MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Missouri State got a career-high 24 points from Chance Moore and 15 more from Alston Mason, but couldn’t complete a furious last-minute comeback at West Virginia Monday, falling 67-59 in the season opener for both clubs.
Moore’s fifth 3-pointer of the game with 41 seconds left in the game brought the Bears back with 61-59, but the Mountaineers got a press-break layup from Quinn Slazinski 10 seconds later to push ahead by four.
Moore missed a corner three on MSU’s next possession, which WVU turned into a run-out dunk by Josiah Harris who added insult to injury with another dunk at the buzzer to close out the game.
The Bears led 30-24 at the game’s midway point, with MoState’s defense holding West Virginia without a field goal for more than 14 minutes and an 0-for-21 stretch from the field to end the first half.
But the home club came out the locker room with a sense of urgency. After Moore’s 3-pointer at the 19:24 mark, WVU went on a 9-0 run to lead 36-33, its first lead since the 11:09 mark of the opening stanza.
Missouri State was able to draw within 41-40 on a jumper by Moore at 13:38 and survived a 16-6 run by the Mountaineers that saw the home club push ahead 57-46 with 5:43 to play.
But from there, Moore nailed a corner triple, Tyler Bey threw down an alley-oop dunk, and Moore hit another trey to make it 57-54 with 2:31 to go.
Down the stretch, Mason’s jumper inside 90 seconds drew the visitors within three, while Moore’s final three of the night made it 61-59 at the 41-second mark. West Virginia, however, went 5-for-5 from the field in crunch time, while MSU missed its final two shot attempts, pushing the game in favor of the Mountaineers by the final eight-point margin.
MSU was 23-of-65 (.354) from the field overall and 9-of-29 (.310) from bonus range. The Bears committed just six turnovers and made 4-of-7 (.571) in limited trips to the foul line.
Donovan Clay led MSU with 9 rebounds, while Matthew Lee dished out a game-high 7 assists.
West Virginia finished 22-of-63 (.349) overall from the field, including 18-of-31 (.545) in the second half. Likewise, six of the Mountaineers’ seven threes were in the second half, finishing 7-of-21 (.333) from distance and 16-of-20 (.800) at the line. WVU also held a 46-40 rebounding advantage with 17 second-chance points.
Slazinski led West Virginia with 18 points, while Jesse Edwards added 13, and Seth Wilson scored 11. Edwards also had a game-high 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
In the first half, Missouri State weathered an early 10-0 run by the Mountaineers less than six minutes into the contest that gave the home side a 15-4 advantage. Edwards’ 3-pointer with 14:07 left in the first half put WVU up by 11, but it would be home team’s last field goal of the half.
Missouri State responded with an 11-0 run of its own over the next four minutes with buckets by five different players. Moore’s three at the 10:31 mark tied the game, 15-15, and the Bears would not trail again in the opening period to lead 30-24 at the intermission.
Moore’s 8 points led all Missouri State scoring in the opening half, while Edwards scored five of his 9 first-half points in the stripe for WVU.
Missouri State will be in action at Great Southern Bank Arena next Monday (Nov. 13) to take on regional rival Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. Tickets for the ORU game – and all home contests – are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the Missouri State Box Office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular office hours.
