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Missouri State

Alize Johnson

Bears Set to Take on Purple Aces Wednesday

January 08, 2018

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 18 - Missouri State Bears (13-4, 3-1 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (11-6, 1-3 MVC)
Date and Time Wednesday, January 10, 2018 | 7:00 p.m.
Location Ford Center (8,930) | Evansville, Ind
Tickets Illinois State Game | (309) 438-8000
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television KOZL-27 (Tom Ackerman, Ray Giacoletti) | MSU Television Network | ESPN3
Series Missouri State leads 34-33 | Last Meeting: UE 74, MSU 66 (2/4/17)
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Evansville | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears
Up Next The Bears return to JQH Arena on Sunday for a 2 p.m. game against Indiana State | Tickets for Indiana State Game

Missouri State (13-4, 3-1 MVC) looks to get back to its winning ways when it travels to the Ford Center in Evansville on Wednesday night for a pivotal road challenge against the Purple Aces.

Series History
  • The series between the Bears and Aces is a rich one that dates back to 1959 when Evansville beat MSU in the championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Missouri State leads the rivalry, 34-33 overall after the two clubs split the regular-season series a year ago.
  • In the first meeting in Springfield (Jan. 11), Dequon Miller scored MSU's last 8 points to lift the Bears to a 55-51 victory. He finished with 13 points, while Jarrid Rhodes dropped in three treys to score 14. Alize Johnson added 9 points and 16 rebounds. Ryan Taylor and Jaylon Brown each scored 19 for UE.
  • In the rematch at Ford Center (Feb. 4), Evansville seniors David Howard and Brown combined for 43 points in a 74-66 Aces win. A trey by Ryan Kreklow with 10:29 to play put MSU ahead 47-46, but UE held MSU scoreless for nearly four minutes in the clutch. Jarred Dixon led the Bears with 16 points off the bench, while Obediah Church tallied 13 points.

The Ten Count
  • Alize Johnson (Sr., Williamsport, Pa.) has reeled off 5 straight double-doubles, the longest streak of his career. He has produced 11 double-doubles in 17 games this season, which ranks 5th nationally.
  • The Bears now rank No. 5 nationally in rebound margin (+9.6) and have out-rebounded 16 of 17 opponents this season with double-figure offensive rebounds in 15 games. MSU has now matched or out-rebounded 42 of its last 50 foes. MSU also has a +12.3 rebound margin in Valley games, including a +19.0 margin over its last two games.
  • Ronnie Rousseau III (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) posted a season-high 16 points at Illinois State on Sunday, going 3-for-5 from 3-point range and 6-of-10 overall from the field in a 28-minute assignment off the bench. The Bears are 22-7 in Rousseau's 29 games for the Maroon and White. He is averaging 8.9 points per game as a Bear.
  • J.T. Miller (Sr., Clinton, N.C.) averaged 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds last week, firing at a 57.9 percent clip from the field to earn MVC Newcomer of the Week honors for the first time. He logged his first-ever double-double in Sunday's game at Illinois State, racking up 16 points and a career-best 11 boards. Against UNI, he went 5-for-7 from the field with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Wednesday will be his 100th career game.
  • Jarrid Rhodes (Sr., Palmetto, Fla.) is averaging 11.8 points per game against Evansville in his carer, tops among active Bears. In his two previous games against the Aces, he is 5-of-8 (.625) from 3-point range.
  • The Bears are 3-2 in true road games this season, despite having 50 fewer free throw attempts in road games. Five Bears -- Johnson (14.0), Rhodes (11.2), Miller (10.8), Reggie Scurry (Jr., Atlanta, Ga.) (10.0), and Rousseau (9.5) -- are averaging 9.5 points per game or better on the road, while the team is shooting 46.9 percent from the field.
  • MSU's .463 field goal percentage at Illinois State was the team's best in leauge play so far this season. Likewise, MSU's defense held ISU to just .404 from the field -- the 12th opponent the Bears have held under 41 percent this year.
  • Missouri State's reserves have outscored their opponents' subs in 15 of 17 games so far this year, helping the Bears to a 12-3 mark in those games.  For the season, MSU second-stringers have compiled 439 points -- 25.8 points per game -- compared to just 261 (15.3 ppg) by MSU's foes.
  • MSU's four active seniors combined for 57 of the club's 68 points (84 percent) at Illinois State on Sunday. For the season, the senior Bears are producing 40.9 points per game -- 57 percent of the team's scoring.
  • The Bears are 1-5 all-time at Ford Center having lost three in a row since a 66-54 win there on Feb. 5, 2014.

Coach Paul Lusk
  • Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 101-110 (.479) in his seventh season at MSU and 103-133 (.436) in his eighth season overall as a head coach.  He is 48-64 in MVC games (32-24 at home, 16-40 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 64-37 at home, 27-55 on the road, and 9-18 at neutral sites. Lusk is 4-10 all-time against Evansville (1-5 at Ford Center).
  • 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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