CORVALLIS, Ore. – Missouri State senior Jarred Dixon scored a career-high 31 points on 12-of-17 shooting with six 3-pointers, but it was not enough as the Bears (3-5) fell to Oregon State here Saturday, 101-77.
The Beavers (6-1) shot 61 percent from the field and had three players with 20 or more points, led by Stephen Thompson’s 25.
The Bears never led, but were efficient on the offensive end, firing at a 49.2 percent clip for the night, while converting a dozen 3-pointers and compiling 17 assists.
In just his third game with MSU, Tulio Da Silva posted 21 points and contributed team-highs seven rebounds and four assists.
Early on, the Bears traded threes with the Beavers, but surrendered 11 points off its five first-half turnovers to trail 50-35 at the midway point. There were seven 3-pointers before the first media timeout with three different Missouri State players dropping in long-range bombs.
Oregon State, however, was red hot from everywhere on the floor, firing seven treys in the first 10 minutes of the game – and 10 in the first half – while making 60 percent of its shots in the opening period. MSU’s best run came after the under-eight media timeout when a triple by Ryan Kreklow was sandwiched in between 3-pointers by Dixon to make it a 40-33 game with 4:57 left in the first half.
But the Beavers reeled off 10 of the last 12 points of the half and went into the intermission leading by 15.
Oregon State kept the momentum going to start the second half, scoring the first nine points of the final period to build a 24-point lead less than three minutes in. By the time Da Silva threw down a dunk with 16:25 left in the game, OSU had posted 14 unanswered points covering six-and-a-half minutes of game time.
The Beavers led by as many as 31 later in the half, but Missouri State put together a 16-4 outburst over a five-minute stretch to get within 94-75 with 77 seconds to play. Dixon accounted for seven points in the run, while Szymon Wojcik scored six, and Da Silva added three.
Instead of running out the clock on its final possession, Oregon State tacked on another triple – its school-record 16th of the game – and then stole the ball from MSU in the final four seconds and pushed ahead for a dunk to extend its score over 100 points.
The loss marked the fifth straight for Missouri State, which surrendered 100 points for the first time since Nov., 27, 1999 (Fresno State).
The Bears return to JQH Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 5 when they take on Western Kentucky (4-3) at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at MissouriStateBears.com or by visiting the Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.
The WKU game is Missouri State’s first home contest since Nov. 11.
