Box Score LITTLE ROCK ? Missouri State improved to 6-0 with a 75-62 victory over UALR (3-5) on Wednesday night at the Jack Stephens Center. The Bears took a 33-22 edge into the half, and protected their lead by shooting 61.5 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Five different players scored in double figures for the Bears, led by reserves Michael Porter and Caleb Patterson. Porter went 7-of-9 from the field en route to a game-high 16 points, while Patterson added 14 points off 6-of-8 shooting.
Porter and Patterson were a combined 13-of-17 from the field, helping the Bears out shoot the Trojans 56.6 percent to 42.2 percent from the field. Missouri State's frontline helped the visitors enjoy a +7 rebounding margin on the glass, while outscoring the Trojans 42-to-22 in the paint.
“One of the things that I think Cuonzo (Martin) has done at Missouri State is build a tough basketball team, and it is my belief that college basketball games are won by the tougher team on a nightly basis ninety-five percent of the time,” said UALR head coach Steve Shields. “Part of toughness is keeping an edge about yourself as a team from a mental standpoint, despite winning two games, and having that burning desire to win a third straight game.”
Senior Mike Smith led the Trojans with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds in the losing effort, while junior Alex Garcia-Mendoza chipped in 10 points and six boards. Junior Solomon Bozeman finished with 12 points to reach double figures for the eighth-straight game, offsetting a 1-of-7 effort from the field by going 10-of-11 at the foul line.
Missouri State held the Trojans to 22 points off a .375 field goal percentage in the first half, but UALR bounced back to score 40 points in the second half off a .476 clip. One game removed from a 10-of-14 showing from three-point range, the Trojans connected on just 4-of-13 from beyond the arc against MSU.
The Bears capitalized on UALR's slow start to take an 11-point lead into the break, 33-22, thanks to a 17-2 run which broke open a tied ballgame. Junior Derrick Bails tied the game at 14-all with a basket at the 10:32 mark, but the Bears ripped off a quick 10-0 spurt, with eight points from Kyle Weems, to go on top 24-14.
The Trojans followed up Bails' basket by going scoreless for a stretch of 5:23, finally scoring again with 5:09 on the clock when junior Matt Mouzy fed junior Montrell Thornton for a dunk. The Bears scored seven more unanswered points to cap off the 17-2 run and extend their lead to 15 points, 31-16, with 3:20 to go.
UALR scored the final four points of the half to cut its deficit to 11 at the break, despite being outshot 51.9 percent to 37.5 percent over the first 20 minutes. The Bears played to a +6 rebounding margin in the first half and had a 7-0 advantage in second chance points.
Missouri State scored the first six points out of the gate at the start of the second half, and led by at least 10 points for nearly the entire second half. The Bears' lead reached as high as 19 points in the second half before UALR finally cut it to single digits, 58-67, off a pair of foul shots by Bozeman with 1:42 to go.
UALR returns to action Sunday afternoon when it welcomes Lyon College to the Jack Stephens Center at 2 p.m.
