The Missouri State Bears play their final non-conference game of the regular season Saturday when they entertain the Central Michigan University Chippewas in an O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters matchup. The Bears are 1-3 in their previous BracketBusters games. Saturday’s game will not be televised. Daryel Garrison, Missouri State’s leading men’s basketball all-time scorer (1,975 points from 1971 to 1975) will have his jersey #32 permanently retired at halftime of Saturday’s game. The Bears return to Missouri Valley Conference Tuesday (Feb. 26) when they host the newly-crowned 2008 MVC champion Drake Bulldogs in what will be Senior Night and also the final Bears’ game in Hammons Student Center. Missouri State will close its MVC and regular season slates at Indiana State Mar. 1, and the Bruins will then prepare for the 2008 State Farm MVC Tournament at Scottrade Center in St. Louis Mar. 6-9. In Valley play, the Bears are 6-10 and are assured of their first losing league record in seven years. The Bears are two games out of sixth and would have to get to that spot to avoid an opening-round game in the MVC tourney. The Bears are back to two games below .500 overall (13-15) after an 88-67 loss at Creighton Tuesday. The Bears opened MVC play at SIU and lost 79-71, came home for three straight and beat Bradley 91-80, lost to Creighton 50-49 and beat Wichita State 71-47, lost at Drake 65-54, beat Indiana State at home 65-44, lost at UNI 70-55, beat SIU 63-62, lost at Evansville 84-65, lost 70-62 in OT at Wichita State, lost at home to Illinois State 64-63, lost at Bradley 83-71, beat UNI 71-54, lost at Illinois State 69-57 and beat Evansville 76-38 before Tuesday’s loss at Creighton.

  The Bears began Valley play after six busy weeks of non-league action. The Bears played right up to a short Christmas break when they split four games in the Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic, beating Texas-Pan American 64-53 (12/17) and Bethune-Cookman 63-49 at home (12/19) before losing to Alabama 81-73 (12/22) in the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in the semifinals and falling to Purdue 72-70 (12/23) in the third-place game. Coupled with a 66-54 loss at Utah (12/15), the Bears had five games in nine days right after fall semester final exams. The Bears played twice a week and a half before Utah, losing 70-51 at Arkansas (12/3) and beat UNC Wilmington 73-66 at home (12/5). MSU opened its season with a 57-53 loss at Toledo, rolled past Harding (86-67) and UNC Greensboro (79-52) Nov. 16-17 to win the Price Cutter Classic at Hammons Student Center. The Bears then turned back Saint Louis (60-56) at home Nov. 21, and won at Winthrop (73-69) Nov. 25 before the two-game split to open December.

 Last Game: The Creighton Bluejays hit the Missouri State Bears with a barrage of nine first-half treys to build an 11-point halftime lead and kept the offense going in the second half for an 88-67 MVC win over the Bears Tuesday in Omaha, Neb. The contest was one of runs early, with Creighton going on a 6-0 spurt to lead 15-11, the Bears answering with a 7-0 run to lead by three with 13:19 left in the opening half, and the Bluejays responding with a 9-0 run capped by P’Allen Stinnett’s fast-break layup at 11:14. MSU’s scoreless streak extended to 4:21 before Deven Mitchell’s baseline jumper at the 8:58 mark pulled the Bears within 24-20. The hot-shooting continued for both teams as the Bears and Jays combined to drain five three-pointers over a three-minute stretch, ending with CU’s Booker Woodfox hitting his second of the game to give Creighton a 39-32 advantage with 4:07 to play in the half. The Jays increased their lead by four to go into halftime up 48-37. The Bears shot 6-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc in the first half and 9-for-19 (47 percent) for the game, while Creighton added two more triples in the second half to finish 11-of-26 for the game. Missouri State opened the second half with Justin Fuehrmeyer converting a conventional three-point play that made the score 48-40, but Creighton answered with a 5-0 run and then earned its largest lead of the game at 57-42 following a dunk by Stinnett. The Bears got as close as 12 points at 65-53, but the Jays finished strong to earn their fifth straight win in the series. Fuehrmeyer led the Bears with 14 points and five assists, while Mitchell added 13 and Dale Lamberth 10. Stinnett and Cavel Witter led the Bluejays with 19 points apiece. Creighton shot 33-for-69 (48 percent) from the field for the game, while Missouri State managed to shoot just 37.5 percent on 24-of-64 from the floor.

