BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Newcomer J.T. Miller led five Missouri State players in double-figures to help the Bears to an 85-80 opening-night victory at Western Kentucky here Friday.

Alize Johnson played just 14 minutes but accounted for 13 points and 8 rebounds, including four key free throws in the final 32.1 seconds.

After the Bears (1-0) built a 22-point lead out of the gates, WKU whittled its way back with ample free throw opportunities and made a game of it late.

With the Bears up 66-57 after a layup by Miller at the 8:30 mark, WKU went on a 7-0 run in the span of 100 seconds to make it a two-point game. But a gutsy layup by Reggie Scurry followed on MSU’s next possession to give coach Paul Lusk’s club some breathing room.

Inside three minutes to go, WKU got a free throw from Darius Thompson to pull within 72-70, but a triple by Ronnie Rousseau III silenced the crowd of more than 5,200 at E.A. Diddle Arena with 2:07 on the clock.

Rousseau scored again on MSU’s next possession and made it 77-72, but the home club did not stop coming with a dunk by Dwight Coleby and a trey by Thompson, the latter of which made it 81-77 with 24.1 to go.

After Johnson missed the second of a two-shot foul chance at the 21.1 mark, Lamonte Bearden drained his third 3-pointer of the night to make it 82-80 with 15 ticks to play.

The Bears dug deep and responded with back-to-back defensive stops, sandwiched in between free throws by Ryan Kreklow and Johnson to seal the five-point win.

Scurry and Rousseau each scored 12 for the Bears, and Obediah Church added 11 points.

MSU shot 55.7 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Hilltoppers, 38-34, on the night.

Western Kentucky finished 28-of-36 (.778) at the foul line and had 12 fewer field goals than the visitors.

Bearden led WKU with 24 points.

Missouri State jumped out of the gates like a Kentucky thoroughbred, building a 26-4 advantage in the first eight minutes and forcing two Hilltopper timeouts.

The game shifted slightly after that with WKU picking up 14 of its next 18 points at the free throw line over the next eight-plus minutes. A charity shot by Thompson with 3:43 to go in the opening stanza made it a 38-22 contest.

After a dunk by Scurry built MSU’s lead back to 16 with just under three minutes to play in the half, freshman Mustafa Lawrence nailed a triple from the left side to give the Bears a 43-26 advantage at the 1:55 mark.

With MSU being whistled for 18 fouls in the first 20 minutes, the Bears’ went deep down the bench for the stretch, and WKU took advantage with a pair of 3-pointers and another couple of free throws to make it 45-34 at the midway point.

The Bears return to JQH Arena on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. start against Southern University in their home opener.

— MSU Athletics —

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri State Bears picked up 30 of a possible 40 first-place votes and were announced as the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball title this season, according the league’s preseason poll of coaches, media and communications professionals released here Tuesday (Oct. 24).

It marks the first time since joining the MVC in 1990-91 the Bears have been picked to win The Valley title. The Bears received 381 points in the poll just ahead of UNI (337) which also picked up eight first-place votes, Loyola (321) with one first-place vote, and defending champion Illinois State (256) which was picked fourth and snagged the final first-place vote.

Rounding out the poll were Southern Illinois (226), Valparaiso (214), Bradley (182), Indiana State (116), Evansville (88) and Drake (79) in the 10-team league.

Likewise, MSU senior forward Alize Johnson (Williamsport, Pa.), the only returning first-team All-MVC selection from last season, has been named as the MVC Preseason Player of the Year.

Johnson is the first MSU player since Kyle Weems in 2011-12 to earn the preseason honor. He is one of six preseason first-team picks, along with Loyola’s tandem of Donte Ingram and Aundre Jackson, Indiana State’s Brenton Scott, Northern Iowa’s Bennett Koch and Drake’s Reed Timmer.

Johnson was the 2017 Newcomer of the Year in the Missouri Valley Conference and attended a pre-draft workout with the Boston Celtics in April. In 2016-17, Johnson also earned All-MVC first-team and NABC All-District honors while being named to the MVC All-Tournament Team. He was a two-time Valley Player of the Week and six-time Valley Newcomer of the Week in his first campaign in Springfield.

He led the conference in rebounding at 10.6 per game last season, which ranked 11th nationally. He also led MSU in scoring at 14.8 points per game while producing 17 double-doubles -– the 15th-most in the nation — and 21 double-figure rebounding games. He also finished with the second-highest season rebounding total of Missouri State’s Division I era (351) while converting 48.8 percent of his field goals and 39 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Last week, Johnson was announced as one of 20 nominees for the 2018 Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.

The Bears return four starters for coach Paul Lusk’s seventh season at the helm. His club is coming off a 17-win campaign that included a run to the MVC Tournament semifinals last March.

The Bears will conduct a free, public scrimmage this Saturday at 10 a.m. before hosting Southwest Baptist at JQH Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. in their only remaining preseason exhibition game. MSU opens the regular season on Friday, Nov. 10 at Western Kentucky before its home opener on November 15 against Southern University.

