PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — Luuk van Bree scored 17 points and Bradley secured its first back-to-back wins of the season with a 77-68 victory over Missouri State on Wednesday night.

Bradley earned a split with Missouri State and sits one game behind the Bears for sixth in the Missouri Valley standings with one game to go. The top six earn a first-round bye in the tournament which starts March 2.

Nate Kennell finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and JoJo McGlaston added 11 and six for Bradley (11-19, 6-11). The Braves shot 55.8 percent, won the rebound battle 31-20, and held a 20-8 advantage in assists.

Dequon Miller led Missouri State (16-14, 7-10) with 26 points. The Bears shot 51.1 percent clip, but committed 17 turnovers.

The Bears held a nine-point lead early in the second half. The Braves quickly battled back, taking the lead on a Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye 3 with 12:03 left and led the rest of the way.

— Associated Press —

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Alize Johnson scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds to lead Missouri State over Drake 76-73 on Saturday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

It was Johnson’s 15th double-double of the season. Dequon Miller added 16 points for Missouri State (16-13, 7-9 Missouri Valley). Graham Woodward and Reed Timmer scored 15 points apiece to lead Drake (7-21, 5-11).

Miller made a pair of free throws to give the Bears a 73-72 lead with 29 seconds left. Obediah Church blocked Billy Wampler’s layup and grabbed the rebound on Drake’s next possession. Jarred Dixon’s free throws stretched the Bears’ lead to 75-72.

De’Antae McMurray made a free throw and intentionally missed the second attempt to pull Drake to 75-73. Johnson grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled with three seconds left, and made 1 of 2 free throws.

Following a Missouri State timeout, Woodward shot a deep 3-pointer but it hit the back of the rim at the buzzer.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Deontae Hawkins scored 19 points and put his team on top for good as Illinois State edged Missouri State 67-66 on Wednesday night.

Tony Wills and DJ Clayton added 12 points apiece for the Redbirds (22-5, 14-1 MVC) who remain tied with Wichita State for first in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Missouri State took a four-point intermission advantage to 45-37 early in the second half before a dunk and a 3-pointer by MiKyle McIntosh and a 3 by Hawkins helped put the Redbirds on top 47-45 with 11:38 to go. A flurry of six 3-pointers followed as the teams battled to a tie at 60 with 5:07 remaining. Hawkins hit a jumper and a layup back-to-back to break the Redbirds into a 67-62 lead with 1:46 left and they held on for the win.

Alize Johnson scored 17 points and Jarrid Rhodes 16 for the Bears (15-13, 6-9). Missouri State has lost four straight.

— Associated Press —

FORT SMITH, Arkansas – The Missouri Western baseball team (3-6) dropped a doubleheader to Arkansas-Fort Smith Sunday, falling 6-2 in game one and 10-2 in game two.

NOTABLES
– Missouri Western got on the board in game one with a single by David Glaude and a Nick Gawley sacrifice fly but would strand two runners.

– Griffon pitchers combined for four strikeouts in the first game

– Eighth inning of game two saw Missouri Western have bases loaded with back-to-back walks and a hit by pitch but that’s the only damage they would do

– Arkansas-Fort Smith drew 17 walks in the two games

TOP PERFORMERS
– David Glaude went 2-for-3 with one RBI in game one

– Bailey Zimmer was 3-for-4 and scored a run in game two

– Jace Pitchford paced Arkansas-Fort Smith at the plate in second game, going 1-for-2 with four RBIs and two sacrifice flies.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western travels to Washburn for a three-game series beginning Friday, Feb. 24.

— MWSU Athletics —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Jeremy Morgan had 18 points with five rebounds and four assists and Northern Iowa edged Missouri State 55-52 on Sunday.

Bennett Koch added 14 points and seven rebounds and Klint Carlson had 10 points for the Panthers (13-12, 8-6 Missouri Valley), who have won three straight and eight of their last nine.

