The Missouri State basketball Bears got off to slow starts in both halves Wednesday night in Peoria, Ill., and a strong finish wasn’t enough to bring them back as they dropped an 83-71 Missouri Valley Conference decision to the Bradley Braves. It was the Bears’ fourth Valley loss in a row and and their 10th straight setback away from Hammons Student Center as they slipped to 11-13 for the season and 4-8 in league play.
The first half was a shooting standoff as the Bears hit just .269 (7/26) from the field and Bradley was hardly better at .296 (8/27). The Braves, however, got four more treys to fall than did the Bears, and Bradley added 15-of-16 from the foul line while Missouri State could manage just 4-of-8 from the stripe. The Braves went on a 12-0 run to start the second half and ran out to a 48-19 lead before the Bears could score. A 14-0 run got the Bears back within shouting distance at 53-40 but Missouri State crawled back inside a double-digit deficit just once, at 63-54 with six minutes to play.
Missouri State comes home to entertain the University of Northern Iowa Panthers in Valley action Saturday.