Missouri State Men roll in home opener

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SPRINGFIELD – Alize Johnson posted a double-double, and J.T. Miller notched a team-high 16 points to lead Missouri State (2-0) past visiting Southern University (0-2), 86-58, here Wednesday in the Bears’ 2017-18 home opener.

Johnson finished with 10 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists in a 22-minute assignment, while Miller was 5-for-5 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers.

MSU, which out-rebounded the Jaguars by a 51-41 margin, also got 13 points from Jarrid Rhodes and 11 from Ryan Kreklow in the victory.

Missouri State never trailed in the contest and pulled ahead by as many as 31 points in the second half.

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Southern was led by Brendon Ganaway with 11 points, and Eddie Reese with 10. Reese knocked down three 3-pointers on the night, while teammate Emanuel Sheperd tallied 9 rebounds to lead the visitors.

The Bears burst out to a 9-0 lead in the first three minutes before the Jags even got on the board. MSU stretched its lead to double figures on a dunk by Miller at 13:36 that made it 15-5 at the time.

The Bears used a 9-0 run later in the opening half, including five points by Miller to push ahead 37-19 and then doubled up the Jaguars, 42-21 on a fast-break layup by Ronnie Rousseau III.

Missouri State ended the half on another run that included a triple by Miller, who had 13 points in the first stanza, and a layup by Rhodes. The Bears shot 52.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and had 14 assists on 18 field goals.

The second half was much the same early. A triple by Rousseau on the first bucket of the period doubled up the score again, 52-26 before Kreklow hit two of his three treys on the night over the next two minutes.

Kreklow gave MSU its first 30-point lead of the night, 62-32 on a jumper with 15:17 to go.

The visitors took advantage of MSU’s reserves midway through the second half with Sheperd converting a pair of layups and the Jags collecting 3-pointers by Reese and Richard Lee to get within 69-47 at the 9:15 mark.

But Missouri State reeled off the game’s next eight points with scores by Jarred Dixon, Reggie Scurry, Obediah Church and Johnson over the next five minutes to put the game on ice.

Tanveer Bhullar scored five unanswered points in the final two minutes to push the home club by 31 with just under a minute remaining.

MSU finished 31-for-69 (.449) from the field and 9-of-24 (.375) from long range with just 9 turnovers and 17 assists.

Southern, which now takes on Duke Friday, finished 20-for-67 (.299) overall from the field and 9-for-21 (.429) from bonus distance with 16 turnovers and 7 steals.

The Bears return to JQH Arena on Friday for a 7 p.m. start against North Dakota State (0-2). Tickets for the NDSU game are on sale now at MissouriStateBears.com or at the Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena — (417) 836-7678 – during regular box office hours.

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