The Missouri Valley Conference continues conference play on Tuesday night with a matchup between the Missouri State Bears (10-7, 2-4 MVC) and the Indiana State Sycamores (14-3, 5-1 MVC). Missouri State just picked up a road win in Evansville 74-64, covering as 4.5-point road favorites. Indiana State just won big at home, blowing out Belmont 94-64 as 11.5-point favorites. Missouri State won both matchups between these teams last season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 EST from the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Indiana.
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The Missouri State Bears were recently on a three game losing streak, with all three losses coming from conference opponents, before they were able to finally beat Evansville on the road. The Bears are now 2-4 in conference play, three games back of the leaders in Drake and this Indiana State team. Missouri State will have to prove themselves, as both of their conference wins came against Evansville, who is 1-5 in the league. In their most recent win, they were led by forward N.J. Benson with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Bears FLY.?? pic.twitter.com/ollirbnFyc
— Missouri State Basketball (@MSUBearsHoops) January 14, 2024
Their top scorer is 6'2 junior Alston Mason with 17.2 PPG, and he is also the top shooter on the team with 36 made three-pointers on 37.1% shooting from deep. Mason had 18 in their recent win over Evansville, and 17 in the previous game against Murray State. Donovan Clay is a bigger guard at 6'8, he averages 13.6 PPG and 5.9 RPG. Clay plays a physical game, he leads the team in free throw attempts with 85, while the next highest has just 61. Chance Moore is their last scorer in double figures, the 6'6 junior guard is scoring 11.7 PPG and grabs 5.5 RPG. Their top four scorers are all guards, their best inside player is N.J. Benson, a 6'8 225-pound sophomore. Benson is coming off the big game with 22 points and 13 rebounds, way above his season averages of 7.5 PPG and 7.2 RPG.
Missouri State is currently ranked 145th overall according to KenPom. They are better defensively where they rank 100th in efficiency, while their o ffense is ranked 219th in efficiency. The Bears play at the 143rd fastest tempo out of 362 Division I teams.
Injury Report: None reported