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SPRINGFIELD – Led by 19 points from Jaylen Minnett, Missouri State gave visiting Brigham Young all it wanted here Saturday, but the No. 12-ranked Cougars survived a late surge from the home-standing Bears to emerge with a 74-68 decision at JQH Arena.
The Bears (4-4) also got 17 points from Gaige Prim, 16 from Lu’Cye Patterson and 8 rebounds from Donovan Clay to stay within striking distance of their nationally-ranked foes most of the afternoon.
BYU (7-1) was led by Alex Barcello’s 21 points, while Lucas Te’Jon scored 17 and Spencer Johnson added 14 for the visitors.
The Cougars led by eight at the intermission, but reeled off six unanswered points to open the second half and take a 41-27 lead, its biggest of the day. Four minutes later, Minnett’s fourth 3-pointer of the night got MSU back within 45-43 after the home side scratched and clawed its way to a 16-4 run.
The Cougars then turned to Te’Jon to carry the load midway through the half as he went on a personal 6-2 run to push BYU up 51-45. Moments later, during the under-12 media timeout, the Bears bench was whistled for a technical foul, which gave BYU a 52-45 advantage with 11:29 to play.
However, Ford’s Bears did not stop pushing, getting within 57-56 six minutes later on a layup by Gaige Prim and later making it a 61-60 contest after a driving layup from freshman Isaac Haney at the 3:20 mark.
But each time the Bears got close to regaining the lead, the Cougars found a way to silence the home crowd of more than 7,000 – MoState’s largest home gathering at JQH Arena since March of 2019.
With 1:47 to play, Prim’s put-back off a miss by Patterson made it a 63-62 contest before Barcello’s elbow jumper 15 seconds later gave BYU a three-point cushion and ignited a timely 7-0 run by the Cougars. From there, the visitors made 7-of-10 free throws in the final minute and put the game out of reach with physical play and key defensive stops.
When the dust cleared, BYU emerged with a hard-fought, six-point victory, shooting 48.2 percent from the field on 27-for-56 attempts, and converting 70 percent from the line (14-of-20), with half its charity attempts coming in the final 38 seconds.
The Bears out-rebounded the Cougars, 39-34, after BYU came into the game ranked 15th nationally in rebounding margin. MoState’s defense held the Cougars to just five offensive boards, six second-chance points and forced 9 turnovers.
On the offensive end, the Bears shot 47 percent in the second half, but finished 27-for-66 (.409) overall, 5-for-18 (.278) from long range and 9-of-12 (.750) in their rare opportunities from the stripe.
Missouri State’s bench accounted for 41 total points – 60 percent of the team’s total – with Minnett playing 31 minutes and making all five of MSU’s 3-pointers. Patterson was equally impressive in his reserve efforts, going 26 minutes and finishing 8-of-10 from the field with 4 rebounds and a pair of assists, while Haney scored 6 points, snagged 4 rebounds and gathered in 4 steals.
Entering the week at No. 12 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the coaches poll, BYU represented the highest-ranked non-conference foe ever to visit JQH Arena.
In the first half, BYU shot 48 percent from the field and made five threes to lead 35-27 at the midway point. Missouri State led twice midway through the half, first on a layup from Patterson, and 90 seconds later on a jumper from Patterson. Donovan Clay’s layup with 9:29 remaining opened up a 19-16 Bears’ advantage. However, the Cougars’ Spencer Johnson opened things up with a pair of 3-pointers and three free throws down the stretch as BYU pushed ahead, 35-27, at the intermission.
Missouri State returns to the road Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. contest at Little Rock before returning to JQH Arena on Saturday, Dec. 11 against Oral Roberts at 3 p.m.