 Missouri State is in its 96th season of intercollegiate basketball and the Bears are coming off a 22-11 season which saw them finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season race with a 12-6 mark, reach the semifinals of the State Farm MVC Tourney and play in the National Invitation Tourney. It was the Bears’ third straight NIT appearance. This is the Bears’ third year as Missouri State (previously Southwest Missouri State).

 Central Michigan: Central Michigan’s Chippewas provide the Bears’ opposition in the 2008 O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. Central Michigan is 11-14 on the year, 7-2 at home and 4-12 on the road and neutral sites. The Chippewas are 6-7 in Mid-American Conference play and 5-7 non-league. Senior guard Giordan Watson is Central Michigan’s top scorer with a 16.2 average and he needs seven steals to become the only active Division I player with 1,500 points, 400 assists and 200 steals (Stats, Inc.). This will be the Bears’ fifth appearance overall and third at home in BracketBusters and MSU is 1-3.

 MVC BracketBusters games are Drake at Butler, UW-Milwaukee at Bradley, Creighton at Oral Roberts, Nevada at SIU, Wright State at Illinois State (Sunday), UIC at UNI, Wichita State at Northern Arizona, Central Michigan at MSU, Indiana State at Murray State and Evansville at Eastern Illinois.

 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame: The 34th induction to the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame was Sat., Feb. 16, with six inductees enshrined, including soccer player Jamie Hautzinger Steinmetz (1996-99), men's tennis coach Jim Klousia (1979-05), baseball player Evan Pratte (1988-91), field hockey player Kathy Schubert Daniels (1977-80), footballer Adrion Smith (1990-93) and basketball player Secelia Winkfield (1990-93).

 Hammons Student Center Farewell, JQH here next year: The 2007-08 season is the Bears’ 32nd and final year of basketball in Hammons Student Center. The new $67 million, 11,000-seat JQH Arena is being constructed just east of HSC and will be ready for the opening of the 2008-09 Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears basketball season.

 The Coaches: Barry Hinson (Oklahoma State, ’83) is 165-116 in his ninth season at MSU and 201-139 in his 11th year overall as a college head coach. He’s 0-0 vs. CMU. Hinson is fourth on the all-time MSU coaching win list and the sixth MSU head coach to post 100 wins with the Bears.

  Ernie Ziegler (Cleary, ’94) is 24-32 in his second year at CMU and overall as a college head coach. He is 0-0 vs. Missouri State. His first season saw him orchestrate one of the biggest improvements in Division I last year as he took the 4-24 team he inherited and fashioned a 13-18 record in 2006-07.

 Series Record: 0-0, first basketball meeting between Missouri State and Central Michigan. CMU has made one previous appearance in Hammons, losing to Texas Tech and Cal Northridge in the 1993 Price Cutter Classic.

 Affiliation: Missouri State is in its 26th year in Division I and 18th in the MVC. The Bears are 500-296 in Div. I and 188-130 in regular season Valley play since 1990. MSU has been second five times and third five times in its best MVC finishes. MSU had eight straight 20-win, postseason tourney teams (1986-93), with three NIT clubs and five NCAA teams in that span. The Bears returned to postseason play in the 1997 NIT, and in 1999 had their first NCAA trip since 1992, advancing to the Sweet 16. The Bears upset Wisconsin and Tennessee and fell to top-ranked Duke in the East regional semifinals. MSU got to the second round of the NIT in 2000 and 2005 and reached the NIT quarterfinals in 1986, 1993 and 2006.

 All-Time: The UNI game 1/11/04 was the 1,400th win in Bears’ basketball history. The 1,300th was 11/18/98 at Missouri and the Bears’ 2,000th game was 1/13/99 vs. Bradley. This is the 96th season of Bear basketball. MSU is 1,484-803 (.649) all-time; 27th among Division I schools in wins and 13th in all-time win percentage. The Bears have had 76 winning seasons, 15 losing years, four .500 seasons, 26 years with 20 or more wins, and 29 postseason teams. Missouri State first played basketball in 1908-09. This is the 100th year since the Bears first played but there were no teams in 1911-12, 1912-13, 1943-44 or 1944-45.

nAhearn to NBA Development League:

Blake Ahearn, the all-time leading free throw shooter in Division I history, is in his first pro season with the National Basketball Association Development League Dakota Wizards, the reigning D League champs.