— MSU Athletics —

SPRINGFIELD – Local product Jared Ridder, an ESPN.com four-star men’s basketball recruit, is officially enrolled at Missouri State University and will join the Bears basketball program this week, according to MSU head coach Paul Lusk.

As a senior at basketball tradition-rich Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Ridder broke school records for career (1,628) and single-season (745) scoring before committing to attend Xavier University this fall to begin his college career. Earlier this week, Ridder announced his intentions to leave Xavier and return home.

Ridder was released from his National Letter of Intent by the Musketeers on Wednesday. Per NCAA transfer rules, he will have to sit out a year in residence before being fully eligible to play at Missouri State. He may practice with the Bears this season.

“We’re very excited to add Jared to our basketball program,” said MSU head coach Paul Lusk. “This redshirt year will be positive for him as moves forward with his career at Missouri State.”

Ridder was named Mr. Show-Me Basketball in 2017 as well as Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year and USA Today Missouri Player of the Year. He averaged 24.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists his senior year, while shooting 57.5 percent from the floor for coach Dick Rippee’s Chiefs. He helped lead Kickapoo to a 26-5 campaign in 2016-17 and a third-place finish in the Missouri Class 5 state tournament.

ESPN.com named Ridder as its top player in Missouri for the Class of 2017 in addition to being the No. 23 overall small forward. The 6-foot-7 standout also earned three-star rankings from Scout.com, Rivals.com and 247sports.com.

“I’ve been to a lot of games at Missouri State and always dreamed of wearing that 34 jersey,” Ridder said. “Watching Kyle Weems growing up was lots of fun. It’s going to be a dream come true to be able to play in front of all my friends and family. Coach Lusk and his staff are one of the best coaching staffs on and off the court, and I’m looking forward to an enjoyable four years at Missouri State.”

Missouri State returns five lettermen, four starters and three squad members from a 17-16 campaign. The Bears have also added seven newcomers to the 2017-18 roster, including graduate transfers Tanveer Bhullar (New Mexico State) and J.T. Miller (Howard), in addition to two freshmen, a sophomore transfer and a pair of junior transfers.

— MSU Athletics —

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Evan Skoug homered for the second straight day, Brian Howard extended an impressive postseason pitching streak and TCU advanced to its fourth consecutive College World Series with an 8-1 super regional victory over Missouri State on Sunday night.

Skoug’s two-run homer gave the Horned Frogs (47-16) a 4-1 lead in the third inning after his two-run shot in the eighth of the opener erased a one-run deficit and sent TCU on the way to its first super regional sweep.

Howard (11-3) won his fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament start going back to last season, striking out 11 in 7 1/3 innings to help TCU become the first school since North Carolina (2006-09) with four straight trips to Omaha.

It’s the fifth CWS bid for the Horned Frogs, all since 2010. TCU, the No. 6 national seed, is looking for its first championship.

Hunter Steinmetz hit a leadoff homer for the Bears (43-20), who were trying for the second College World Series berth after knocking off host Arkansas in the Little Rock Regional. The other CWS trip was in 2003.

Missouri State starter Doug Still (8-3) gave up eight hits and four runs in five innings.

Elliott Barzilli hit a three-run homer in the ninth after putting the Horned Frogs ahead for good at 2-1 with an RBI double in the second. He had three hits along with Zach Humphreys and Cam Warner, who had an RBI single in the first.

A junior who is eligible for the major league amateur draft, Skoug moved into fourth on TCU’s single-season list with his 20th homer and fourth in five postseason games this season, all TCU wins.

Skoug, who walked to force home another run in the sixth, is tied for fourth on TCU’s career list with 36 homers.

Howard, the first TCU pitcher with consecutive 10-win seasons, has four straight clinching NCAA wins for the Horned Frogs going back to last season — the regional and super regional both years.

The 6-foot-9 right-hander bounced off the field and waved his cap to the crowd in his final home start when he was pulled after striking out Missouri State home run leader Jeremy Eierman in the eighth.

Sean Wymer replaced Howard and struck out the last four batters after a flyout.

Howard, who returned for his senior year rather than sign with Houston as a 17th-round pick, twice escaped first-and-third jams with one out to secure his fourth NCAA start out of five with just one run allowed since last season. His career ERA in nine NCAA appearances is 1.96.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – For the 10th time in program history, the Missouri State Bears have been selected to play in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. The Bears drew the No. 2 seed in the Fayetteville (Ark.) Regional as part of the 64-team NCAA field that was announced Monday morning.

Making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six seasons, the Bears (40-17) will face the Big 12 Conference Tournament champion Oklahoma State Cowboys (30-25) in opening-round action at 2 p.m. (CDT) Friday (June 2). The top-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks (42-17) and fourth-seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (42-14) will meet Friday evening at 7 p.m. in the other regional pairing. All Fayetteville Regional contests will be streamed live online through ESPN3 (WatchESPN.com).

