ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kenny Harris scored 20 points and Colt Ryan finished with 19 to help Evansville defeat Missouri State 72-64 Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
The third-seeded Purple Aces (16-14) will meet No. 25 Creighton in the semifinals on Saturday. Evansville beat the second-seeded Bluejays at home and pushed them to overtime before losing in Omaha, Neb.
Denver Holmes had 11 points and Troy Taylor had team highs of 13 rebounds and five assists for Evansville.
Kyle Weems led all scorers with 23 points and contributed 10 rebounds for Missouri State (16-16), the No. 6 seed. Caleb Patterson had 11 points and Anthony Downing added 10 for the Bears.
Missouri State finished the season with five straight losses, the last two to the Purple Aces. Evansville won 75-70 in overtime at home on Feb. 25.
