CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Spencer Haldeman scored 15 points, making all three of his 3-point tries, and Northern Iowa held off Missouri State 64-59 on Saturday night.

Although there were five ties and 10 lead changes, Northern Iowa held a slight lead throughout much of the game. Haldeman gave UNI a little breathing room, making a 3-pointer for a 57-53 lead with 1:44 remaining. Tulio Da Silva made two free throws for Missouri State with 1:15 to go.

Haldeman added two free throws to make the lead four points again, Missouri State turned the ball over and UNI had possession with 58 seconds to go. Tywhon Pickford made a layup and, at 61-55, the Panthers had the biggest lead for either team since midway through the first half. Pickford later added 3 of 4 free throws and the Panthers held on.

Luke McDonnell had 12 points and five assists and Isaiah Brown added 12 points for Northern Iowa (10-13, 5-5 Missouri Valley).

Da Silva scored 17 points and Keandre Cook had 15 points for Missouri State (11-12, 5-5).

— Associated Press —

VALPARAISO, Ind. – Missouri State junior Keandre Cook’s two free throws with 2.3 seconds left in overtime lifted the Bears past Valparaiso, 55-54, at Valpo Tuesday.

Cook led all players with 17 points for MSU (11-11, 5-4 MVC), while Jared Ridder added 13, and Josh Webster scored 12.

The home standing Crusaders (12-10, 5-4 MVC) were led by Javon Freeman with 12 and Bakari Evelyn with 11 points.

Cook scored Missouri State’s last four points in overtime to overcome a three-point deficit in the final two minutes of the extra period.

With a one-point lead on its final possession, Valparaiso ran the shot clock out for a violation, turning the ball back to the Bears with 12.7 seconds to go.

At the end of regulation, Cook penetrated deep into the Valpo defense, but could not get to the rim. After Daniel Sackey’s shot off the glass tied it for the Crusaders moments earlier, 49-49.

After being tied at the half, Missouri State opened its biggest lead of the night less than five minutes into the second period when Ridder dropped in his third 3-pointer of the game to push the visitors ahead 34-29.

Valparaiso answered with seven straight points to lead by two, but at the 11:33 mark, Ridder dropped in another triple, then made it a four-point play with the ensuing free throw to put the visitors back on top, 38-36.

The home side rallied with a 7-3 run of its own over the game’s next four-and-a-half minutes to lead 43-41 with Sackey scoring twice in the Crusader outburst.

But Cook retaliated for MSU with a 3-pointer from the right wing to give Missouri State a 44-43 advantage with 5:17 to go.

Neither team scored again until Jaume Sorolla hit a left-handed hook shot at the three-minute mark to put the home side up 45-44, and Deion Lavender added a pair of free throws to give the Crusaders a three-point advantage.

But once again, Cook had the answer, knocking down a contested triple at the 1:11 mark to knot the score, 47-47.

Ryan Kreklow gave Missouri State a lead briefly with a pair clutch foul shots with 35 seconds to go, but Valparaiso tied it 15 seconds later with on the late-game bucket by Sackey.

In an otherwise lackluster first half, Missouri State went on a 9-2 run over the last three minutes of the opening period to tie the game, 25-25, at the intermission.

Neither team led by more than three until Valparaiso used a 9-0 outburst to go from down 16-14 to a 23-16 lead over a three-minute span. Treys by Mileek McMillan and Bakari Evelyn sandwiched a traditional 3-point play by Javon Freeman to put the home side up by seven with 3:30 left before the break.

But Missouri State rallied late, getting four points from Jarred Dixon, a 3-pointer by Jared Ridder and a layup at the rim by Josh Webster at the horn down the stretch to even things up.

For the game, Missouri State shot 30.9 percent (17-of-55) from the field and 7-of-17 (.412) from long range. The Bears were out-rebounded 37-35, but converted 14-of-16 (.875) at the foul line.

Valpo made 38.8 (19-of-49) from the field, 4-of-12 (.333) from long range and 12-of-20 (.600) at the stripe.

The Bears wrap their two-game league road swing Saturday at UNI with a 7 p.m. tipoff from McLeod Center in Cedar Falls. Missouri State returns to JQH Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 6 to battle rival Southern Illinois in a regionally-televised showdown.

— Missouri State Athletics —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Keandre Cook had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Missouri State pasted Bradley 55-37 on Saturday afternoon to complete a season sweep.

Missouri State won at Bradley 69-64 on Jan. 12.

Cook, who recorded his second double-double of the season, had 11 points and eight rebounds in the first half. He also had four steals in the game. Tulio Da Silva posted 12 points with six rebounds and one block for the Bears (10-11, 4-4 Missouri Valley Conference).

The Missouri State defense thwarted Bradley in the first period, allowing the Braves just six points in the final 10 minutes of the half as the Bears took a 28-14 lead into the break. The Bears had a 17-0 run to take a 21-8 lead with 6:10 remaining in the first period.

Bradley (10-11, 2-6) rallied in the second to close to 36-24 after Nate Kennell nailed a 3 with 14:13 remaining but could get no closer.

Missouri State was 8 of 19 from distance and made 13 of 17 free throws. Bradley was just 3 of 10 from the line.

Kennell had 11 points and Elijah Childs 10 for Bradley.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — K.J. Riley scored 16 points and Evan Kuhlman hit a key 3-pointer late to help Evansville beat Missouri State 70-64 on Wednesday night.

