Six Missouri State players scored in double figures, including a game-high 13 by Marcus Marshall, to lead the Bears (2-0) to an 87-39 win over visiting Avila University (3-3) at JQH Arena on Wednesday. Marshall played just 16 minutes, but made 4 of 6 field goals and a pair of 3-pointers while dishing out 2 assists and grabbing 2 steals. Austin Ruder added 12 points for Paul Lusk’s squad, while Robin Thompson and Ron Mvouika each scored 11, and newcomers Loomis Gerring and Camyn Boone scored 10 apiece. Boone also grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds.
Avila got 12 points off the bench from Bradley Reed and 11 from Sedrick Johnson. Johnson also snagged 6 rebounds for the Kansas City-based Eagles who committed 19 turnovers on the night.
The Bears never trailed in the contest and used runs of 18-2 and 15-0 in the first half to lead 47-14 at the break. Missouri State opened the second half on a 19-3 run to climb ahead by 49 points on a dunk by Chris Kendrix with 12:43 to go and later led by as many as 52.
It was the largest margin of victory for Missouri State ever in JQH Arena and its largest overall since a 106-54 win over Evansville on Jan. 9, 2007 in Hammons Student Center.
Missouri State takes to the road for its next four games, starting Saturday at 7 p.m. at Texas Tech (1-1), a game that can be seen on KOLR-10 locally and the statewide Missouri State Television Network. From there, the Bears compete in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Nov. 26-29.
MSU returns home on Dec. 4 to battle Arkansas-Little Rock at 7:05 p.m.
