Missouri State basketball dominates Murray State to open Arch Madness

Missouri State lived to play another game and will have a shot at the league champion in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament's quarterfinals.

The Bears used a dominant defensive performance in a 60-35 win over Murray State on Thursday afternoon at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. They've now won an Arch Madness game in their last five appearances.

An Arch Madness quarterfinal matchup awaits the ninth-seeded Bears with a Friday noon game against No. 1 Indiana State. The Sycamores beat the Bears twice during the regular season, most recently a 73-71 defeat in Springfield on Feb. 10.

Missouri State basketball forces rock fight in first half with great defense

Murray State made five shots from the field in the first half, allowing the Bears to build their lead up to 13 at the break.

When the two played on Valentine's Day, the Bears were down 16-0 less than three minutes into the game. On Thursday, they only allowed 14 points in the entire first half as the Racers went 5 for 28 from the field while missing all eight 3-point attempts.

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N.J. Benson and Chance Moore each scored eight points early on with Third Team All-MVC guard Alston Mason adding six. The Bears shot 50% as a team and led 27-14, giving them their first double-digit halftime lead of the season.

Murray State basketball continues poor play, Bears build lead up to 20

Whatever the Racers were told at halftime didn't work. Their shooting continued to be horrendous, setting the Bears up to go ahead by 20.

Easy points inside the paint during a two-minute span saw the Bears go on a 6-0 run to build their lead. Cesare Edwards started the stretch with a dunk before easy layups by Mason and Donovan Clay put the Bears up 41-21 with 12:03 left.

Immediately after building up the lead, Murray State showed its first sign of life. It went on an 8-0 run in about a minute and a half which was capped off by Quincy Anderson making the team's first 3 of the game.

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Alston Mason didn't let Missouri State have any worries

Within 11 points was as close as Murray State got. The Bears went on a 15-0 run with under eight minutes to go to put the game away.

Mason did most of the damage during the stretch. He hit two 3-pointers and made four free throws before finishing the game with 22 points.

Benson finished with 10 points and 12 boards with Moore scoring 12 with eight rebounds.

The Racers finished 12 of 57 for 21.1% shooting from the field. They were 2 for 20 from 3-point range.

Up next: Indiana State

A quarterfinal matchup with league-champion Indiana State awaits the Bears on Friday at noon at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The Bears were swept by the Sycamores during the regular season starting with an 88-66 loss in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Jan. 16 and a 73-71 defeat in Springfield on Feb. 10.

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State basketball beats Murray State in MVC Tournament