Missouri State begins its 106th season of men's basketball Friday when the Bears take on Western Kentucky of Conference USA in Bowling Green, Ky.
Series History
This is the first-ever meeting between the Bears and WKU Hilltoppers.
Scouting the Hilltoppers
The upstart WKU squad has one starter and just two lettermen back from a 15-17 club that was 9-9 (8th place) in Conference USA. The Hilltoppers, however, were 11-3 at home last season, and bring back Justin Johnson (Jr., F, 14.5 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 14 double-doubles).
The Ten Count
- The Bears are 25-10 in season openers since joining the Division I ranks in 1982-83 and have won seven of their last eight. Head coach Paul Lusk is 5-1 in season openers (3-0 at home, 2-1 on the road).
- 2017 MVC Newcomer of the Year and All-MVC first-teamer Alize Johnson (Sr., Williamsport, Pa.) led The Valley with 10.6 rebounds per game a year ago. His 17 double-doubles was just one shy of the club's DI record of 18 (Lee Campbell, 1989-90). Campbell led the nation in rebounds that season (12.5 rpg).
- This is Missouri State's 1,100th game as a Division I program. The Bears are 654-445 (.595) in that span, which began for the 1982-83 campaign. In 35 previous DI seasons, the Bears have played in the postseason 17 times.
- Obediah Church (Springfield, Ill.) needs just 1 more block to catch Ricky Johnson (1981-83) for the No. 4 spot on the program's career list. Church enters the season with 124 rejections, just 43 behind career leader Danny Moore (1996-99).
- Point guard Ronnie Rousseau III (Cincinnati, Ohio) returned to the club this fall after departing for personal reasons last January. The Bears were 10-4 with Rousseau in the rotation. He averaged 11.6 points and 2.9 assists per game.
- The Bears set a new club record with 270 3-pointers last season, surpassing the 2009-10 team's 252 triples. MSU also had a record 743 attempts to break the team record of 724, also set in 2009-10. Five Bears, including returnees Ryan Kreklow (42), Alize Johnson (40) and Jarrid Rhodes (37), hit 35 or more treys last year.
- Graduate transfer J.T. Miller (Clinton, N.C.) needs just 70 points to reach 1,000 for his career. Miller played in 83 games at Howard University before transferring to MSU, scoring 930 points (11.2 ppg) with 72 3-pointers.
- Jarred Dixon (Jr., Kansas City, Mo.) enters the 2017-18 campaign having made 23 consecutive free throws, dating back to Feb. 9, 2017. The 2017 MVC All-Bench Team pick finished the season 60-of-71 (.845) at the stripe.
- MSU matched or out-rebounded 26 of 33 foes last season, helping the Bears to a +5.7 rebound margin, which was second in the MVC and 28th nationally. The club returns 75 percent of its total rebounds from a year ago.
- Senior Tanveer Bhullar (Etokicoke, Ontario) has played in two NCAA Tournaments prior to coming to MSU for his senior season. The fifth-year graduate transfer was part of NCAA runs by New Mexico State in 2015 and 2017.