In their last Championship appearance in 2015, the Bears swept the field as host of the Springfield Regional, defeating Canisius in the opening round before knocking off Iowa twice to earn their second Division I regional crown. Missouri State, No. 8 overall national seed, came within one victory of punching its ticket to the College World Series, dropping a hard-fought Super Regional series with Arkansas in three games.

The Bears captured the MVC regular-season crown for the fifth time in program history, posting wins in each of their first 18 Valley games this spring as part of a conference-record 22-game MVC regular-season win streak. MSU is 17-19 all-time in NCAA Division I Tournament play and has won at least two games in six of their last seven trips to a regional since 1996.

Missouri State was one of two Missouri Valley Conference teams selected for the NCAA Tournament, marking the third time in the last six seasons the league has earned multiple postseason bids. MVC Tournament champ DBU drew the No. 3 seed in the Fort Worth Regional and will face Virginia as its opening-round opponent.

Regional play continues through Monday (June 5) with a double-elimination format. The 16 regional winners will advance to the Super Regional round, which will be contested June 9-12, with the eight winners of the three-game, head-to-head series moving on to the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Neb., June 17-28.

2017 NCAA Fayetteville Regional Schedule

Friday, June 2
Game 1 – No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. No. 2 Missouri State, 2 p.m. CT (ESPN3)
Game 2 – No. 1 Arkansas vs. No. 4 Oral Roberts, 7 p.m. CT (ESPN3)

Saturday, June 3
Game 3 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 2 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 4 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)

Sunday, June 4
Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 6 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4, 8 p.m. (ESPN3)

Monday, June 5
Game 7 – Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary), 6 p.m. (ESPN3)

— MSU Athletics —

SEARCY, Ark. – After more than four hours of rain delays Friday at the NCAA Division II Central Regional tournament at Harding University, all games have been moved to Saturday.

Missouri Western is now scheduled to play Winona State in an elimination game on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The teams were originally scheduled to play Friday at 1:30 before first pitch was moved back to 5 p.m. and eventually postponed to Saturday.

Winona State, the No. 4 seed in the region lost Thursday to No. 5-seeded Southern Arkansas, 5-0. Missouri Western lost to No. 1-seeded Harding 8-0 in five innings. The schedule change will push all games in the Harding sub-regional back one day with the championship game now scheduled for Sunday.

— MWSU Athletics —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alize Johnson scored 20 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Missouri State to a 70-64 victory over Northern Iowa in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal on Friday night.

No. 6 seed Missouri State (17-15) plays second-seeded and No. 21-ranked Wichita State (28-4) in Saturday’s semifinal.

The Bears had a seven-point lead with four minutes left. Bennett Koch made two free throws and Klint Carlson converted a 3-point play to pull Northern Iowa to 59-57. Missouri State turned the ball over on its next possession, and Jordan Ashton then missed a 3 for the Panthers.

Johnson’s free throw made it 60-57. The Panthers then missed another bucket, and the Bears shot 10 of 10 from the line to seal it. Chris Kendrix had 11 points for the Bears. Jarred Dixon added 10 points and made all 10 of his foul shots.

Jeremy Morgan scored 18 points to lead No. 3 seed Northern Iowa (14-16), which has lost four straight.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Landry Shamet scored a career-best 23 points as No. 25 Wichita State clinched at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title for a fourth straight season with an 86-67 victory over Missouri State on Saturday.

The title is the fifth in six seasons for the Shockers (27-4, 17-1), who have won 12 straight games and appear well on their way to a sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Shamet finished 9-of-12 shooting, 5 of 8 from 3-point range, while topping his previous best of 20 points — set against South Dakota State in December. Shaq Morris added 20 points for Wichita State, which has won 14 straight games over the Bears (16-15, 7-11), while Conner Frankamp had 14 points.

Dequon Miller led Missouri State with 19 points, while Alize Johnson had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Shockers led by as many as 10 points in the first half before Missouri State cut the lead to 50-46 early in the second half. However, Wichita State followed by hitting five of its 11 3-pointers for the game during a 20-8 run that pushed the lead to 70-54 and put the game out of reach.

Shamet hit four of his 3-pointers in the second half for the Shockers, who added to the school record for 3-pointers in a season (274) they set in a win earlier in the week against Evansville.

BIG PICTURE

Wichita State: The Shockers entered The Associated Press poll for the first time in a year this week, and they aren’t going anywhere yet after wins over Evansville on Tuesday and Saturday’s win over Missouri State. The real question for Wichita State is whether its late-season surge is enough for the school — rated 44th in the NCAA’s RPI ratings — to have already secured an NCAA Tournament berth, if it doesn’t win the MVC Tournament next week.

Missouri State: Johnson’s double-double was the 16th of the season for the 6-foot-9 junior. Despite outrebounding Wichita State 33-31, though, the Bears were able to improve on an 80-62 loss to the Shockers in Kansas on Feb. 9, allowing Wichita State to shoot 54.1 percent (33 of 61) in the win.

UP NEXT

Both teams next play at the MVC Tournament in St. Louis from March 2-5.

— Associated Press —