SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Visiting Indiana State gave Preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite Missouri State all they wanted but the Bears were able to escape the JQH Arena with a narrow 76-73 victory.

ISU fell to 8-10, 3-3 MVC while the Bears improved to 14-5, 4-2 MVC.

Indiana State senior Brenton Scott moved into the No. 5 spot on the all-time scoring chart with his 13 point scoring performance. He now has 1,574 career points as he went ahead of David Moss and Jake Odum against the Bears.

Tyreke Key tallied a career-high tying 16 points as he hit 5-of-10 shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers and he also led the way with six rebounds.

Jordan Barnes connected on four 3-pointers in the game to lead the Trees with 18 points. Clayton Hughes collected a career-high five assists for the Sycamores. Indiana State hit 10 3-pointers in the game and were 15-of-30 from the field after the half (50 percent). Missouri State finished the game with a 46.3 shooting mark after connecting on exactly 50 percent of their shots before the half. 

The Sycamores scored first in the second half when Clayton Hughes found Brandon Murphy open in the paint for a dunk. Scott added a jumper and then Hughes buried a pair of charity tosses at the 17:51 mark to draw ISU within 42-36. As the clock ticked down towards the 15 minute mark, Barnes drained his first 3-pointer of the game to cut the Bear lead down to 46-42. 

Key hit a big basket in the lane with 12:40 remaining as he beat the shot clock to whittle the lead down to 50-44. Alize Johnson quickly answered with a trifecta before Ojinnaka came back over the top with a floater in the lane as the clock went under the 12 minute mark to get within 53-46. 

The Sycamores used a big 8-0 run, including a Barnes 3-pointer with 8:48 remaining to cut the Bear lead down to 57-54. Key then hit a pair of charity tosses at the 4:55 mark to draw within 61-60. Demonte Ojinnaka trifecta with 3:31 remaining pushed the Sycamores ahead 63-62 and then Barnes' third triple of the game at the 2:29 mark staked the Sycamores to a 68-65 advantage.

The Bears would score the next four to take a one-point lead on a Jarred Dixon jumper with 1:24 remaining and the Sycamores had a pair of good looks but couldn't connect. Alize Johnson would hit a pair of free throws with 52 seconds remaining to stretch the Bear lead out to 71-68. ISU had another great look at a trey, but it would not rattle home and with 24 seconds left the Bears stretched the lead out to 72-68. After the Bears took a 73-68 lead, Barnes connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 6.1 seconds on the clock to trim the MSU lead down to 73-71. After the Bears hit 1-of-2 free throws, Barnes was fouled with 2.1 seconds left and hit them both to trim the Bear lead down to 74-73.

Kreklow was fouled again and went to the free throw line with 1.2 seconds left where hit a pair to give MSU a three-point lead. With 2.0 seconds left, Barnes reached mid court and had a heave with a chance to tie the narrowly missed,

It was an early defensive struggle as the two teams only traded free throws through the first media timeout and then five in a row gave the Bears an early 6-1 advantage. Demonte Ojinnaka stepped up with a wide open 3-pointer at the 12:05 mark to knot the game at 6. Missouri State went on a 10-0 run before Scott was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three charity tosses with 8:18 on the clock to move ISU within seven points and move him past David Moss for sixth on the ISU all-time scoring list.

Tyreke Key got hot from the outside with a pair of 3-pointers -- the second at the 4:11 mark which got the Sycamores within 26-20 of the Bears. A quartet of free throws by the Sycamores -- 2 each from Key and Scott -- got the Sycamores at close as four points at the 1:19 mark of the opening stanza. Scott's second free throw of that flurry pushed him past Jake Odum for the No. 5 spot on the ISU Basketball all-time scoring list. But the Bears connected for trifectas on each of their last two trips down the floor and took a 40-30 lead in the half. Tyreke Key led the way for the Sycamores with 12 first half points.

Alize Johnson led the Bears with 21 points and 16 rebounds.

Indiana State stays on the road when they visit Evansville this Wednesday, January 17 at 8 pm (ET). The Valley On ESPN3 will televise the game live world-wide from the Ford Center.