SPRINGFIELD – An open three from the left wing by Dequon Miller as the final buzzer sounded just missed, and Missouri Valley Conference co-leader Illinois State (22-5, 14-1 MVC) escaped JQH Arena late Wednesday with a 67-66 conference win over home standing Missouri State.
Deontae Hawkins scored a game-high 19 for the Redbirds with Tony Wills and D.J. Clayton pouring in 12 points apiece off the bench for ISU.
All five Missouri State starters found double figures on the stat sheet with Alize Johnson scoring a team-high 17 points, Jarrid Rhodes tallying 16 points and Miller posting 14. Jarred Dixon also scored 11 points and notched a career-high 7 assists in his return to the starting lineup, while Obediah Church provided 13 rebounds and 4 blocks.
There were four ties and three lead changes in the second half, and back-to-back baskets by Rhodes and Dixon midway through the final period gave Missouri State (15-13, 6-9 MVC) a 49-47 lead with 10:06 to play. ISU quickly tied it on a dunk by Clayton and then pulled ahead on a triple by Hawkins.
The Bears would tie the game up twice more – first on Rhodes’ fourth trey of the night with 6:30 to go, and later on a long-range bomb by Johnson out of the left corner to knot the score at 60 with five minutes remaining.
Wills and Clayton provided the spark down the stretch for ISU with Wills registering a traditional 3-point play near the three-minute mark, and Hawkins scoring on back-to-back possessions to put the Redbirds ahead 67-62 with 1:45 to go.
The Bears showed composure down the stretch, as Dixon wasted little time getting to the foul line to get MSU back within 67-64 with 95 ticks to play. Moments later Johnson drew a charge on the defensive end – the first of three straight defensive stops for the Bears – which gave Miller a chance to get MSU within one at the 39-second mark on a solid, second-effort play.
After Paris Lee missed the front end of a one-and-one foul shot with 30 seconds to go, the Bears went inside to Church who was fouled with just under 8 seconds left in the game. Church would miss both foul shots, but MSU fouled Clayton who corralled the second Church miss.
When Clayton missed the front end of his one-and-one, the Bears rushed the other way in the deciding moments with Rhodes leading the break. With Illinois State’s defense on its heels, Rhodes dished to Miller wide open on the left wing, but his 3-point attempt rimmed out to lift ISU to its third straight win.
Missouri State, which dropped its fourth in a row, out-rebounded the Redbirds, 31-30, and knocked down 10 treys – four by Rhodes and three by Miller. MSU also converted 47.1 percent of its shots (24-for-51) and 45.5 percent of its threes (10-for-22) on the night.
ISU finished 27-for-59 (.458) overall and 9-of-24 (.375) from long range with 8 turnovers and 7 steals. ISU’s 10 offensive rebounds led to 18 second-chance points, while the Redbirds’ bench outscored MSU’s reserves 21-2.
The Bears ended the first half on a 19-6 run after trailing by as many as nine in the opening stanza. Rhodes knocked down two clutch treys in the final seven-and-a-half minutes of the half to ignite the comeback efforts, while Johnson scored MSU’s last four points in the final minute to push the home club ahead 33-29 at the intermission.
The Bears now take to the road for their next two Valley games, starting Saturday at 7 p.m. against Drake (7-20, 5-10 MVC) on FOX Sports Midwest. After a trip to Bradley on Feb. 22, MSU closes out the regular season at JQH Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25 against Wichita State at 11 a.m. in a nationally-televised game on ESPN2.
