Missouri State defeats Drake 79-70 behind Miller's 23 points

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Dequon Miller scored 23 points with four 3-pointers and Missouri State erupted for 50 second-half points to beat Drake 79-70 on Wednesday night.

Drake led 39-29 at the half before the Bears used a 14-2 run in a little more than four minutes to take a two-point lead.

By comparison, Missouri State (8-11, 4-3 Missouri Valley) used nearly 11 minutes in the first half to score 15 points.

The lead traded hands in the second half, but Miller's 3 with 10:15 left gave Missouri State a 55-52 lead it would never surrender. Chris Kendrix went on his own 8-0 run with a dunk, layup and four free throws in 1:15 to put the Bears up 66-54.

Drake (5-14, 0-7) countered with 14-5 run, and Reed Trimmer's layup cut the deficit to 73-68 with 1:53 left, but the Bulldogs shot just 1 for 6 from the floor the rest of the way.

Trimmer led Drake with 21 points.