It’s a quarterfinal matchup in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, also known as Arch Madness, coming to you on the hardwood from the Gateway City. The sixth-seeded Missouri State Bears look to knock off the third-seeded Southern Illinois Salukis Friday night with the winner advancing to Saturday’s semifinals. Missouri State pulled away in the second half to drop 11th-seeded UIC 74-57 in their first-round matchup, covering the line as an 8.5-point favorite, Thursday night. Southern Illinois closed the regular season with a 68-65 road win over UIC, though they failed to cover the line as a six-point favorite, in their previous game Sunday afternoon. In the all-time series between the teams, the Salukis own a 43-38 advantage. Southern Illinois won both meetings this season, including a 73-53 home romp in the most recent matchup February 5.
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Missouri State ran their win streak to three games as a strong second half showing propelled them past UIC and into the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament. The Bears boosted their record to 17-14 overall after finishing 12-8 in conference play during the regular season. Against UIC, Missouri State led by nine less than six minutes into the game only to see the Flames rally to tie the game at 23. The Bears bounced back to take a four-point lead at the half and opened the second half on a 13-6 run to take a 47-36 lead with 16:16 remaining in regulation. Missouri State didn’t let UIC closer than nine after that en route to the win. The Bears shot 49.2% from the floor, including nine of 25 from three-point range, and held a 39-30 advantage in the rebounding department in the contest. Alston Mason led Missouri State with 17 points in the victory.
The Bears are averaging 65.8 points per game so fa r on the season, putting them 324th in the nation in scoring offense. Missouri State is collecting 35 rebounds per contest and passes out 11.6 assists per contest. The Bears are well above average defensively, ranking 30th by allowing 63.7 points per contest. Chance Moore is one of two players scoring in double figures for Missouri State this season as he averages 10.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game on the year. Donovan Clay (11.9 points, 5.6 boards, 3.5 assists), Alston Mason (9.8 points), Bryan Trimble Jr. (eight points) and Kendle Moore (7.6 points) provide a secondary scoring punch for Dana Ford’s team. Dawson Carper, Jonathan Mogbo, Matthew Lee, James Graham, N.J. Benson, Damien Mayo Jr. and Dalen Ridgnal are important rotation pieces for Missouri State this season. The Bears shoot 43.4% from the field as a team this season. Missouri State hits eight triples per contest while shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc. The Bears are struggling at th e charity stripe as they cash in on just 62.9% of their chances this season, putting them 358th in Division I this season.
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