Missouri States most complete effort of the season came up three points short. Mickey Mantle Jersey . Cleanthony Early had 22 points and 14 rebounds and No. 6 Wichita State rallied from a 19-point second-half deficit, knocking off Missouri State 72-69 in overtime on Saturday night. The Bears near-upset came just six days after an embarrassing 32-point loss to a 6-10 Loyola-Chicago team that has since lost two straight games. "I thought our guys played until the last second on the clock. We had an opportunity, and thats all you want against a team like that," Missouri State coach Paul Lusk said. "It hurts for our guys, because they played (hard). Theyre down right now, and they should be when you play that hard. "Thats the thing about Wichita State. They play hard. And we matched it. But weve got to get better." Fred VanVleet scored 12 of the Shockers last 13 points, including a game-tying free throw with 8 seconds left in regulation. He put Wichita State up for good with a short jumper with 1:25 left in overtime, and added two free throws with 8.8 seconds left in overtime to put the Shockers up 71-68. Early made a free throw with 1.4 seconds left to put the Shockers up 72-69, and stole a Missouri State inbounds pass at half court with 1.1 seconds left to seal the comeback for Wichita State (17-0, 4-0 Missouri Valley). "In those types of situations, youve just got to keep grinding out the game," Wichita State sophomore Ron Baker said. "Getting some stops is a big thing, but then youve got to go score on the offensive end. If you can do those two things, youre going to come back." VanVleet added 16 points, and Baker scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. Austin Ruder led Missouri State (12-4, 2-2) with 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Jarmar Gulley had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Bears, and Marcus Marshall also scored 15 points. The third-largest home crowd in Missouri State history (10,776) roared with approval as Missouri State shot 65 per cent in the first half and rolled to a 42-24 halftime lead. "We finally executed against an elite team," Ruder said. "Weve kind of given a couple games away against higher-level teams (losses to Louisville and Virginia), but I thought it was important that we battled. "Obviously we should have got the win and we were expecting to win, but were looking forward to next time." But the Bears missed their first eight shots to start the second half as the Shockers opened with a 7-0 run to get back in the game. It was a 46-35 Bears lead when Ruder hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to spark an 8-0 run that gave Missouri State its largest lead at 54-35 with 11:48 to play. But Wichita State responded immediately, using full-court pressure to force four Missouri State turnovers in two minutes to power a 16-2 run that closed the gap to 56-51 with 7:30 to go. It was 60-55 with less than four minutes left when Ruder hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put Missouri State up eight, but Wichita State again rallied, closing within 64-63 on VanVleets layup and free throw with 47.7 seconds left. VanVleet missed the second of two free throws with 8.8 seconds left and the game tied at 64, and Missouri States Dorrian Williams missed a fallaway jumper at the buzzer that would have won it for the home team. "Its the first close game weve had, to be honest," Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said. "Weve had some games where we made some plays down the stretch to win by five or whatever ... but as far as a game really being in doubt, this is by far the toughest game weve had." Missouri State couldnt have asked for much more out of the first half. The Bears shot 65 per cent from the field, including 8 of 14 from 3-point range, and Gulleys layup at the buzzer put Missouri State up 42-24 at the break. Wichita native Gavin Thurman, a little-used Missouri State reserve who hadnt played in four of the Bears past five games, sparked the first-half run with nine points on 4 for 4 shooting. "They shot the cover off the basketball, especially in the first half," Marshall said. "It didnt look good. "We knew these games would happen, and this was certainly one of them. We just made one more play." SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri States most complete effort of the season came up three points short. Stephen Tarpley Jersey .com) - It appears both the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls will reach the playoffs, but the two squads are coming off losing efforts. Ron Guidry Jersey .Before a raucous sellout crowd, the Hawks won for the 29th time in 31 games to extend their Eastern-best record to 36-8.As usual, pretty much everyone chipped in.Four starters were in double figures and backup point guard Dennis Schroder led a spurt at the start of the fourth quarter that helped the Hawks pull away. https://www.cheapyankees.com/1121g-greg-bird-jersey-yankees.html . -- Wichita State is all alone in the record book.DENVER - The Denver Nuggets say forward J.J. Hickson had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right knee on Tuesday. Hickson hurt his ACL early in the fourth quarter of Denvers loss at Dallas last Friday, when he went down along the baseline. This has been an injury-riddled season for the Nuggets, who were already without Danilo Gallinari, JaVale McGee and Nate&nnbsp;Robinson after they each had season-ending operations. New York Yankees Gear. The 25-year-old Hickson averaged 11.8 points and 9.2 rebounds this season. He also had a team-high 26 double-doubles. Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly said of Hickson: "We know he will attack his rehab with the same energy and hard work that he displays on the court every night." ' ' '