks.
 
Maryville was led by Evan Palmquist with 19 points, while Henry Sanchez Perez scored 13, including four consecutive 3-pointers midway through the second half. Kickapoo product Cam Liggins scored 8 points and shared the Saints' lead with 5 rebounds.
 
In the first half, the Bears got 16 points from Kobi Williams to push ahead to a 48-24 advantage at the midway point.
 
After a slow start out of the gates, Williams broke the ice with MSU's first points of the night with a corner three, the first of four he would hit in the opening half. Maryville kept things close until the 9:20 mark when the Bears stretched a 20-13 lead into a 36-13 advantage with an impressive 16-0 surge.
 
Williams picked up where he left off to start the second half, knocking down three triples and 12 of the Bears' first 14 points of the period to extend the lead to 62-33 coming out of the under-16 timeout.
 
That would be the Missouri State's largest lead of the night with an 8-2 mini-run by Maryville trimming the visitors' deficit to 67-44 at the 11-minute mark. Later, Sanchez Perez scored 12 straight points for the Saints, all on 3-pointers, the last of which made it a 78-56 game with just over 7 minutes to go.
 
Trey Williams, Palek and Epes would later close things out for Missouri State, each burying a triple over the next four minutes, while a rim-rattling dunk from Darrion Sutton added an exclamation point to the one-sided exhibition contest.
 
The Bears held Maryville to 33.8 percent shooting from the field (25-of-74), 8-of-28 (.286) from distance and 9-of-16 (.563) at the stripe with 15 turnovers. The Saints did scrape up 19 offensive boards but only tallied 13 second-chance points.
 
Missouri State will begin the regular season on Tuesday when they entertain Missouri Southern at 7 p.m. Tickets for the opener and all home games are available at MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or by visiting the Missouri State Athletics Box Office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.
 
A complete list of season promotions and ticket specials is also available at MissouriStateBears.com/promotions.