ST. LOUIS, Mo.- Wichita State (17-14) was knocked from the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament by the hands of Missouri State, 67-64, as the Bears complete a season sweep of the Shockers. In front of a record crowd of 16, 651 inside the Scottrade Center, Matt Braeuer went 5-of-7 from behind the arc, but couldn't make his last one fall, a dire three that would have tied the game.

Braeuer had a record night adding three free throws to his career-high five three-pointers for a game-high total of 18 points. The junior guard also grabbed a career-high five rebounds. P.J. Couisnard was right behind with 17, and Gal Mekel added 11 points, all in the first half. Ryan Martin led in rebounding, bringing down seven boards.

Deven Mitchell led the Bears (22-9) with 16 points and eight rebounds. Nathan Bilyeu also brought down eight boards and Blake Ahearn ended with 12, while Tyler Chaney chipped in 11.

Wichita State took a 34-32 lead into the locker room, but was outscored 35-30 in the second half.

Drew Richards threw down a dunk to tie the score within the first minute of the second half. The teams battled back and forth for most of the half, but a three-pointer by Bilyeu extended a Bear lead to 58-50 with 7:17 left to play.

Braeuer answered immediately by bouncing in a three of his own. Kyle Wilson put back his own rebound to make it 58-55, then blocked a shot on the other end of the court to give WSU its third consecutive possession. Martin drew a foul on an offensive rebound and sank both shots from the line to bring the Shockers within one.

Ahearn, a 90+ percent free throw shooter missed one earlier, but hit both in his next trip to the` line. Then WSU's Karon Bradley knocked down a three from the corner to knot it 60-60 with 4:46 remaining.

Missouri State scored five of its last seven points from the free throw line to break the knot. The Bears used four-straight free shots from Ahearn and Mitchell within a 40 second span to take a 64-60 lead at the 2:30 mark it would not relinquish.

Neither team scored until close to three minutes in, but Wichita State broke through first on a 7-0 run. Missouri State answered with a 10-3 run of their own to knot it at 10 at the 13:08 mark.

Early fouls got the best of the Shocker's big men with Wilson and Phillip Thomasson finding themselves with two a piece eight minutes into the game.

Missouri State took their first lead at the 10:48 mark on a jumper by Bilyeu, 12-10.

The teams traded baskets for much of the first half, with 8-of-15 three-point shooting fueling Wichita State to a 34-32 halftime advantage.

-Wichita State-