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Missouri State

Alize Johnson

Bears Host Loyola in Colossal Valley Opener

December 21, 2017

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 14 - Missouri State Bears (10-3, 0-0 MVC) vs. Loyola Ramblers (10-2, 0-0 MVC)
Date and Time Friday, December 22, 2017 | 8:00 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Mo.
Tickets Loyola Game
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television FOX Sports Midwest (John Rooney, Rich Zvosec) | MVC TV Network | ESPN3
Series Loyola leads 6-3 | Last Meeting: MSU 82, LUC 82 (ot), 1/31/17
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Loyola | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears
Up Next The Bears play at Valparaiso on Dec. 31 (3 p.m.) and return to JQH Arena on Jan. 4 to play Northern Iowa (8 p.m.) | Tickets for UNI Game
Promotions All bleacher tickets for the Loyola game are just $5 at JQH Arena Box Office

It's Missouri State's earliest conference opener since 2006, but when the Bears host fellow Missouri Valley frontrunner Loyola at JQH Arena on Friday (8 p.m., FOX Sports Midwest), it will certainly have a postseason feel.


Series History
  • Loyola leads the all-time series, 6-3, including a 5-3 edge in Valley games (2-2 at JQH Arena).
  • The clubs have split the regular-season series each of the past two seasons. In 2016-17, the Ramblers took a 77-71 decision from the Bears on Jan. 15 at Gentile Arena with Alize Johnson scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the loss. LUC was led by Aundre Jackson who scored 22 points off the bench on 7-of-12 shooting. Loyola used the momentum of a six-point possession with four minutes left -- all by Milton Doyle -- to secure the win. Box Score
  • In the rematch at JQH Arena on Jan. 31, MSU erased an early 10-point deficit with a 16-0 run midway through the second half en route to an 82-81 overtime win. Four Bears were in double figures, including Austin Ruder's game-high 22 behind 6 treys, 15 points by Jarred Dixon, 14 from Alize Johnson and 12 by Obediah Church. Johnson (12) and Church (8) combined for 20 of MSU's 35 rebounds. Loyola was led by Milton Doyle's 21 points with Aundre Jackson pouring in 17 in reserve. Box Score

The Ten Count
  • Friday's game marks the Bears' earliest MVC opener since the 2006-07 season (Dec. 16, 2006) vs. Indiana State.
  • MSU is 17-10 all-time in Valley openers (5-1 under Paul Lusk) and 24-3 in MVC home openers (8-1 at JQH Arena).
  • Last season, two of Alize Johnson's (Sr., Williamsport, Pa.) 17 double-doubles were against Loyola. He had 20 points and 10 rebounds at Gentile Arena on Jan. 15 before leading MSU to an overtime victory at JQH Arena (Jan. 31) with 14 points and 12 boards. Johnson has 7 double-doubles this season (13 games), which ranks 7th nationally.
  • MSU has out-rebounded 12 of 13 opponents this season with double-figure offensive rebounds in 12 games. MSU ranks 23rd nationally in rebound margin (+8.8). Including last season, the Bears have matched or out-rebounded 38 of their last 46 foes.
  • Ryan Kreklow (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) become the 15th Bear to reach 100 career 3-pointers (see p. 4) with a first-half triple against Wright State on Tuesday night at JQH Arena. He is also 10 points away from 500 for his career (73 games).
  • Obediah Church (Jr., Springfield, Ill.) is 16 blocked shots behind MSU career leader Danny Moore (1996-99) for the top spot on the program's all-time list (see p. 4). He has 151 career blocks and also needs 13 points for 500 in his career.
  • Jarrid Rhodes (Sr., Palmetto, Fla.) has scored in double figures five straight games, averaging 11.8 points in that span. He has also knocked down multiple 3-pointers -- making 15-for-31 (.484) from long range -- in each of the last 6 games.
  • Johnson is just 13 rebounds away from 500 for his career (46 games). He has led MSU in rebounding 35 times and reached double figures in rebounds 28 times during his 46-game career. He is also the No. 2 rebounder in JQH Arena history with 264 caroms in 23 games at The Q. (see p. 13).
  • Bears' head coach Paul Lusk is 2 wins away from 100 at Missouri State. He picked up his 100th career victory -- including his one season at Dubuque -- on Dec. 19, 2017 with a 66-50 win over Wright State at JQH Arena.
  • Fifth-year center Tanveer Bhullar (Sr., Etobicoke, Ontario) is just 6 points away from 300 for his career (77 games). The New Mexico State transfer has played in the NCAA Tournament two of the last three years.
  • The Bears rank 18th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.378) and have faced more field goal attempts (773) than any other team in the top 20. Just one MSU opponent this season has eclipsed 43 percent shooting against the Bears -- Oral Roberts (.531) on Dec. 10..

Coach Paul Lusk
  • Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 98-109 (.473) in his seventh season at MSU and 100-132 (.431) in his eighth season overall as a head coach.  He is 45-63 in MVC games (30-24 at home, 15-39 on the road), 4-6 in MVC Tournament games and 49-40 against all non-conference foes (32-13 at JQH Arena, 12-15 away and 5-12 at neutral sites). In all games, he is 62-37 at home, 26-54 on the road, and 9-18 at neutral sites. Lusk is 3-5 all-time against Loyola, including a 2-2 mark at JQH Arena.
  • The 46-year-old Lusk took the reins as MSU's 17th head coach on April 1, 2011. He came to Springfield after seven seasons at Purdue (2004-11), including his last three as associate head coach there.  Now in his 17th season in the coaching profession, Lusk has previous assistant coaching stops at Southwestern Illinois (1996-97), Missouri Southern (1999-2002) and Southern Illinois (2003-04) in addition to a one-year head coaching stint at (Div. III) Dubuque (2002-03). Lusk has played or coached in 10 NCAA Tournaments.
  • Lusk finished third in the MVC Coach of the Year voting in 2014 and was a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award that same year. He was also named one of the Top 25 high-major assistants by FoxSports.com in 2010, and CollegeSportsMadness.com named him MVC coach of the year in 2012. He is a member of the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame after scoring 2,743 points during a highly-touted prep career at Wesclin High in New Baden, Ill. He went on to play 107 college games at Iowa and Southern Illinois, earning All-MVC second-team honors in 1994 for the Salukis.
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