The Missouri St. men missed a chance to stay just a game out of the four-way tie for first in the Missouri Valley Conference on Sunday in a 68-62 loss to Wichita St. at the Hammons Student Center. The Bears played like two different teams in the loss, which dropped them two games out of first.
In the first half, MSU shot 53.3 percent from the floor and took a 43-31 lead. But in the second half, the shots stopped dropping, as the Shockers out-scored the Bears 37-19 over the final 20 minutes. Missouri St. hit just 7-of-29 shots in the second half. WSU, meanwhile, made 57 percent of their second-half shots.
Kyle Wilson had 17 points to lead Wichita St. P.J. Cousinard had eight points, eight rebounds and five assists.
MSU was led by Blake Ahearn, who had 15 points.
The Bears are now 12-5 overall and 5-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference and the Shockers remained in a four-way tie atop the standings with a league-mark of 7-2. They’re 16-4 overall. WSU, Northern Iowa, Creighton and Southern Illinois are all tied for first.