SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- Wichita State (10-5, 1-3) was defeated, 95-87, by Missouri State (12-3, 3-1) Sunday evening in Springfield, Mo. This was the Bears first win over Wichita State in five years, going 0-8 against the Shockers since defeating WSU, 72-59, on March 2, 2002 in St. Louis, Mo. in the Missouri Valley Tournament.

Matt Braeuer had a career-high 21 points for the Shockers and Karon Bradley and Ryan Martin chipped in 13 each. P.J. Couisnard led WSU with five rebounds.

Missouri State's Blake Ahearn, Tyler Chaney, and Deven Mitchell combined for 64 of the Bears' 95 points with 23, 22, and 19, respectively. Chaney and Mitchell had five boards each. Ahearn, the country's top free throw shooter for the past three years, was 14-of-14 from the line.

In what was another team effort, Wichita State's first six field-goals cam from six different players. But Missouri State's three-point shooting kept the Bears right in the game, scoring 12 of their 16 points from behind the arc.  MSU went on a 15-3 run, again highlighted by three-pointers, remaining a perfect 7-7 on the game. This gave the Bears their greatest lead of the half, 15, with 8:10 minutes remaining in the half.

The teams traded baskets for the next seven minutes and Wichita State cut the lead to 11 on back-to-back field goals by Phil Thomasson and Bradley to go into halftime trailing, 45-34. Missouri State ended the half with 8-11 three-point shooting, compared to a Shocker 3-8. The Bears also out-rebounded WSU 17-9.

Despite outscoring the Bears 53-50 in the second half, Missouri State led by as many as 19 several times. With the Bears leading 76-57 midway through the second half, Wichita State went on an 8-0 run and cut the lead to 76-65 with 7:54 left.

Wichita State broke the double-digit lead with consecutive threes from Braeuer and Kyle Wilson, but the Bears continued to answer. The Shockers pulled to within seven at 88-81 with 1:16 left in the game, but a Wichita State turnover after stealing the inbounds pass led to an uncontested Missouri State basket and a nine-point lead with 1:03 remaining. The two teams exchanged free throws the rest of the game.

Wichita State ended with 54 percent shooting to a Missouri State 53. The Bears had seven more turnovers than the Shockers, but out-rebounded WSU 34-20. MSU went 34-40 on free throws. The Shockers only went to the line 16 times and sank 12 baskets.

The Shockers continue on the road, facing Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind., on Wed., Jan. 10, at 6:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Kansas Now 22.

-Wichita State-