SPRINGFIELD,  Mo. – A team-high 19 points from Mark Freeman, 17 of those in the second half, was not enough on Wednesday night, as the Missouri State Bears evened the season series with the Illinois State Redbirds with an 88-63 win at JQH Arena.
Freeman made 5-of-12 shots from the field, 2-of-3 from long range, and 7-of-8 on his charity stripe tries. Howard Fleming Jr. scored 10 points and pulled down four rebounds. For the first time this season Antonio Reeves fell just shy of the double-figure plateau with nine points, while Kendall Lewis scored eight. Sy Chatman pulled down a team-best eight rebounds, as the Redbirds and Bears each had 37 total rebounds in the game.
The Redbirds get a quick turnaround, as the squad next plays on Friday night against Evansville, the first of two consecutive games against the Aces.
Missouri State scored the first five points of the game, and never trailed in the contest. The Redbirds fought back and kept the margin in single digits before MSU ran off a 10-2 run to lead by 10 at 27-17, as a Reeves jumper with 57 seconds to play in the game sent the Redbirds into the locker room trailing 44-34.
The Bears opened the second half on a 12-2 run to push ahead by 20, and led by as many as 29, cruising to the MVC victory.
The Redbirds made 25-of-71 shots from the field (35 percent) and 4-of-18 (22 percent) from beyond the arc. For the second consecutive game the ISU turnovers were equal to its assists – this time nine of each – as a dozen players saw action for the Redbirds in the game.
Isiaih Mosley scored a game-high 24 points, while Gaige Prim added 17 and Ja'Monta Black 14.
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