LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Missouri State’s backcourt tandem of Ja’Monta Black and Isiaih Mosley combined for 45 points, and the Bears knocked down 16 3-pointers en route to a dominant 81-55 road victory here Wednesday.
Black was 7-for-14 from long range to match his career-high for threes and finish with 25 points – one shy of a career-high set against Little Rock last season. Mosley added 21 points on 9-for-15 from the field.
MoState (5-4) shot 52 percent from the field, including an even 16-for-32 from long range – just one short of tying a school record for triples.
The Bears also got 17 points from Jaylen Minnett and 10 from Isaac Haney off the bench. Minnett dropped in four triples as part of the MSU air barrage, and Donovan Clay snagged 9 rebounds.
After leading by 14 at the half, it was Minnett who led the charge early in the final period, accounting for 11 of the visitors’ first 13 points of the half. Back-to-back triples from Minnett and Haney gave Missouri State a 58-37 lead with 12:39 remaining.
The Trojans (4-6) would whittle the MSU lead to 16 two possessions later, but would get no closer the rest of the night. Mosley led an 11-2 Bears run late in the half with eight points and an assist to Black for his sixth trey.
Black finished with Missouri State’s final eight points of the night, including his seventh 3-pointer that gave the visitors their biggest lead of the night, 81-52 with 22 seconds to play.
The Bears made all five free throw attempts on the evening, were 30-of-58 (.517) overall and out-rebounded Little Rock by a 39-28 margin with just 12 turnovers.
Little Rock got 15 points and 5 assists from Marko Lukic off the bench, while Isaiah Palermo scored 12 and snagged 7 rebounds.
In the first half, Black erupted for 17 points on five triples to push the Bears ahead 42-28 at the intermission. Missouri State had seven straight defensive stops to open the game and take a 14-0 lead at the game’s onset.
The Trojans were scoreless for nearly eight minutes, before they used a 10-3 run midway through the opening half to get within 17-10. But, 3-pointers by Black and Keaton Hervey pushed the visitors ahead by double figures once again, leading by as many as 17 after back-to-back buckets from Mosley late in the period.
Missouri State returns to JQH Arena on Saturday when the Bears square off against Oral Roberts at 3 p.m.
