A 20-0 run midway through the second half by visiting Evansville lifted the Purple Aces (13-2, 2-0) past Missouri State here Saturday, 76-59, in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Egidijus Mockevicius led three players in double figures for Evansville with 21 points. The national leader in rebounds and Preseason All-MVC pick also corralled 21 caroms on the afternoon to match a JQH Arena single-game record. The Aces also got 19 points from D.J. Balentine and 15 from Adam Wing en route to their league-best sixth straight victory.
Missouri State (4-10, 0-2) was led by Chris Kendrix with 16 points, Dequon Miller with 14 and Jarred Dixon with 10. It was Miller’s eighth straight double-figure scoring game, while Dixon earned his first start since the season opener, spelling injured senior Dorrian Williams.
After leading by as many as eight in the first half and pushing ahead 36-34 with 16:19 to go in the game, the Bears hung close for most of the next six minutes. A pair of free throws by Kendrix at the 10:32 mark made it a 44-43 contest with MSU’s defense holding the Aces without a field goal for the better part of five minutes.
But the Bears would go on a five-minute dry spell themselves while the Aces started dealing. Marty Simmons’ squad reeled off the game’s next 20 points, including 8 free throws and a pair of 3-pointers, to push ahead 64-43. Both Mockevicius and Balentine were responsible for 7 points apiece during the stretch. By the time MSU’s Obediah Church stopped the run on a free throw with 5:37 to go, the damage had been done, and the senior-heavy Evansville squad capitalized on its ample free throw opportunities down the stretch to seal the win.
Evansville got to the foul line 29 times in the second half alone, converting 21 of them, and held MSU to just 10 second-chance points off the Bears’ 10 offensive rebounds. MSU was also whistled for 25 fouls, its second-highest total of the season, helping both Mockevicius and Balentine get a bulk of their points from the line.
When Missouri State got opportunities at the stripe, it seldom capitalized. MSU converted two free throws on just four occasions – three times in the final four minutes of the game. The Bears missed 10 foul shots in the game, including 7 in the second half, and finished 15-for-25 (.600).
The Bears did disrupt Evansville’s offense enough to force 19 turnovers on the day – a season-high for the Aces. MSU’s 10 steals was also a season high with Kendrix leading seven different Bears with steals with a team-high 3.
For the game, the Bears were 21-for-56 (.375) from the field, 2-of-13 (.154) from bonus distance and were out-rebounded by a 37-28 margin with 14 turnovers. Church led MSU with 7 rebounds, including 5 on the offensive end.
Evansville had just two more field goals than the Bears, making 23-of-42 (.548) overall. But the Aces knocked down 5-of-15 (.333) from 3-point range and tallied 25-of-36 (.694) from the line, both season highs for an MSU opponent.
In the first half, the Bears forced 11 turnovers and got 11 points from Miller to lead by as many as eight. A 9-0 run ignited by Miller turned an 18-17 deficit into a 27-19 lead over the span of five-and-a-half minutes. Evansville got back within 30-27 at the half on a long-range bomb from Wing from the left corner to convert Evansville’s second field goal in a nine-minute span to close out the half.
