Missouri State basketball welcomes UIC to Valley with dominant defensive effort
Missouri State held Illinois Chicago to 30.2% shooting from the field in a dominant defensive effort in a 66-51 win in the Missouri Valley Conference opener.
The conference matchup was the Flames' first since joining the Valley. The Bears (4-3, 1-0) will host Bradley (5-3, 1-0) on Saturday at 7 p.m. before resuming non-conference play.
Chance Moore and Donovan Clay scored 17 points apiece. Clay also had nine boards and seven assists.
The Bears blocked 10 shots during the game which was the most the program has recorded since blocking 12 shots against Indiana State on Feb. 6, 2018. Clay blocked three shots with Jonathan Mogbo and James Graham each recording a pair.
"I'm very proud of our guys," head coach Dana Ford said during his postgame radio interview. "Road wins are hard to get in this league and we really have to value them. I felt like our guys were ready to play, and once we settled in, our athleticism and versatility really set in and made a difference. This is a good win for us."
In addition to the blocked shots, the Bears had 11 steals which would have matched last season's high in a win over Oral Roberts.
Missouri State spotted UIC an 11-2 lead to start the game with the Flames hitting four of their first seven shots. The Flames were 12-of-46 (26.1%) for the remainder of the game. The Bears charged back and took a lead they wouldn't give back at the 11:32 mark in the first half.
Bradley, which visits Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday, is 5-3 this season and defeated Northern Iowa 68-53 on Wednesday night.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State beats Illinois Chicago in Valley opener