Dequon Miller and Jarred Miller had 12 each for the Bears (15-12, 6-8), who have lost three straight and five of six. Obediah Church had 12 rebounds and Alize Johnson 10 as Missouri State had a 41-24 advantage on the boards.

The Bears had a 15-0 run in the first half but Morgan had back-to-back 3-pointers in the last minute and the Panthers trailed 28-27 at the break. Morgan’s 3 with 4:57 to play put Northern Iowa up 52-45 with 4:57 to play but the Panthers missed their last four shots. But Missouri State, which missed 10 straight, only made two of its last four down the stretch.

Neither team shot 40 percent.

— Associated Press —

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Shaquille Morris scored 13 points and Wichita State cruised to an 80-62 victory over Missouri State on Thursday night for its seventh straight win.

Wichita State (22-4, 12-1 Missouri Valley), who beat Illinois State by 41 points on Tuesday, pulled into a tie with the Redbirds atop the conference. Missouri State (15-11, 6-7) has lost four of its last five games.

Zach Brown added 12 points for the Shockers, who shot 46 percent (25 of 54), made 10 3-pointers, and had five score in double figures.

Alize Johnson and Chris Kendrix scored 11 points apiece for the Bears.

Wichita State had a double-digit lead midway through the first half and led 48-21 at the break. Missouri State was 8-of-28 shooting (29 percent) and committed 14 of its 21 turnovers in the first half.

The Shockers had a 32-point lead with 9:35 left.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Reed Timmer scored 27 points, including a game-winning driving layup with 16 seconds left in overtime to give Drake a 72-71 win over Missouri State on Tuesday night.

Nick McGlynn and Graham Woodward each hit jumpers to give Drake a 68-65 lead in the extra session and McGlynn’s basket with 52 seconds left made it 70-68. Dequon Miller made 1 of 2 free throws and the Bears trailed 70-69.

After Timmer’s left-handed layup in traffic for a three-point lead, Missouri State’s Jarrid Rhodes missed a 3 and Obediah Church hit a jumper at the buzzer.

Ore Arogundade and McGlynn scored 10 apiece and T.J. Thomas grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds for Drake (7-14, 5-4 Missouri Valley).

The Bulldogs led 34-33 at halftime and Timmer tied it at 64 at the end of regulation.

Alize Johnson had 17 points and 17 rebounds for his 13th double-double for the Bears (14-8, 5-4), who saw their three-game win streak end.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Dequon Miller matched his career high with 24 points and Alize Johnson added 13 points while grabbing 13 rebounds as Missouri State pulled away late to beat Bradley 76-62 on Saturday.

Johnson, who garnered his 12th double-double this season and had his ninth straight game with 10 or more rebounds, hauled in seven offensive boards.

Miller drilled 3 of 5 from distance and Chris Kendrix chipped in 17 points with four steals and one block.

Missouri State (14-7, 5-3 Missouri Valley Conference) led 41-31 at the break and was up 59-50 at the midpoint of the second period. A Koch Bar jumper closed the gap to 59-55 with 6:32 left but Kendrix made two free throws and Johnson drilled a 3-pointer for a 64-55 lead two minutes later and the Bears cruised home.

DonteThomas had 17 points and Jayden Hodgson added 16 for Bradley (8-13, 3-5).

— Associated Press —

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Ryan Kreklow hit the second of two free throws and Dequon Miller added two more as Missouri State closed out a 73-68 Missouri Valley Conference victory at Indiana State Wednesday night.

Brenton Scott hit a 3-pointer with :20 left to get Indiana State within two points, 70-68, but after Ryan Kreklow hit the second of two free throws to make it a three-point game, Scott missed from deep. Miller hit both free throws with :06 left to put the game away.

Alize Johnson pumped in 26 points and Miller added another 24 to lead the Bears (13-7, 4-3), who shot 24 of 56 from the field, including 8 of 22 (36.4 percent) from distance.

Scott was 9 of 20 from the field, including 4 of 8 from deep, to lead Indiana State (7-12, 1-6). The Sycamores shot 26 of 65 from the field, 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) from deep.

— Associated Press —