Evansville (9-9, 3-2 Missouri Valley Conference) has won eight of the last 10 against Missouri State (8-10, 2-3).

John Hall made a 3-pointer and Dainius Chatkevicius two free throws, and Devan Straub’s 3 capped an 8-0 surge to give the Purple Aces a 60-56 lead with 3:32 remaining. Jarred Dixon hit a jumper to pull the Bears to 60-58 before Kuhlman answered with another 3-pointer to make it 63-58 lead with 1:08 left.

Riley made 3 of 4 free throws and Shamar Givance added four more from the line to seal it.

Riley was 5-of-10 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Hall added 11 points and Shea Feehan had 10. Kuhlman finished with five points.

Tulio Da Silva and Keandre Cook each scored 14 points to lead Missouri State. Da Silva grabbed 13 rebounds for his second straight double-double.

— Associated Press —

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Tulio Da Silva had 21 points and eight rebounds to lead Missouri State to a 72-57 victory over Indiana State on Tuesday night.

The Bears (7-9, 1-2 Missouri Valley Conference) broke a two-game skid while Indiana State (9-6, 1-2) has lost three of its last four games each by double-digits.

Da Silva was 10 of 13 from the floor, had three assists and blocked two shots. Jarred Dixon added 16 points, five rebounds and five steals. Keandre Cook chipped in with 13 points. The trio made 21 of the Bears’ 27 field goals.

Tyreke Key scored 14 points and Jordan Barnes added 10 for the Sycamores, which committed 22 turnovers.

Missouri State closed the first half on a 21-10 run for a 37-28 lead at the break. Indiana State tied the game at 44, and trailed just 57-53 with 8:37 remaining before the Bears finished on a 15-4 run.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Ryan Fazekas scored 18 points and Valparaiso used a big first half to roll past Missouri State, 82-66 and pick up a Missouri Valley Conference victory on the road Saturday afternoon.

Valpo needed a running, 50-foot buzzer beater to get past Illinois State in its conference opener, but wasted no time taking charge against the Bears, rolling to a 46-24 advantage by intermission.

Jarred Dixon opened the second half with a 4-point play and Kabir Mohammed added a 3-point play cut the Missouri State deficit to 46-30, but the Bears were never able to get within single digits.

Fazekas was 6 of 11 from beyond the 3-point arc and Bakari Evelyn added 13 points off the bench for the Crusaders (9-6, 2-0). Deion Lavender grabbed 10 rebounds and dished five assists.

Dixon finished with 23 points for Missouri State (6-9, 0-2). Mohammed added another 13 points and grabbed eight boards.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Szymon Wojcik led seven players in double-digit scoring with 16 points and Missouri State set a school scoring record routing NAIA-member William Woods 110-56 on Sunday.

The Bears also set a school record with 17 3-pointers in 38 attempts (44.7 percent). By comparison, the Bears were 17 of 21 from the foul line.

Missouri State is undefeated at JQH Arena to start this season.

Josh Webster’s 3-pointer tied it at 8-all and that sparked a 19-0 run to put Missouri State (6-7) firmly in control. Ross Owens scored 15 points with six rebounds, Tulio Da Silva, Ryan Kreklow and Kabir Mohammed each scored 13, Jarred Dixon 11 and Jared Ridder 10. The Bears outrebounded the Owls 56-34.

David Johnson Jr. scored 19 and Aaron Brookins added 17 for the Owls.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bennie Boatwright scored 22 points, Jonah Mathews added 21 and Southern California romped to a 99-80 victory over Missouri State on Tuesday night to take third place in the Hall of Fame Classic.

Kevin Porter Jr. added 14 points, Derryck Thornton had 12 and Nick Rakocevic scored 10 for the Trojans (3-2), who bounced back easily from a turnover-laden semifinal loss to Texas Tech. USC made 17 3-pointers — its most since 2000.

USC used first-half runs of 13-0 and 16-0 to take control, pushed the lead to 44-27 by halftime and coasted down the stretch with the only question whether the Trojans would top 100 points.

Ryan Kreklow hit six 3-pointers and had 23 points to lead the Bears (3-2). Keandre Cook added 21 points and Kansas City native Jarred Dixon hit five 3s and finish with 17.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS – Missouri State junior Keandre Cook (G, Baltimore, Md.) has been named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week, the league office announced Monday.

Cook, who helped lead the Bears to a 3-0 start to the 2018-19 men’s basketball season, averaged 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in three starts during his first week as a Division I player. He posted a pair of 20-point games and also notched his first career double-double in becoming MSU’s first MVC Newcomer of the Week honoree since J.T. Miller on Jan. 1, 2018.

He also converted 18-of-33 (.545) shots from the field for the week to go with 52 points, 25 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, while making 11-of-15 (.733) free throws. His point total is the most by a first-year MSU player over his first three games since Shelton Colwell (58) in 2002-03.

Cook notched 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Bears’ win over Robert Morris on Nov. 9, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range and a 6-for-10 shooting performance overall. He followed that with 20 points and 8 rebounds against Stetson on Nov. 11 behind a 7-of-14 shooting effort.

Coach Dana Ford’s Bears will have the week off before resuming play on Monday, Nov. 19 against Nebraska at the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, powered by ShotTracker, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City.

— MSU Athletics —