Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament

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2011 MVC Tournament Semifinal No. 1: (1) Missouri State 60, (5) Creighton 50

 

 

They didn’t do it the easy way, but the Missouri State Bears don’t really care how hard it is to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The regular-season champions in the Valley just want to make sure that they can cut down the nets at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

They’re now one win away from doing just that.

Jermaine Mallett had 18 points and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds, helping the Bears hold off the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday and advance to the Arch Madness finals. The Bears, who trailed 42-37 with 12 minutes left, used a 15-2 run to go up by eight with 5:36 left. That run involved a defining and ultimately fatal spell for the Jays, who shot 1-of-12 from the field as their lead disappeared. The run all but ended the game for the Bluejays, who might play in a lower-tier postseason tournament such as the CBI.

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The Bears overcame an off night for second-leading scorer Will Creekmore (1-of-6, 2 points) on the basis of a four-man attack that saw Mallett, Kyle Weems (15 points), Nafis Ricks (13 points) and Adam Leonard (10 points) all hit double-digits in the scoring column. With his team only using a two-man bench, Missouri State head coach Cuonzo Martin needed the rest of his starters to step up, and they did just that to advance to Sunday’s championship game against Indiana State.

Coach Greg McDermott's Bluejays held the lead for almost a 20-minute stretch spanning the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half. It proved insufficient, however, as the Bears kept it close throughout - and when the Bears went for the kill, they got it. The Bluejays had just one player score in double figures – reserve Kenny Lawson Jr. with 12 – and were stung by a Bear defense that forced 12 turnovers and limited Creighton to 38 percent shooting. By comparison, Missouri State had just 3 turnovers, and while the team only shot 37 percent from the field, it pulled down 12 offensive boards.


With the win the Bears move on to a nationally-televised CBS showdown, knowing full well that one more sip from the cup of victory guarantees a NCAA tournament bid while a loss could send them to the NIT. Questions remain about whether they'll have enough stamina to play a third difficult game in three days, but for now, the Bears will take the win and prepare for the Missouri Valley championship game. At the very least, the fact that MSU played in the early quarterfinal on Friday and the early semifinal on Saturday will give this team recovery time before the biggest game of the season.


By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer