MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior Jarrid Rhodes scored 20 points and drained five 3-pointers in a valiant exhibition effort by Missouri State here Saturday. Home standing Kansas State shot 48 percent from the field to turn back the Bears, 78-62, at Bramlage Coliseum.
The game was organized as an exhibition charity benefit to provide support for the American Red Cross’ hurricane relief efforts.
MSU out-rebounded the Wildcats by a 31-26 margin and, after trailing by as many as 12, climbed back within 66-60 with 3:41 to play. But K-State did not allow a Missouri State field goal from there and pulled away with both teams clearing their bench late.
Kansas State scored the game’s first nine points out of the gates before a Ryan Kreklow 3-pointer made it a 9-3 game at the first media timeout.
“I thought overall we looked tentative early and fouled too much,” said MSU head coach Paul Lusk. “But those things can be corrected. Many of our mistakes were self-inflicted but overall it was a good day for a good cause.”
In addition to Rhodes’ output, the Bears got 9 points from newcomer Reggie Scurry and 8 from Kreklow. Senior Tanveer Bhullar snagged a game-high 9 rebounds in just 9 minutes off the bench.
“I thought Rhodes was outstanding,” said Lusk. “His confidence is really the difference from last season. I thought Reggie Scurry did some great things. He is always a threat, and Tanveer was outstanding on the glass. A lot of good things to take home and a lot of things to improve on.”
Kansas State was led by Cartier Diarra with 14 points and Kamau Stokes with 13.
Missouri State finished 20-for-49 (.339) from the field and 9-of-23 (.391) from long range. MSU was 13-for-25 (.520) at the foul line and committed 17 turnovers – 11 from Kansas State steals.
Missouri State trailed 39-31 at the intermission and turned the ball over three straight possessions to start the second half. But MSU clawed back within 62-56 after a right-wing 3-pointer by freshman Mustafa Lawrence with just over seven minutes to play.
Over the next two minutes, MSU missed three of four free throw chances to fall behind by 10 once more, but Lawrence and classmate Darian Scott got involved again on back-to-back trips to make it 66-60.
The Wildcats then put the game out of reach, first making their free throws and later with timely jumpers by Diarra, Mike McGuirl and Nigel Shadd.
Kansas State finished 27-of-57 (.474) overall, 7-of-19 (.368) from the arc and 17-of-28 (.607) at the stripe with 12 turnovers.
Missouri State was without the services of standout senior Alize Johnson who is resting a minor knee injury as a precautionary measure.
Cash and non-perishable food donations were collected on site, but fans wishing to contribute to the cause can do so via the American Red Cross website.
The Bears will have two more preseason dates ahead, including a homecoming intrasquad scrimmage at JQH Arena on Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. Missouri State will also host Southwest Baptist on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at The Q before opening the regular season at Western Kentucky on Nov. 10.
Season ticket information for the upcoming season is available at MissouriStateBears.com with single-game tickets slated to go on sale October 30.
