Coach Greg McDermott and Creighton (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) knew Missouri State would be a formidable opponent, something the Bears proved Dec. 28 when they upset the Bluejays in Omaha.

Missouri State almost got the best of the Bluejays again Wednesday night, but Creighton rallied late in the second half for a 66-65 victory over the Missouri Valley Conference rival.

“I have all the respect in the world for Missouri State. Baskets were difficult to come by. Missouri State made it difficult to score,” McDermott said.

Gregory Echenique scored 16 points, and Doug McDermott added 15 to help Creighton (17-2, 7-1) win its seventh straight game since the loss to Missouri State in Omaha.

Echenique was 5 of 6 from the field, made all six of his free throws and added seven rebounds.

“We knew they were coming off two straight losses and they were going to try to get us. We needed this win,” Echenique said. “We were getting stops in the second half and defense is our strength. It shows we’re improving in that area.”

Anthony Downing had 14 points for Missouri State (11-9, 4-4). Kyle Weems added 13 points for the Bears, 11 in the second half.

Missouri State had two late chances, but missed both shots en route to its third straight loss.

Weems missed a jumper from the baseline, and McDermott was fouled on the rebound with 6.4 seconds left.

McDermott then missed a free throw, giving the Bears another chance.

Missouri State’s Caleb Patterson grabbed the rebound and passed to Downing, who drove the length of the court and missed a jumper from near the free throw line as time expired.

“Our effort was great,” Weems said. “The ball just didn’t bounce the way we needed it to and we ended up with a one-point loss.”

Creighton, which trailed 56-53 with 7:37 left, took the lead at 61-58 on Josh Jones’ 3-pointer with 4:46 left. The Bears rallied to tie it at 63 with 2:50 to play on Weems’ jumper and Downing’s two free throws.

Grant Gibbs scored with 1:06 left to give Creighton a 66-63 lead, and Jarmar Gulley completed the scoring with 55.1 seconds left.

There were 16 ties and 10 lead changes. Creighton’s biggest lead was four, and Missouri led by eight early in the second half.

“We had 14 assists and three turnovers and held one of the best scoring teams in the country to 66 points,” first-year Missouri State coach Paul Lusk said. “We played a solid game. At some point, we’re going to get some bounces.”

Creighton had 11 turnovers in the first, but the leading field-goal shooting team in the country shot 57 percent only trailed 34-30.

“We just had to take care of the basketball in the second half. We came out tentative in the first half, We weren’t taking care of the ball,” Gibbs said.

— Associated Press —

Jarmar Gulley scored 18 points Tuesday night as Missouri State squandered all but two points of a 21-point lead before surging to beat Southern Illinois 77-65.

Kyle Weems hit double figures for the 16th straight game with 16 points for the Bears (11-6, 4-1), who have won four of five and are tied for the Missouri Valley lead. Caleb Patterson scored 15 and Anthony Downing 13, while Christian Kirk grabbed 10 rebounds.

Kendal Brown-Surles’ 14 points paced the Salukis (5-11, 2-3). Mamadou Seck had 12 and Dantiel Daniels and Jeff Early 10 each.

The Bears led 37-16 late in the first half. The Salukis closed within 42-31 at the break, then opened the second half with an 11-2 spurt and were down 44-42.

But Patterson hit a 3-pointer, Gulley scored and Patterson converted a three-point play to give the Bears a 52-42 lead with 13:18 left.

— Associated Press —

Anthony Downing scored 17 points and Missouri State rallied in the second half to beat Indiana State 69-63 on Saturday.

Kyle Weems added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Bears (10-6, 3-1 Missouri Valley). Jarmar Gulley scored 13 and Michael Bizoukas 12 for Missouri State, which converted 24 of 47 shots (51 percent).

Dwayne Lathan scored 17 and Carl Richard 16 for the Sycamores (10-5, 1-3), who lost their second in a row.

Indiana State enjoyed a 31-20 lead late in the first half, was up 33-26 at intermission and was still ahead 43-34 when Lathan scored with 13:40 to play.

But the Bears went on an 11-1 run over the next 3 minutes and took a 45-44 lead on Gulley’s layup with 10:39 left. They never trailed after that.

Indiana State was limited to 37.5 percent shooting (21 of 56).

— Associated Press —

John Wilkins scored 15 points and Illinois State never trailed Wednesday night in defeating Missouri State 68-60.

Tyler Brown and Bryant Allen had 14 points apiece for the Redbirds (10-4, 2-1 Missouri Valley). Jon Ekey had 12 rebounds and Jackie Carmichael grabbed 10 boards as Illinois State held a 44-33 edge on the glass.

Kyle Weems led Missouri State (9-6, 2-1) with 18 points. Jamar Gulley had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Bears.

Illinois State never led by more than 12 in the game, but Missouri State couldn’t get any closer than five points after the first few seconds of the second half.

— Associated Press —

Kyle Weems is the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, and Anthony Downing has earned MVC Newcomer of the Week honors, the league announced Monday (Jan. 2).

