[wpbvideo id=”950015″]
SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State used a solid defensive effort and balanced scoring to take down South Dakota State, 75-63, here Wednesday, extending the Bears win streak to three.
MSU (7-4) minimized damage from the nation’s top 3-point shooting team to just 25 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc and held the Jackrabbits to 26 points below their season scoring average (89.3), which ranked second in the nation coming in.
Jaylen Minnett led five Missouri State players in double figures with 16 points and four 3-pointers, while Gaige Prim poured in 13 points and snagged 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Donovan Clay also pitched in 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.
“I think our team is starting to learn from the mistakes it made earlier in the season and starting to defend more,” said Bears head coach Dana Ford. “We were able to get stops down the stretch, which is how you win close games and how winning teams finish games.”
Less than a minute into the second half, Missouri State built its biggest lead of the game to that point on a layup from Isiaih Mosley. But after Prim’s layup gave the Bears a 44-35 lead at the 18:13 mark, SDSU reeled off six unanswered points to make it a three-point game, while the home side went scoreless for more than five minutes.
Isaac Haney ended the drought with a leaner with just under 13 minutes to play, but the Jackrabbits (9-4) stayed close, trimming their deficit to 59-57 on a pair of free throws from Luke Appel at the 7:54 mark. However, the final eight minutes belonged exclusively to the Bears.
South Dakota State made just two field goals the rest of the night, while the Bears opened up their first double-figure lead on a triple by Clay just before the under-four media timeout. Minnett was also solid in crunch time, scoring four points in the final five minutes, while Clay scored five in that span.
The Bears held South Dakota State to just 37.7 percent from the field on 23-of-61 field goal attempts, while forcing 11 turnovers and snagging six steals.
The visitors, who were led by Douglas Wilson’s 18 points and Appel’s 17, missed their last six field goal attempts of the game and converted just 2-of-10 shots in the final seven minutes.
Missouri State shot an efficient 28-of-58 (.483) from the field, 10-of-26 (.385) from long range and 9-of-12 (.750) at the foul line with seven of those free throws coming in the final three minutes. The Bears also held a 38-35 rebounding advantage and trailed for just 54 seconds in the contest.
Patterson (11) and Black (10) also scored in double figures for MoState. In addition to accounting for 16 of the team’s 20 bench points, Minnett also matched a career-high with 4 steals.
In the first half, Missouri State shot 53 percent from the field and knocked down eight 3-pointers to lead 40-33 at the midway point. Minnett was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, Ja’Monta Black scored 8 points, while Clay and Lu’Cye Patterson each poured in 7 points.
MSU grabbed the lead for good just over five minutes into the game on a layup from Dawson Carper and survived two ties and a couple of runs from the Jackrabbits from there. The Bears ended the half on a 6-2 run, sparked by a dunk from Clay.
Missouri State wraps its three-game home stand Saturday at 7 p.m. when the Bears square off against Central Arkansas (1-8).
