Missouri State shot 64 percent in the second half and held off a late surge by visiting Indiana State to secure a 67-61 win here Saturday afternoon, giving the Bears their 10th Missouri Valley Conference win for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.
MSU (16-13, 10-6 MVC) moves within a half game of MVC leaders Loyola and Drake who are both 10-5 in the league and both play on the road Sunday.
The Bears got 16 points and 11 rebounds from Tulio Da Silva for his third double-double of the season, while Josh Webster added 14 points and six assists. Keandre Cook and Ryan Kreklow also pitched in 11 points apiece for the home side.
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Savion Flagg scored 22 points to lead Texas A&M to an 87-80 win against Arkansas on Saturday night.
Daniel Gafford scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half and grabbed 13 rebounds for Arkansas, which has lost five straight. Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe added 20 points, but his 2-for-8 shooting from behind the arc stalled the Razorbacks’ comeback effort. Mason Jones scored all 11 of his points in the second half.
At five straight losses, the Razorbacks are in a completely different spot than they were after a win over Vanderbilt on Jan. 5. At that point, they seemed to be in position to make the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas travels to Lexington Ky, to Take on the 4th ranked Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday
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Ty Cockfield II had 25 points as Arkansas State got past Little Rock 72-65 on Saturday.
The Red Wolves improve to 2-0 against the Trojans this season. Arkansas State defeated Little Rock 84-83 on Feb. 2. Arkansas State plays Georgia State on the road on Thursday. Little Rock plays Georgia Southern on the road on Thursday.
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KeVaughn Allen scored 17 points, Keyontae Johnson added 13 and Florida overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half to beat Missouri 64-60 on Saturday.
The Tigers fell to 0-4 in Gainesville and have lost six of seven on the road in SEC play,
Missouri Plays at Mississippi State on Tuesday and will try to avoid its first four-game losing streak of the season.