Weems (Sr., F, Topeka, Kan.) helped Missouri State to a 2-0 start in league play with a career-high 31-point output in Wednesday’s win at No. 19 Creighton and 22 points in Saturday’s home win over Drake. He was 21-for-34 (.618) from the field in two games, including 5-of-6 (.833) from three-point range. He also led MSU in rebounding in both contests, averaging 8.0 caroms per game. Weems was 11-for-22 from the field against Creighton with 7 rebounds and knocked down all six free throws he attempted in the final 42 seconds to help the Bears secure their first-ever road win against a ranked opponent. He followed that with a 10-for-12 shooting effort against Drake with 9 rebounds.

This is Weems’ sixth career MVC Player of the Week honor. Only three players in MVC history — Hersey Hawkins, Bradley (14), Bob Harstad, Creighton (8) and Kyle Korver, Creighton (7) have earned MVC Player of the Week honors more times than Weems.

Downing (Jr., G, Atchison, Kan.,  Independence [Kan.] Community College) is the MVC Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season. He posted a pair of double-figure scoring efforts this week to average 18.5 points per game in his first two collegiate starts. He was 11-for-14 from the field at Creighton to pace his career-high 26-point night. He was also 4-for-6 from three-point range along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists against the Bluejays. He followed that effort with an 11-point game against Drake on Saturday.

The Bears have earned MVC Newcomer of the Week laurels five times this season. Downing also received the award on Nov. 14

Missouri State (9-5, 2-0) resumes conference play Wednesday at JQH Arena when the Illinois State Redbirds (9-4, 1-1) visit.

— MSU Sports Information —

The face of Creighton (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP) disappeared when the Bluejays needed him most.

National scoring leader Doug McDermott scored just one of his 19 points in the last 10 minutes and was outplayed by Kyle Weems in Missouri State’s 77-65 upset Wednesday night.

Weems scored 25 of his career-high 31 points in the second half and Anthony Downing had a career-high 26 points in his first start for the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Bears (8-5, 1-0).

“They came into our house and punched us in the mouth,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said, “and we didn’t do anything about it.”

The game was billed as a matchup between McDermott, considered the nation’s top mid-major player, against Weems, the reigning MVC player of the year.

The two battled back and forth the first 10 minutes of the second half, then Weems took over.

He scored 17 points in the last 10 minutes while McDermott, guarded by Weems and freshman Christian Kirk, struggled to even get shots. Some of the ones he took were ill-advised.

“Whenever I put it on the floor and tried driving to the hoop, they collapsed,” he said. “I feel I let us down. I got in there and threw up some tough shots I shouldn’t have taken.”

McDermott, averaging 25.4 points for Creighton (10-2, 0-1), had his streak of 20-point games end at 10. He was 8 of 18 from the field.

His 3-pointer with 10:39 left gave the Bluejays a short-lived 51-50 lead. He took only three shots the rest of the way, missing them all.

Weems, by comparison, has had a quiet start to the season. He came in averaging 14.3 points, shooting just 39 percent from the field and with three 20-point games.

Weems made 5 of his last 7 shots from the field as the Bears pulled away late.

McDermott had said before the game that he feared Weems was due to have a breakout game after the Bears had lost five of their last eight.

“I know what I’m capable of doing,” Weems said. “I give credit to my coaches to put me in position to be successful and to my teammates for giving me the ball. It’s not a one-man thing. It’s five guys playing, and we need all 13 or 14 on the roster to be successful.”

Downing, a transfer from Independence (Kan.) Community College, had scored in double figures in six of his 12 previous games. He made 11 of 14 shots from the field, including 4 of 6 3-pointers.

“I was really hyped to play in front of all those people,” Downing said. “I just stayed aggressive. I don’t want to get too high. I wanted to stay calm and play my game.”

Ethan Wragge’s two free throws tied it at 57 with 6:55 left and got the crowd on its feet. Grant Gibbs could have given the Bluejays the lead after he made a steal and got fouled. But he missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Michael Bizoukas went the length of the court for a left-handed layup to give the Bears the lead for good.

Downing’s 23-footer as the shot clock ran out with 1:11 left gave the Bears a six-point lead.

Jarmar Gulley had 12 points for the Bears.

Antoine Young added 13 points and Josh Jones had 11 for Creighton.

Missouri State won for the first time in six road games against ranked teams. Preseason MVC favorite Creighton lost at home as a ranked team for the first time in 19 games since 1975.

“Anybody who watched it, it’s clear the tougher team won,” Greg McDermott said. “They were first to the floor, they were more aggressive on both ends of the floor. They knew where they wanted to get the ball, and they got it there, and we didn’t do much to fight it.”

— Associated Press —

Kevin Jones had 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead West Virginia past Missouri State 70-68 on Thursday night in the Las Vegas Classic, giving coach Bob Huggins his 700th coaching victory.

Darryl Bryant added 15 points and Gary Browne 13 for the Mountaineers (9-2).

Caleb Patterson led the Bears (7-4) with 18 points.

