SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State outscored visiting UT Arlington by 13 points in the second half and pulled away down the stretch to record a 78-68 win here Tuesday at Great Southern Bank Arena.
Zaxton King led five Missouri State players in double figures with 18 points, while Vincent Brady II added 14, and Jalen Hampton posted a double-double with a dozen points and as many rebounds. The Bears also got 12 points from Dez White and 11 from Chase Martin, including 7-of-8 at the line.
The Bears’ third straight victory was not an easy task with seven ties and 14 lead changes dictating the first 30 minutes of the contest. The Mavericks (2-3) led five at the half and pushed ahead by as many as six points twice in the second half.
Near the midway point in the final period, King buried a three from the left wing on an extra-effort pass from Jalen Hampton who leaped out of bounds to save the ball to the MSU freshman. King’s triple gave the Bears a 57-55 lead with 10:16 to go, and the home side never trailed again.
In the final five minutes, second-chance buckets by Martin and Michel Osei-Bonsu both extended Missouri State’s lead to seven with the latter making it a 73-66 contest with just over two minutes remaining.
From there, MoState made 3-of-4 free throws before White’s layup in the final minute gave the Bears their biggest lead of the evening, 78-66.
UTA was led by Jason Ellingsworth who tallied a game-high 19 points off the bench. Darius Burford and Raysean Seamster added 14 points apiece for the Wester Athletic Conference opponents.
The Bears out-rebounded UTA, 24-11, in the second half, including 10 offensive caroms. MSU also scored 17 points off 18 UTA turnovers in the contest with the home club notching double-figure steals for the fourth time in as many games.
Coach Cuonzo Martin‘s squad finished 22-of-57 (.386) from the field, 5-of-15 (.333) from distance and 29-of-34 (.853) from the stripe with a 36-30 overall rebounding advantage.
UTA shot 25-of-48 (.421) from the field, 5-of-15 (.333) from long range and 13-for-19 (.684) from the foul line with 39 bench points.
Hampton led all Missouri State scorers with 10 points in the opening half on 5-of-5 shooting. The Bears battled through two ties and seven lead changes to lead by eight on two occasions. But, the visitors converted four of their last five field goals before the intermission to lead 37-34 at the halfway point.
The Bears were 12-of-14 at the line in the opening 20 minutes.
Missouri State now embarks on a three-game journey to the Cayman Islands Classic in Grand Cayman, Sunday through Tuesday. The eight-team field will match the Bears with High Point (5-0) at 4 p.m. (Central) on Sunday.
MSU’s next home game will be on Saturday, Dec. 7 vs. Indiana State at 7 p.m. Tickets for the Indiana State game and all home contests, are available at MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or by visiting the Missouri State Box Office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.
