— Kyle Moats (@kmoatsmsubears) January 11, 2024
The post from Moats reads, in part “The last two Bears conference games have not been indicative of the kind of basketball we expect from our Missouri State teams. Like you, I am passionate about our program and share in the frustration many of you have expressed. We expect more.
SPRINGFIELD – Visiting Murray State blitzed the home-standing Bears, 77-53, here Wednesday at Great Southern Bank Arena to hand Missouri State its third straight Valley loss.
The Racers (7-9, 4-1 MVC) got 19 points from JaCobi Wood, 18 from Quincy Anderson and 13 from Rob Perry to win their fourth in a row.
The visitors shot 54 percent in the second half and 51 percent for the game while out-rebounding the Bears by a 39-35 margin.
Missouri State (9-7, 1-4) got a team-high 17 points from Alston Mason who was 3-of-5 from 3-point range, while Chance Moore added a dozen points to go with his 5 rebounds.
The Bears seemed to shake their recent woes early, jumping out to an 8-2 lead before the first media timeout on early triples from Matthew Lee and Moore, in addition to a slick stick-back from Donovan Clay.
Murray State responded with the first of three significant runs on the night, an 8-0 outburst over a three-minute stretch, to grab a 10-8 advantage. The Bears answered with a trey by Nick Kramer and a free throw from Mason to retake the lead, 12-10, with just under 12 minutes left in the half.
But then the bottom fell out for the Bears. The Racers embarked on a 30-3 run over the next nine minutes, tarnished only by a 3-pointer by Mason. MoState went 1-for-15 from the field and 0-for-4 at the line during that decisive stretch that also included three 3-pointers from Murray State.
Murray led 42-19 at the half, before the visitors opened the second half with a 14-4 run to push ahead, 56-23, their largest lead of the game.
For their part, the Bears owned the final eight minutes of the night, outscoring the Racers 17-8 over the last 8:28 of the contest. Mason had 10 Bears’ points during that stretch with Tyler Bey adding three more.
Missouri State finished the game 20-of-58 (.345) from the field, 8-of-32 (.250) from long range and a season-low 5-of-15 (.333) at the foul line with a dozen turnovers.
Clay matched Moore’s 5 rebounds to share the team lead, while the senior dished out 4 assists. Fellow senior Dawson Carper racked up 5 points on 3-of-5 shots with 4 rebounds in a 14-minute appearance.
The Racers accounted for 42 points in the paint and 23 fast-break points as part of their 31-of-61 performance from the field.
The Bears will look to get back on track this weekend when they begin a two-game road swing Saturday at Evansville (6 p.m./ESPN+) ahead of a matchup at Indiana State next Tuesday.
MSU returns to Great Southern Bank Arena on January 20 to play Illinois State at 1 p.m. Tickets for the Illinois State game are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the Great Southern Bank Box Office, (417) 836-7678, during regular business hours.
