Troy Taylor scored 12 points, leading five Evansville players in double figures, and the Purple Aces defeated Missouri State 77-65 Wednesday night.
Denver Holmes added 11 points and Kavon Lacey, Ned Cox and Lewis Jones each had 10 for Evansville (13-9, 7-5 Missouri Valley), which has won four straight in conference for the first time since 1999-2000.
Kyle Weems and Jermaine Mallett each scored 16 points to lead the Bears (17-6, 9-3). Weems also had 10 rebounds.
Down 52-51, Taylor hit a 3 to give the Aces a two-point advantage with 11:32 to play, and they led the rest of the way.
Evansville trailed 7-2 early before rallying with an 11-0 run. The Aces took a 42-32 led into halftime and led by 14 early in the second half before Missouri State pulled ahead briefly thanks to an 18-1 run.
