St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Marcus Marshall scored 18 points to lead the seventh-seeded Missouri State Bears to a 61-53 victory over the 10th-seeded Southern Illinois Salukis in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at the Scottrade Center.

Anthony Downing added 16 points and Christian Kirk had 10 points and eight rebounds for Missouri State (11-21) which will battle No. 2 seed Wichita State in the next round.

Anthony Beane Jr. and Desmar Jackson each scored 12 points for Southern Illinois (14-17).

In the first half Missouri State shot at a 52.2 percent clip and earned a 7-1 edge on points from the free-throw line to go into the locker room leading 32-22. Southern Illinois made good on 45.5 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.

The Salukis improved to 57.1 percent shooting in the second half but the Bears managed to knock in 9-of-13 shots from the free-throw line to hold them off.

SIU had a game-high 16 turnovers and was outrebounded by a 27-22 margin.

GAME NOTES:

The Sports Network