Missouri State 73, Texas A&M 67: Freshman Austin Ruder scored a career-high 19 points to help send the Bears to the championship game of the Corpus Christi Challenge at American Bank Center.

Ruder nailed 5-of-9 3-pointers and completed a pair of four-point plays in the second half for the Bears (6-0), who were without two key players in Marcus Marshall and Keith Pickens due to knee injuries. Jarmar Gulley scored 10 points and Christian Kirk added nine and six rebounds.

Kourtney Roberson notched 16 points and six boards while Jordan Green chipped in 13 points for the Aggies (6-1). Dorian Williams and Emmanuel Addo had 12 and 11 points, respectively for Missouri State.

Ruder hit back-to-back 3-pointers, including a four-point play, to give the Bears their first lead of the second half with 10:45 remaining. The advantage grew to five points at the 6:21 mark, but the Aggies rallied to get within one on two occasions - although they never could regain the lead.

Points were hard to come by for most of the first half as the Aggies led 14-10 with eight minutes left. Roberson led all scorers with eight points as Texas A&M owned a 29-24 lead at intermission.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Missouri State was 7-for-30 from the field in the first half. ... The 24 first-half points by the Bears were 10 below their season average. ... Ruder had three points in the first half.