On Senior Night at JQH Arena in Springfield, the Missouri State Bears took a 13-point lead on a jumper by Will Creekmore with 16:34 left in the game, but visiting Creighton stormed back with 42 points the rest of the way to win 65-59.
The Bears never trailed until a three-pointer by Casey Harriman at the 6:57 mark of the second half put Creighton (24-6, 13-4) up 48-47. On the Bluejays’ next possession, Harriman answered the bell again with another trey to extend the CU advantage to 51-47.
Missouri State (11-18, 3-14) fought back on a traditional three-point play by senior Wade Knapp just moments later to make it 51-50, but the Bluejays responded on the other end on a similar three-point bucket and free throw by Cavel Witter.
Senior Chris Cooks tied the game, 57-57, on a pair of free throws for the Bears with 1:59 to play, but the dagger came at the 1:15 mark when Harriman hit his third three-pointer during the comeback run to give the Bluejays a four-point lead, 62-58.
Cooks, who had 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds, got to the line with 56 seconds to go, but made just one of the two charity line opportunities to make it 62-59.
Witter then made the shot of the night with 20.3 to play to give Creighton a five point lead. Spencer Laurie’s three-point attempt on MSU’s next possession was off its mark, and Justin Carter made a free throw with four seconds left to help Creighton keep pace with Northern Iowa in the Valley standings with a 65-59 win.
Missouri State closes out the regular season Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. at Indiana State (9-20, 6-11) before playing in the State Farm MVC Tournament opening round game as the No. 10 seed at 8:35 p.m. on March 5 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Story courtesy of Missouri State athletics
