Springfield, Mo. - Wichita State fought back from a 14-point deficit in the second half to tie the score in the final 90 seconds, but Missouri State went on to grab its first Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with a 69-64 win Saturday.

Shocker junior guard David Kyles hit a 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the game to tie the score, 64-64, at JGH Arena.

Bears senior guard Adam Leonard answered with a 3-pointer with 49 seconds remaining to give Missouri State the lead for good in front of a crowd of 11,077.

Wichita State and Missouri State entered the game tied for first place in the MVC men's basketball standings with identical 14-3 conference records. The Bears secured the No. 1 seed for the State Farm MVC Tournament with the win. Wichita State will enter the March 3-6 tournament with the No. 2 seed.

Kyles led all scorers with 20 points, making five 3-pointers in the second half. Four of those 3-pointers came in the final 5:07. Kyles and senior forward Gabe Blair grabbed seven rebounds for the Shockers (23-7, 14-4).

Senior guard Jermaine Mallett led the Bears (23-7, 15-3) with 18 points. Leonard added 17 points. Junior forward Kyle Weems added nine rebounds and 11 points.

Missouri State jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first four minutes of the game by building an 8-0 run after trailing by two points in the opening moments. Mallett scored five points during the run.

The Bears went on to grab an eight-point edge midway through the first half before the Shockers answered with a 6-0 run. Kyles scored twice during the stretch with a jumper and dunk, and a Garrett Stutz jumper brought the Shockers to within two points, 16-14.

Missouri State built up an 11-point lead that included a three-pointer from Leonard and three-point play from Nathan Scheer. Wichita State's Demetric Williams' three-point play cut the lead to eight points before the Bears extended back to an 11-point edge on a Leonard 3-pointer with 1:31 remaining in the half.

The Bears took a 32-21 lead into halftime. Missouri State connected on 5-of-12 attempts from behind the 3-point line in the half, while the Shockers finished the first half 0-for-6 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes of play.

The 21 points the Shockers scored in the first half marked the lowest first-half point total for Wichita State this season.

Missouri State's Leonard and Mallett paced all scorers with nine first-half points each. Kyle Weems pulled down six rebounds.

Williams led the Shockers with five first-half points. Kyles had four rebounds.

The Bears quickly extended their lead to 14 points by opening the second half with a 3-pointer from Leonard.

The Shockers battled back to cut the lead to six points on an 8-0 run. Two free throws from Toure' Murry started the run. Field goals from Ben Smith, Williams and Blair made the score, 39-33, with 13:43 left in the game.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Murry and Graham Hatch cut the score to 51-44 midway through the second half.

A 3-pointer from Joe Ragland with just over two minutes remaining brought the Shockers to within four points of the Bears. Kyles' 3-pointer from the corner that quickly followed brought the Shockers within one point, 60-59.

After Kyles' 3-pointer tied the score with 1:21 left on the clock, the Bears closed the game on a 5-0 run.

The Shockers shot 47.1 percent from the 3-point line in the second half, making 8-of-17 attempts.

Saturday's loss marked the Shockers' first on the road in Valley play this season. Wichita State fell to 8-1 in conference road games.

The Shockers next  travel to St. Louis, Mo., for the State Farm MVC Tournament March 3-6 at Scottrade Center. Wichita State will play at 6:05 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday's game between No. 7-seed Drake and No. 10-seed Bradley.

- Wichita State -