Missouri State takes down No. 21 Creighton
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Kyle Weems scored 25 of his career-high 31 points 65 win over No. 21 Creighton.
Anthony Downing added 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-6 effort from three-point range, for the Bears (8-5, 1-0 MVC), who halted a two- game skid. Jarmar Gulley chipped in 12 points and five boards.
Creighton, which was opening MVC play as a ranked team for the first time in program history, got 19 points from Doug McDermott. Antoine Young and Josh Jones added 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Bluejays (10-2, 0-1).
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Despite going 6-for-8 from beyond the arc in the opening half, Creighton held just a two-point lead at the break, as the Bears closed with a 5-0 run to make it 34-32. The back-and-forth pace continued until Weems and Downing took over late.
Trailing 51-50 midway through the second half, Weems sandwiched a pair of layups around a Downing trey, giving Missouri State a 57-51 lead. Creighton tied the contest, 57-57, on a pair of Ethan Wragge free throws, but Weems scored five points during a 7-0 run, as the Bears grabbed a 64-57 advantage -- one they would not relinquish.
With just under two minutes remaining, Young made it 68-65 with a layup, but Downing responded with a deep trey on the other end and Weems scored the game's final six points from the charity stripe to seal the win.
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McDermott, who entered Wednesday as the nation's leading scorer (25.4 points per game), went just 8-of-18 from the field and saw his streak of 10 straight 20-point games come to an end.
Game Notes
Creighton leads the all-time series, 30-28...The Bluejays went 3-of-13 from beyond the arc in the second half...The Bears shot 55.2 percent from the floor after the break and hit 6-of-8 three-pointers.