MVC Release
 
ST. LOUIS – Missouri State junior Austin Ruder (Nixa, Mo.) and senior Tyler McCullough (Fayetteville, Ark.) were both named to the Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball Scholar-Athlete Team, the league announced Thursday.
 
Ruder was named as a first-team selection, as voted by the conference communications directors. He has a 3.43 grade-point average in accounting. The redshirt junior has played in 27 games with 7 starts for the Bears, producing 40 3-pointers. Ruder has also converted 78 percent of his free throws and ranks 71st in program history in scoring (707 points) and 6th in 3-point field goals (173).
 
This is Ruder's second selection to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team, earning first-team honors in 2015 as a sophomore.
 
McCullough was chosen as an honorable mention selection. He holds a 3.30 GPA in finance. The senior has made 19 appearances for the Bears this season and holds a career 46.5 field goal percentage with 225 rebounds. McCullough has also racked up 73 career blocks, which ranks 10th in program history.
 
McCullough was previously selected to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team in 2015 and 2016, a second-team performer both seasons.
 
Missouri State is the No. 6 seed for Arch Madness and will take on No. 3 seed Northern Iowa on Friday at 8:35 p.m. The game will air live on FOX Sports Midwest Plus and the MVC Television Network.