SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State dominated the final 24 minutes of Saturday’s 94-67 home victory over visiting Northwestern State, shooting 61 percent from the field in that span (22-of-36) while pushing ahead by as many as 33 points in the second half to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Senior Gaige Prim led all players with a career-high 26 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists for the Bears, coming up just shy of the program’s first-ever triple-double. Prim was 9-for-12 from the field and added 4 blocked shots.
Jared Ridder also poured in a career high for Missouri State, dropping in six 3-pointers as part of an 18-point effort. Isiaih Mosley also tallied 18 points for the Bears to go with 4 assists, and Keaton Hervey dropped in 10 points in his second Division I contest.
After Ridder broke up a 27-27 tie with 4:03 left in the first half, the Bears ended the opening stanza a 17-4 run. Mosley tallied 10 points in that run, including a pair of threes and a layup just before the horn to put the Bears up 44-31 at the intermission.
Missouri State extended the run in the second half with a jumper by Hervey and a pair of triples by Ridder that closed out a 25-7 outburst by the home side and made it 52-34 with 18:32 to play.
Northwestern State (1-7) was led by Carvell Teasett’s 14 points off the bench that included three treys, while Trenton Massner added 10 points for the Demons.
Missouri State used another run in the second half to pull away even further, getting triples from Ridder and Ja’Monta Black to go with 8 points from Prim as part of a 16-2 stretch that pushed the Bears up 70-40 with 12:54 to go.
Nine of the 12 Bears in uniform found the scoring column, including the first-ever points by Skylar Wicks and 6 points from fellow freshman and birthday man, Raphe Ayres.
MSU finished 33-of-65 (.508) from the field to improve to 17-0 under Dana Ford when shooting 50 percent or better from the field. The Bears were also 12-of-34 (.353) from long range and 16-of-28 (.571) at the stripe.
Behind 9 boards by Prim and 8 by Hervey, the Bears owned a 44-37 advantage on the glass, while committing just 7 turnovers on the night with 21 assists.
NSU was 23-of-62 (.371) overall, 7-for-17 (.412) from bonus range and 14-of-21 (.667) from the line with 11 turnovers.
Missouri State concludes its three-game home stand on Monday against Little Rock (4-2) with a 7 p.m. tipoff at JQH Arena. Tickets for the Little Rock contest are available at MissouriStateBears.com/tickets or at the Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.
