Missouri State extended its JQH Arena winning streak to 12 games here Wednesday with an 80-46 non-conference win over Arkansas-Little Rock in the Bears’ most one-sided victory ever in their home arena.
Will Creekmore led four MSU players in double figures with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to record his 11th straight double-figure scoring effort. Kyle Weems and Caleb Patterson added 13 points, while Nafis Ricks scored 10 points with a game-high six assists.
The Bears (5-2) used a series of high-octane scoring runs to file the win. With a 10-8 lead four-and-a-half minutes into the game, Cuonzo Martin’s squad reeled off 14 of the game’s next 16 points to pull ahead 24-10 over the next six minutes.
Missouri State then extended a 15-point halftime advantage with a 12-0 run to start the second half. A three-pointer by Adam Leonard and layup by Creekmore less than four minutes into the second period gave the Bears a 55-29 lead.
UALR (4-3) broke the drought with a basket by D’Andre Williams at the 16:13 mark, but the Trojans went nearly five minutes without another point. MSU never slowed down with its reserves on the floor during that span and extended its advantage to 67-31.
The previous arena record 28-point victory came over UT Martin, 79-51, on Dec. 9, 2009.
Williams led all UALR players with 11 points, while Daylon Guy knocked down three treys off the bench to finish with nine.
Missouri State dominated the boards with a 37-27 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over just six times. The Bears made good on 55.6 percent (30-for-54) of their field goal attempts and were 15-of-20 (.750) at the free throw line.
Missouri State got 94 minutes from its reserves who scored 27 points, including 13 by Patterson and seven by Nathan Scheer.
In the first half, Weems gave the Bears their first double-digit lead at the 12:52 mark. The Bears expanded their advantage to 17 on a Leonard three-pointer with 6:22 on the clock, the team’s only trey of the first period.
Missouri State also recorded its 16th straight non-conference home win and won for the 23rd time in their last 25 games at JQH Arena.
The Bears will close out a four-game home stand Saturday at 7:05 p.m. against Central Arkansas (2-4).
Story courtesy of Missouri State Athletics.
