PEORIA, Ill. -  Missouri State senior forward Kyle Weems hit 12-of-14 field goal attempts en route to a game-high 27 points and senior center Will Creekmore complimented the effort with 20 points and 11 rebounds, leading the visiting Bears (15-3, 7-0 MVC) to a 78-67 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory versus Bradley (6-12, 0-7) Sunday night at Carver Arena.

Bradley senior guard Andrew Warren continued his league-leading scoring pace by topping the Braves with 21 points, while backcourt mates Dodie Dunson and Walt Lemon Jr. completed Bradley's double-digit scoring efforts with 15 and 10 points, respectively.  In addition to Weems and Creekmore, Missouri State go 11 points apiece from Nafis Ricks and Jermaine Mallett.

Led by the two big men, who combined to make 20-of-26 field goal attempts, Missouri State shot 59.3 percent from the field.  The Bears made five of their first six 3-point field goal attempts and rode their hot shooting start to a 22-11 lead with 10:36 left in the first half.

The MSU lead did not drop below eight points and grew to as many as 17, 53-36, before Bradley went on an 13-2 run to cut the deficit to 55-49 with 10:42 left.  The Braves had a chance to cut deeper into the deficit, but Missouri State converted two straight Bradley turnovers into four points. 

Bradley again cut the deficit to six, 63-57, on a Jake Eastman corner 3-pointer with 6:20 left, but the Bears pounded the ball inside on their next two possessions for interior buckets by Creekmore and Weems and the Braves could not get within single digits the rest of the game.

Missouri State ended the game with a 40-28 scoring advantage inside and though Bradley committed just nine turnovers, the visitors claimed a 15-9 edge in points off turnovers.