By: Sammy Stava

@StavaOnSTL

After the unfortunate cancellation between Northern Iowa and Drake, Missouri State and Valparaiso was the third (and final) game of the night on Quarterfinal Friday.

The trendy “dark horse” pick entering this tournament seemed to be the Missouri State Bears, and that might have been easy to say because they are the in fact the No. 3 seed.

But on Friday night, the Bears looked more than just a “dark horse.” Instead, Missouri State looked like the team that was picked to finish first in the league in last year’s preseason poll.

The Bears took a commanding 31-13 lead into halftime. Valparaiso made it interesting at times in the second half with a couple of runs, but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Columbia, Missouri native sophomore guard Isiaih Mosley was the story in Friday night’s game – leading the Bears with 29 points.

Missouri State just had too much firepower in this one, pulling away with a (victory.

That sets up a very intriguing semifinal match up with two-seeded Drake and three-seeded Missouri State. The limited Bulldogs have advanced without playing, meanwhile the Bears have plenty of momentum on their side.

It was due to a cancellation, but for the first time since 2012, all top four seeds have advanced to the MVC Semifinals.

Saturday’s tip-off between Missouri State and Drake is set for 3:00 p.m. CT on the KTRS stream (joined in-progress following Mizzou Basketball).