Missouri State won for the 18th-straight time at home and improved to a school-record 6-0 in MVC play after a 64-51 win against Southern Illinois. Indiana State and Wichita State both notched road victories to stay one game behind the Bears, while Evansville and UNI also won. The Shockers' win at Creighton was WSU's first there since 1992.

Missouri State 64, Southern Illinois 51
(AP) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Adam Leonard scored 15 points to lead Missouri State to a 64-51 victory over Southern Illinois on Wednesday night.

Will Creekmore and Kyle Weems added 13 apiece and Caleb Patterson 10 for the Bears (14-3, 6-0), who won their eighth in a row and sit alone atop the Missouri Valley Conference. Weems had three steals, and Jermaine Mallett had three assists. The Salukis (9-8, 3-3) got 18 points and 17 rebounds from Mamadou Seck. Carlton Fay scored 13; no other Saluki had more than six.

The difference came at the foul line. Southern Illinois outscored Missouri State 46-42 from the field, but the Bears made 22 of 28 free throws to the Salukis' 5 of 7. Both teams had 31 rebounds and 14 turnovers.

An 18-2 spurt put Missouri State ahead to stay 28-14 with 7:19 left in the first half. The Bears have won 18 straight at home.

Wichita State 68, Creighton 54
OMAHA, Neb. - Wichita State defeated the Creighton Blue Jays, 68-54 on Wednesday night at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. The victory is the first for the Shockers in Omaha since 1992 when WSU defeated Creighton, 64-62.

The Shockers improved to 14-3, 5-1 on the season and with the loss the Blue Jays fall to 12-4, 4-1. The victory keeps the Shockers one game back of Missouri Valley leader Missouri State.

Senior J.T. Durley with his 15 points led the Shockers and he added five rebounds. David Kyles had 13 points with four rebounds and Toure' Murry had a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds.

Gregory Echenique's 12 points paced Creighton and freshman Doug McDermott added seven points and a team-high eleven rebounds for the Jays.

The bench for Wichita State was huge with 29 points compared to the Blue Jays 13 bench points. WSU won the battle on the boards outrebounding Creighton 38-27, which helped them outscore the Jays on second chance points, 16-8.

Indiana State 59, Bradley 53
(AP) PEORIA, Ill. -- Carl Richard had 17 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday night and Indiana State beat Bradley 59-53.

Aaron Carter added 14 points for the Sycamores (10-7, 5-1 Missouri Valley), who swept Bradley for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Indiana State beat the Braves 80-66 on Dec. 29 in Terre Haute, Ind. Dodie Dunson led the Braves (6-11, 0-6) with 21 points and seven rebounds. Bradley got within 50-46 with 3:19 left, but didn't score again until there were 33 seconds to play.

Indiana State led by 11 late in the first half but Bradley charged back and took a 25-23 lead at the break. But the Sycamores managed to improve to 44 percent shooting from the field after only making 33 percent from outside in the first half.

It's the first time in 59 Missouri Valley seasons that Bradley has lost its first six conference games.

Evansville 67, Drake 51
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The University of Evansville men's basketball team snapped its three-game skid Wednesday night at Roberts Stadium with a 67-51 win over visiting Drake. The Aces evened their overall record to 8-8 and improved to 2-4 in the conference play as the Bulldogs fell to 7-10 on the season and 2-4 in the MVC.

Four Aces reached double figures, led by sophomore Ned Cox's season-high 15 points as Evansville's bench contributed 30 points on the night. Senior Pieter Van Tongeren's 12, sophomore Colt Ryan's 11, and senior Clint Hopf's 10 points piloted UE to the victory. Junior Kenneth Harris led the Aces on the glass, grabbing 13 rebounds while also contributing nine points.

After Drake's opening basket, Evansville never trailed again, as they built as much as 13 point lead in the first half. Up 16-13 at the 8:56 mark, the Aces stepped on the gas, sparked by Cox and Ryan's combined 11 points, speeding out to a 27-13 advantage, and the Aces cruised into the break ahead, 35-24.

UE shot 51.9 percent (14-for-27) from the floor in the opening period, while holding the Bulldogs to a 34.8 percent performance (8-for-23). The Aces also dominated around the rim, outscoring DU 20-6 in the paint. Throughout the second half, Evansville held steady control of its lead and even extended it to as much as 20 with 3:41 remaining.

UNI 46, Illinois State 44
NORMAL, Ill. - A last-second three-point attempt from Illinois State guard Anthony Cousin came up short, as the Redbirds (8-9, 0-6 MVC) dropped a close one to UNI (12-6, 3-3 MVC) by a score of 46-44 Wednesday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.

Blake Mishler had a solid game and led the Redbirds with 10 points and five rebounds, while Jon Ekey added nine points and a season-high five rebounds for the Redbirds. The loss was the sixth in a row against the Panthers and the sixth in a row overall for the Redbirds, who have lost the last two games by a combined six points to their Valley opponents.

The Panthers went on a 17-2 run during the first half to take an 21-11 lead after a three-pointer by Johnny Moran. Illinois State returned the favor to cut the lead to 23-21 at intermission. UNI was the first to score out of the break after a layup by Koch, but the lead would be short-lived as ISU answered with a 15-5 run over the next six and a half minutes to take a 36-30. Back-to-back three-pointers from Ekey and John Wilkins ignited the run and Wilkins added five more points after a jumper by Jackie Carmichael to extend the lead for the Redbirds. Austin Hill capped off the run with a layup before the Panthers scored their first field goal in over six minutes to cut the ISU lead to 38-34 with 9:03 left in the game.

ISU later extended the lead to 42-37 with 6:09 left in the game on a jumper by Hill, but a jumper by UNI's Anthony James and a three-pointer from Koch knotted the score at 42-42 with 4:35 left on the clock. The Panthers would then take the lead a minute later on a jumper by James, before Carmichael answered with a jumper of his own to tie the game for the second time at 44-44. James continued his late charge with a layup with 2:30 left on the clock to give UNI a 46-44 lead. Both teams had strong looks at the hoop over the next two minutes but neither scored and ISU got the ball back with 30 seconds left after a steal by Ekey. After a timeout, a jumper by Hill fell short with 14 seconds and James was fouled on the rebound to send him to the line. James then missed the front end of the one-and-one and UNI's Lucas O'Rear fouled Alex Rubin to give the Redbirds the ball back and one last shot for the win.