ST. LOUIS – Missouri State got 22 points from Alston Mason and a double-double from NJ Benson to turn back No. 8 seeded Murray State in dominant fashion here Thursday, 60-35, in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The Bears (17-15) advance to play the MVC regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Indiana State at Noon on Friday.
MoState held Murray State (12-20) to 21.1 percent shooting from the field and an announced tournament record-low total of 35 points for the afternoon.
Chance Moore also played a pivotal role for the Bears, scoring 12 points with a pair of triples, while Benson’s 10 points and game-high 12 rebounds set the pace for his ninth double-double of the season.
The Bears led wire-to-wire for the fifth time this season and used a 17-0 run over a key six-minute stretch late in the contest to put it on ice.
Donovan Clay’s layup with 12:04 to play in the game gave Missouri State a 41-21 lead. But the Racers came out of the under-12 media timeout with their biggest push of the game. Murray’s 11-2 surge over the next four minutes trimmed the Bears’ advantage to 43-32 at the 8:13 mark.
Moore then started MSU’s third- largest run of the season with a clutch bucket with just under eight minutes to play. Mason then caught fire with seven straight Bears’ points before a triple by Matthew Lee, another Mason trey, and Moore’s two free throws. By the time the smoke cleared, Missouri State had not only restored its 20-point advantage, it had pushed ahead 60-32 for its largest lead of the afternoon.
Patrick Chew’s late three for the Racers ended the 17-0 run by the Bears and the maroon side closed out its largest tournament margin of victory since a 27-point win over Indiana State in 2020. It also marked MSU’s fewest points allowed in 68 Arch Madness contests.
The Bears finished the game 21-of-47 (.447) from the field 6-of-20 (.300) from distance and 12-of-15 (.800) at the foul line with a 41-35 rebounding advantage. Matthew Lee’s game-high 5 assists pushed the Bears’ total to 14 assists on the afternoon with Damien Mayo Jr. accounting for a couple of the team’s 6 blocks.
MoState also racked up 26 points in the paint with 18 bench points.
Murray State, which got 12 points from JaCobi Wood, shot 12-of-57 overall, 2-of-20 (.100) from long range and 9-of-16 (.563) at the line with 14 offensive rebounds but just 5 second-chance points.
The victory earned the Bears an Arch Madness win for the fifth straight season, a feat that has eluded Missouri State since a 10-year run from 1996 to 2005.
In the first half, the Bears held Murray State to 1-of-16 from the field over the last 8 minutes, 43 seconds of the period and a 17.9 percent shooting half to lead 27-13 at the break. Benson had 8 points and 7 rebounds, including all six points on a 6-0 burst midway through the opening period to extend a four-point advantage to double figures for the first time.
Moore knocked down two threes in the final two minutes to stretch MSU’s lead to 13, its largest of the half, just before the half.
Friday’s quarterfinal matchup against Indiana State will air on Bally Sports and ESPN+. It will mark MSU’s 32nd appearance in the Valley Tournament quarterfinals while the team shoots for a fourth semifinal trip under coach Dana Ford.