Trailing 63-60 late in regulation, Browne hit a fall-away 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to force overtime. It was Browne’s only 3-pointer of the game.

West Virginia had rallied from a five-point deficit with 45 seconds left in regulation.

Trailing by two with 2 seconds left in overtime, Missouri State’s Nathan Scheer put up a shot in the lane, but it bounced around the rim and out.

Both teams have one game left in the Classic. West Virginia plays Baylor (No. 7 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) on Friday, while Missouri State plays Saint Mary’s.

— Associated Press —

Caleb Patterson and Christian Kirk scored 13 points apiece, and Missouri State never trailed Monday in a 66-53 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, part of the Las Vegas Classic.

Kyle Weems and Corey Copeland added 11 points each for the Bears (7-3), who dominated Corpus Christi inside, outscoring the Islanders 30-8 in the paint.

Chris Hawkins-Mast, who scored a career-high 22 points in a loss to West Virginia on Saturday, was held to eight points this time. But he and the rest of the starters got plenty of rest, as the Bears led 41-19 at halftime and by as many as 26 points in the second half before a late Corpus Christi run.

Terence Jones led the Islanders (1-8) with 19 points, including five 3-pointers, but couldn’t prevent his team from losing its sixth straight game. Missouri State also won the only previous meeting between the schools, in 2005.

— Associated Press —

Missouri State (6-3) shot a season-high 60 percent from the field and used a timely 17-0 run in the first half to cruise to a 78-55 win over visiting Kennesaw State (2-7) here Saturday in the first round of the Continental Tire Las Vegas classic.

Kyle Weems was 9-for-11 from the field to lead the Bears with 22 points and game-high 8 rebounds. It was his 16th career 20-point effort and third in the last five ball games. Caleb Patterson pitched in 12 points for the home club, while Michael Bizoukas set a JQH Arena record with a career-high 11 assists.

The Bears took control early in the game, going ahead 7-5 on a layup by Corey Copeland at the 15-minute mark. However, the visiting Owls came to play and reeled off eight straight points in a three-minute span capped by a Delbert Love three-pointer to put MSU on its heels, 13-7.

But Missouri State, which defeated its 23rd non-conference foe at JQH Arena in 24 tries, then reeled off the game’s next 17 points. Six different MSU players scored during the nearly-six-minute run, and MSU was never threatened again.

Kennesaw State, which is in the middle of a five-game road trip over 10 days, broke the scoreless streak with a Markeith Cummings trey at the 5:46 mark that made it a 24-16 contest.  Anthony Downing then scored MSU’s next nine points, and Weems closed out the half with five straight points to make it a 40-22 contest at the break.

Coach Paul Lusk’s squad came out of the locker room with the first six points of the second half to push the lead to 24, and then doubled up the Owls, 52-26, on a Patterson three-pointer at the 16-minute mark.  The Bears were able to maintain a 20-point margin the rest of the way, scoring a season-high 78 points.

Downing finished with 9 points and 4 rebounds to lead the MSU reserves, who outscored Kennesaw’s bench 28-6. Copeland added 7, while Christian Kirk and Isaiah Rhine contributed 6 apiece from reserve roles.

The Bears knocked down a season-best 31 field goals and finished 31-for-52 (.596), including a 7-for-17 (.412) effort from beyond the arc. MSU was 9-of-10 at the free throw line and out-rebounded KSU by a 36-22 margin, holding the visitors to just 9 total boards in the second stanza.

Cummings scored a game-high 24 points for Kennesaw State, which dropped its fifth straight. Spencer Dixon added 17 points for the Owls behind three three-pointers, pushing the senior past 1,000 points for his career.

KSU finished 18-for-51 (.353) from the field, 7-for-22 (.318) from long range, and 12-for-18 (.667) at the line. The Owls, however, turned the ball over just 7 times, compared to 9 by the Bears.

MSU continues the Las Vegas Classic on Monday with a 7:05 p.m. home game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Vegas portion of the tournament begins Thursday with four games each day at the Orleans Arena. Missouri State takes on West Virginia at 7 p.m. (Central) on Thursday before clashing with St. Mary’s at 10:30 p.m. Friday.

— MSU Sports Information —

Warren Niles scored 19 points and Oral Roberts handed Missouri State its first loss of the season, 68-63, on Wednesday night.

The Golden Eagles (5-2) have won five straight and are off to their best start since the 2004-2005 season when they won their first eight games.

Dominique Morrison added 13 points, Roderick Pearson 11 and Michael Craion 10 for Oral Roberts. The Eagles also got 12 rebounds and eight points from Steven Roundtree.

Kyle Weems had 22 points for Missouri State (4-1) and Caleb Patterson added 14.

Oral Roberts led 36-22 at halftime and maintained that cushion for most of the second half. A Weems 3-pointer with 3:50 left got the Bears within 57-50, and he added another trey with 32 seconds remaining to make it 65-60. A 3-pointer from Anthony Downing brought Missouri State within 66-63 with 8 seconds left before Niles closed it out with a pair of free throws.

— Associated Press —