  Ahearn, a fourth round D League draft pick, has seven 20-point games, is averaging 16.1 for the team’s first 33 (19-14) games and is at a league-leading .950 (132/139) from the foul line. He got his first two starts Feb. 1-2 and had team-high and Ahearn season-best point totals of 27 and 26 in the two outings, then came back with 38 points and seven assists in his next game. Ahearn has 12 20-point games and he’s averaging 27 points a game as a starter.

  Ahearn led MSU in scoring and was an all-MVC first teamer as a junior and senior. He set school and Valley records for consecutive free throws with 60 in a row once each as a freshman and sophomore. His .975 FT work (117/120) as a freshman set a Division I single season percentage mark, and his final figure of .946 (435/460) established a new NCAA career record. Ahearn graduated from MSU in August with a degree in marketing.

 22 straight years: The Missouri State men’s and women’s basketball teams have had notable Division I success, with one or both having advanced to postseason play 22 years in a row. The men’s team played in the NIT in 1986, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2005, 2006 and 2007 and in the NCAA in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1999. The women’s team was in the NCAA from 1991 through 1996, 1998 through 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006; in the WNIT 2002 and 2005, winning the 2005 WNIT title.

BruiNotes:

Personnel:MSU has a 14-man squad, with seven lettermen and two starters from last year. Squadman Ryan Jehle is a redshirt freshman. Chris Cooks is a junior transfer from Redlands (Okla.) JC, Wade Knapp is a junior transfer from Dodge City (Kan.) CC, and, of three true freshmen, Kyle Weems and David Cline are redshirts. Transfer Will Creekmore came to MSU in December and will be eligible in December of 2008

nJehle out: Ryan Jehle suffered a broken scaphoid navicular bone in his right wrist at Evansville (1/26). He’s out the rest of the season. Drew Richards missed eight games with mononucleosis and returned at Bradley, and has had four starts in his five games back.

nLamberth graduates: Senior forward Dale Lamberth was one of 23 Missouri State student-athletes in a graduating class of 1,264 who received MSU degrees at Fall Semester Commencement exercises Dec. 14 at Hammons Student Center. Lamberth, a recreation and leisure studies major, was with the Bears in Utah when his degree was conferred.

nDeven at the line: Deven Mitchell has made big improvement at the foul line over his MSU career, hiking his season figure more than 50 percentage points each year at MSU. Mitchell hit 24 in a row in 2006-07, 12th best string for Missouri State and one of only three streaks on the top dozen for anyone other than all-time NCAA FT accuracy leader Blake Ahearn. Mitchell made 18 in a row over five games (Dec. 3-23) before he missed two (of 13) vs. PU. He hit 11-of-11 at SIU (12/30) and 9-of-9 vs. Bradley (1/2) and his first two vs. Creighton (1/2) for 27 in a row before a miss. He’s still the Bears’ runaway leader from the line this season at .890, is also the MVC leader, and, equally important, he’s easily the Bears’ volume leader for FT attempts. He’s worked his way into the season and career top 10 in free throw percentage. He saw his most recent string of 17 in a row end with a miss vs. UNI (2/9). (listings attached). Mitchell’s yearly MSU free throw stats:

Year FTM FTA FT%

2003-04 34 51 .667

2004-05 33 46 .717

2006-07 109 135 .807

2007-08 129 145 .890

n#200 for Coach B: Coach Barry Hinson got his 200th career win as a college basketball head coach as his Bears ran past the UNI Panthers, 71-54 Feb. 9 at Hammons. Hinson also earned his 164th win as MSU head coach to move into a tie with Eddie Matthews (1953-64) for fourth place on the all-time coaching win list at Missouri State. Hinson is in his ninth season as the Bears’ head mentor. The Bears’ victory snapped a four-game losing streak for MSU. Missouri State took charge of the game midway through the first half, held a nine-point lead at halftime and pushed in front by as many as 24 points midway through the second period. Bears’ senior forward Deven Mitchell tossed in two free throws at the 11:38 mark of the second half to become the 27th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He finished with 13 points for the game and 1,004 for his 120-game MSU career. The Bears moved to 11-2 at home and snapped a string of three straight home setbacks to UNI. MSU drained nine of 18 three-point tries on the night. Dale Lamberth led all scorers with 20 points and for the Bears while Justin Fuehrmeyer scored 11 points and handed out eight assists. Center Drew Richards, making his first start in 10 games after being sidelined for over a month with illness, scored five points and had a season-best eight rebounds for the Bears.

nIn the Valley: The Bears have had four 12-6 finishes in 17 seasons in the Valley and the best the Bears have been in MVC play was a 13-5 mark in 1991-92 in Charlie Spoonhour's final season at MSU and a 13-5 mark in 1999-00 in Barry Hinson's first year at Missouri State. In 17 Valley seasons, the Bears have had a winning conference record 13 times, finished .500 twice and been below .500 twice. Missouri State has had 14 first-division finishes in 17 league races, finishing five times, third five times, fourth twice, fifth twice, sixth twice and seventh once. Missouri State has never won the MVC regular season title, although the Missouri State program owns 19 conference crowns in its basketball history.

nBalanced Bears: The Bears’ front line of Deven Mitchell, Dale Lamberth and Drew Richards ran out to an early lead in team scoring and rebounding. The three were all near-unanimous picks to the all-tourney team Nov. 16-17 after the Bears’ 27-point win over UNCG in the title game. The three combined to average 56 points and 18.5 rebounds in the wins over Harding and UNCG and combined to shoot .667 (40/60) for the two games. But, they had help. Guards Shane and Spencer Laurie and Justin Fuehrmeyer were all among the tournament leaders in multiple stat categories with Fuehrmeyer leading the meet in assists. His 12 in the title game vs. UNCG were the most for a Bear since William Fontleroy had a dozen in 1997-98 vs. Illinois State. Spencer Laurie and Fuehrmeyer combined for 21 assists and just three turnovers in the final game.

nClimbing the Charts: Four Bears are moving up MSU career stat charts. Deven Mitchell and Drew Richards are the 30th and 31st Bears with 100 or more games. Mitchell’s at 123 with Richards at 112. Mitchell became the 27th Bear with 1,000 points with his two free throws at the 11:38 mark of the second half vs. UNI. He’s at 1,043 and is fourth in steals (157). Mitchell is the 29th player with 500 career rebounds and now the 14th player with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Mitchell is 20th in rebounding (548). Drew Richards is fourth in blocked shots (121). Dale Lamberth is seventh in career treys (105) and Spencer Laurie is 11th (89).

nDale and Deven neck and neck: Since scoring 27 at home vs. Wichita State (1/8), Dale Lamberth has had four 20-point games and is averaging 17.2 his last 12 games to bump his season average from 11.1 to 13.5. Lamberth passed Mitch in scoring vs. UNI but Mitchell regained the team lead at Illinois State and is now six points ahead of Lamberth through 28 games. Mitchell had been the Bears’ scoring leader virtually all season but his 13 points vs. Illinois State (2/2) was his high game in a month before he got 17 at Bradley. His average is down from 16.5 to 13.8 a game.

nThe Dextroyer: Dex Manswell only played 12 games and 43 minutes last year and was averaging just 7.3 minutes a game through 14 games this year when Drew Richards was idled with mono. Manswell has started eight of the Bears’ last 13 games and has averaged 17.4 minutes, 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 points and 1.6 blocks a game in that span. He’s shooting .545 from the field, has hit his last three free throws and has blocked 11 shots in the last five games.

n31 games: With four games in the Las Vegas Classic and BracketBusters game Feb. 22/23, the Bears are headed for their first 31-game regular season ever. In the past, the Bears have had 30 regular season games three times, including last year. Counting postseason, the Bears have played 30 or more 18 times, with the most games in a season (34) in three years: 1986-87 (28-6), 1990-91 (22-12) and 1999-00 (23-11).