A driving layup by Dequon Miller with six seconds remaining lifted Missouri State past visiting Northern Iowa here Wednesday, 59-58, in a thrilling come-from-behind Missouri Valley Conference win for the Bears.
Miller’s game-winner came on the heels of a missed jumper by UNIs Klint Carlson under duress with 13 seconds on the clock that Ryan Kreklow gathered up for the home team. Kreklow immediately fed the ball to Miller who weaved through a scrambling Panther defense for the go-ahead shot. The Panthers’ managed one more attempt, a jumper by Wes Washpun at the buzzer, but it was just off its mark to seal the first conference win of the year for MSU (5-10, 1-2).
Chris Kendrix led the Bears with 17 points and 6 rebounds, while freshman Obediah Church notched 10 points and a game-high 8 rebounds to go with 3 assists.
The Bears trailed 50-40 with 9:14 to go after the Panthers’ Matt Bohannon knocked down his fifth 3-pointer of the night. But Kreklow gave the MSU offense a timely spark on its next two trips with a pair of clutch treys to get the home club back within four points of the lead.
Exactly three-and-a-half minutes later, Church tied the game with a close-range bucket off the glass. He was fouled on the shot, but missed a chance to put the Bears ahead with the ensuing free throw. UNI took advantage of the opportunity and responded with a jumper by Washpun and trey by Wyatt Lohaus to put the visitors up five with just under three minutes to play.
However, the final two minutes belonged to the Bears. Kreklow collected two steals in crunch time, and Kendrix came up with a huge offensive rebound in the final minute that resulted in Kreklow getting to the line down by three points with 42 seconds to go. The freshman drained both charity shots to get MSU within 58-57, and the Bears forced UNI into two timeout situations on the Panthers’ final full possession to set up the winning shot by Miller.
Bohannon and Washpun finished with 15 points apiece for UNI (9-7, 1-2).
The Panthers made 11 3-pointers and 11 2-pointers on a night in which they led for nearly 26 minutes. UNI scored 21 points off 13 Bears’ turnovers, but failed to snag an offensive rebound in the second half after tallying 9 second-chance points in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Ben Jacobson’s club was 22-for-55 (.400) overall from the field, 11-for-24 (.458) from downtown – with four players scoring multiple treys – and 3-for-4 (.750) at the foul line.
Missouri State finished 24-for-50 (.480) from the field and 6-of-19 (.316) from beyond the arc. The Bears made just 5-of-10 free throws, but made up for it with a 34-27 rebounding advantage overall, including a 19-9 margin in the second half.
Kreklow finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals off the bench. MSU’s three true freshman – including Kreklow, Church and Jarred Dixon – combined for 23 points and 15 rebounds.
With the win, MSU snapped a four-game skid and defeated the Panthers for the first time in four years. UNI had reeled off six straight wins in the series since MSU’s 63-51 win over the Panthers on Jan. 28, 2012 at JQH Arena.
In the first half, UNI overcame 11 lead changes and a 9-0 outburst by the Bears to lead 28-26 at the break. Bohannon went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc to personally account for two of the lead changes.
After falling behind 23-17 on a trey by Washpun, the Bears rallied to a 26-23 advantage with 5:30 to go in the half as Church scored twice, and Kendrix scored five including a 3-pointer as part of the 9-0 run late in the period. UNI ended the half with a 5-0 outburst of its own to go into the break ahead by a deuce.
Paul Lusk’s Bears resume conference play Saturday at Loyola with a 3 p.m. tipoff in Chicago on KOZL-TV and the MSU Television Network. MSU returns to JQH Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 13 to play league rival Wichita State at 8 p.m. Tickets for the WSU game can be purchased at MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or during regular box office hours at JQH Arena and at (417) 836-7678.
