SPRINGFIELD – Led by a career-high 22 points from freshman Trey Williams Jr., Missouri State rallied past visiting Western Kentucky, 87-74, here Thursday to give the Bears their 11^th home victory of the campaign.
 
Missouri State (14-16, 8-11 CUSA) also got 18 points from Keith Palek III, 16 from Michael Osei-Bonsu and 11 off the bench from Zaxton King to end a seven-game conference skid.
 
The Bears shot 52 percent from the field and turned the ball over just seven times in a physical and fast-paced matchup against the red-hot Hilltoppers.
 
WKU (18-12, 11-8) saw its six-game winning streak snapped, despite 23 points from Teagan Moore and 13 by Grant Newell.
 
WKU led 22-12 less than 10 minutes into the game before the Bears rallied late in the first half to take the lead. A 9-2 MSU run gave the home club a 33-32 lead with 4:17 to go before the intermission, and Missouri State never trailed again.
 
The Bears extended a five-point halftime lead to a dozen less than three minutes into the second half with Palek and Melakih Cunninghmam each burying a 3-pointer, and Kobi Williams hitting a short baseline jumper to make it a 52-40 game and force a Western Kentucky timeout with 17:41 left in the game.
 
Before the first media break of the second half, the hot-handed home squad made 5-of-8 field goals, including a traditional three-point play by Osei-Bonsu to push the lead to 13.
 
Later, Mo State forced another WKU timeout at the 12-minute mark after back-to-back buckets from Trey Williams made it a 65-50 contest.
 
The double-figure advantage held up the rest of the way with the Bears stretching their advantage to 17 at the 6:09 mark on a King three before Trey's third triple of the night made it 86-67 with 3:38 remaining.
 
The victory marked the seventh 80-point scoring effort in conference play for Missouri State while the squad's 50-percent shooting from the field marked just the third time since the start of the Conference USA slate the Bears had made at least half of their field goal attempts.
 
The Bears finished the night 28-of-54 (.519) from the field, 10-of-21 (.476) from 3-point range and 21-for-29 (.724) at the free throw line with 32 points in the paint and 21 bench points – their third-highest scoring output from their reserves since the start of conference play.
 
WKU was 25-of-58 (.431) overall, 2-for-13 (.154) from long range, and 22-for-32 (.688) from the foul line with a narrow 34-32 rebounding edge. The Hilltoppers also registered 38 points in the paint, 24 bench points and 20 second-chance tallies from 13 offensive caroms.
 
The visitors came into the game averaging a league-best 32.5 bench points per game.
 
In the first half, the Bears overcame a 10-point deficit to lead 43-38 at the halfway point, ending the period on a 31-16 surge over the last 10 minutes. Keith Palek accounted for 9 MSU points in the first stanza with Zaxton King pouring in 8 off the bench.
 
The Bears used a 14-6 outburst over a four-minute stretch to flip a 26-19 deficit into a 33-32 lead with 4:17 left. Five free throws from Palek, a triple from King and four straight points from Osei-Bonsu gave the Bears their first lead of the night, and they never trailed again.
 
With the win, Missouri State clinched a spot in next week's CUSA Tournament in Huntsville, Ala., March 10-14.
 
The Bears finish up the regular season with a senior day showdown against Middle Tennessee on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. In addition to pregame festivities to recognize the club's four senior players, it is also a Future Bears Kids Club Day with free admission for all club members as well as pregame and postgame activities.
 
Tickets for the regular-season finale are available at MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or through the MSU Athletics Box Office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular office hours.
 
A complete list of season promotions and ticket specials is also available at MissouriStateBears.com/promotions.