Evansville beats Missouri State 66-56 in MVC Tournament

ST. LOUIS (AP) D.J. Balentine scored 21 points and Evansville rolled to a 66-56 victory over Missouri State on Friday night in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The second-seeded Purple Aces (24-8) move on to face No. 6 seed Indiana State (15-16) in a semifinal matchup on Saturday.

Balentine was 8 of 17 from the floor. Egidijus Mockevicius added 12 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for Evansville, which bounced back from a 54-52 loss to Northern Iowa that snapped a four game win streak.

Camyn Boone scored 26 points on 12-of-21 shooting and had 10 rebounds to lead Missouri State (13-19).

It was tied at 36-all five minutes into the second half. Evansville had an 18-9 run, capped by back-to-back 3s from Balentine, to take a 54-45 lead with 5:43 left and cruised from there.