Walker scores 16 off the bench, Sam Houston defeats Missouri State 80-71

Jan 29, 2026, 11:43 am

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- — Jacob Walker scored 16 points off of the bench to lead Sam Houston past Missouri State 80-71 on Wednesday.

Walker also contributed three steals for the Bearkats (14-7, 6-4 Conference USA). Veljko Ilic added 14 points while going 6 of 9 from the floor, and grabbed five rebounds. Kashie Natt had 12 points and shot 6 of 10 from the field.

Michael Osei-Bonsu led the Bears (12-9, 6-4) in scoring, finishing with 22 points and two steals. Keith Palek III added 17 points and seven rebounds, and Zaxton King had eight points.

Sam Houston took the lead with 11:31 remaining in the first half and did not trail again. Ilic led his team in scoring with nine points in the first half to help put them ahead 38-33 at the break. Sam Houston turned a one-point second-half lead into a 10-point advantage with a 9-0 run to make it a 74-64 lead with 2:51 left in the half. Walker scored 12 second-half points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.