Jan. 27, 2012

Missouri State Bears (12-10, 5-5) vs. Northern Iowa Panthers (14-8, 4-6)

Sat., Jan. 28, 2012, 4:00 p.m. (Central)

MAROON OUT I Hall of Fame Weekend I Postgame Fan Appreciation Party

JQH Arena, Springfield, Mo. I Game Notes (PDF) I Tickets

GAME INFORMATION:

Series: Missouri State leads 39-23 (MSU is 20-9 in Springfield)
Halftime: Pepsi MVC Shootout, Athletics Hall of Fame Recognition, Sugar Bears

Radio: KTXR (101.3 FM) and MSU Bears Radio Network (LISTEN LIVE)
Live Stats: Game Tracker I Watch Live: ESPN3.com
GameDay Gear I MSU Game Notes I MVC Notes I

THE GAME:

The last four times Missouri State has played Northern Iowa, the final outcome has been decided by one point. And despite the fact that UNI has won three of those four meetings, Saturday afternoon's rematch between the Bears and the Panthers before a national television audience on ESPNU will almost certainly have JQH Arena rocking down to the final buzzer.
The Bears have fallen on hard luck over the last two weeks and are looking to snap a two-game home losing streak. Since the team's 77-65 win over Southern Illinois on Jan. 10, the Bears have lost two overtime games and two additional games by a single point, including a 61-60 loss in Cedar Falls to the Panthers on Jan. 13.
Coach Paul Lusk's club is coming off a 76-69 decision at Illinois State on Wednesday night. The overtime loss cut especially deep considering the Bears never trailed until there were 38.2 seconds left in regulation. Kyle Weems (Sr., F, Topeka, Kan.) had a team-high 15 points, while Christian Kirk (Fr., F, Springfield, Mo.) tallied 11 points and 9 rebounds in the narrow defeat.
The Bears lead the all-time series 39-23, including a 20-9 record in Springfield. However, Missouri State has never beaten Northern Iowa in JQH Arena where the Panthers have won all three previous meetings between the two clubs.

COACH Paul Lusk:

Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 12-10 in his first season at MSU and 14-33 in two years overall. He is 5-5 in MVC play (2-3 at home, 3-2 on the road), 6-4 at JQH Arena, 6-4 on the road, and 0-2 at neutral sites. He is 0-1 against Northern Iowa (0-0 in Springfield). He is also 1-1 against Top 25 opponents this season.
Lusk took the reigns as MSU's 17th head coach on April 1, 2011. He came to Springfield after seven seasons at Purdue (2004-11), including the last three as associate head coach. Now in his 14th 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 coached in six of the last eight NCAA Tournaments after playing in three NCAA Tourneys as a player at SIU.

THE TEN COUNT:

• Senior Caleb Patterson (C, Ames, Okla.) is expected to miss today's game due to a severe right ankle sprain suffered in Wednesday's overtime loss at Illinois State (1/25/12). He is listed as day-to-day.
  

• Michael Bizoukas (Sr., G, Munster, Ind.), ranks No. 2 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (+3.38) and 19th in assists (6.0). He needs just 4 assists to give him 300 for his career and needs 8 points for 300 in his 107-game career. He leads the Missouri Valley Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio and is second in assists.

• Kyle Weems (Sr., F, Topeka, Kan.) ranks No. 5 on Missouri State's career scoring list with 1,717 points in 124 games. He needs 1 point to catch Danny Bolden (1963-67) for the No. 4 spot with 1,718 points. He is coming off his 101st career double-figure scoring game (21st in a row), which is tied for the Division I lead among active players.

• Since Jan. 4, Missouri State has gone 2-0 when trailing at halftime and 1-4 when leading at the intermission. Missouri State snapped a three-game conference skid last Saturday at Bradley, a game the Bears trailed 20-19 after the first 20 minutes.

• Missouri State is the last team to defeat Murray State, which is the lone unbeaten team remaining in Division I basketball. The Bears defeated the Racers 89-76 at JQH Arena in the first round of the NIT on March 15, 2011. Jermaine Mallett scored a game-high 23 to lead five Bears in double figures, while Kyle Weems had 14 points and 5 rebounds, and Nathan Scheer tallied 12 points on a 4-for-5 shooting night.

• In 124 career games, Kyle Weems (Sr., F, Topeka, Kan.) has led MSU in scoring 49 times.
  

• Nathan Scheer (So., G/F, Washington, Mo.) has started the last two games for MSU and has recorded a three-pointer in six of the last seven contests and four straight. He is averaging 4.3 points and 2.0 rebounds over the last four contests.

• The Bears have shot a higher percentage from the field than 15 of their 22 opponents this season, but have been out-shot by five straight foes (1-4 in that span).
  

• Northern Iowa is the only Missouri Valley Conference school the Bears have not defeated in JQH Arena. UNI is 3-0 all-time at "The Q." Creighton and Illinois State (both 2-2) are the only other MVC teams to win more than once at JQH. The Bears are 50-15 all-time in their new home facility, which opened in 2008, and 41-7 over the last three seasons.

• In MVC games this season, Keith Pickens (So., G, St. Louis, Mo.) is averaging 4.6 rebounds per night, which ranks fourth on the team. Pickens has seen action in 9 MVC games in 2011-12, including five starts. He also leads the team with 17 drawn charges this season (11 in conference games).

• The Bears are 4-1 in day games this season and 7-1 on Saturdays.
  

• Today's seven-person MSU Athletics Hall of Fame induction class includes former basketball standout Kevin Ault who was a pivotal part of the Bears' 1999 NCAA Sweet 16 run. He finished his career with 1,508 points in 132 games which now ranks 10th on the school's all-time scoring list. He is MSU's career leader in games played, and steals (243), second in minutes (3,802) and third in thre-pointers (254).

• A free Missouri State Fan Appreciation Party will take place immediately after today's game at University Plaza. The event is open to fans of all ages with free soft drinks, free food, cash bar, prizes and appearances by MSU players and coaches.

• As of Friday, the Bears are No. 7 in the nation with just 10.5 turnovers per game, the best in the MVC. Northern Iowa ranks 14th (11.0). Last season, MSU finished 7th among 336 Division I teams in fewest turnovers (10.3).

• Jarmar Gulley (Jr., G/F, Beaumont, Texas) is expected to return to the MSU starting lineup today. He has scored in double figures in nine of his last 10 starts overall.

THE OPPONENT:

Northern Iowa enters today's game with losses in four of its last five games since a dramatic 61-60 win over the Bears in Cedar Falls on Jan. 13. The Panthers are now 14-8 overall and 4-6 in the MVC. UNI is 3-5 on the road this season.

Anthony James (Jr., G, St. Louis, Mo.) leads Coach Ben Jacobson's squad with 13.7 points per game. Jake Koch (Jr., F, Ashwaubenon, Wis.) scores at a 10.1 pace and leads the club with 5.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Marc Sonnen (Jr., G. St. Paul, Minn.) is averaging 9.2 points per game and leads the Panthers with 38 three-pointers to help the club average 8.0 treys per game, third-best in the Valley.

Ben Jacobson (North Dakota, 1994), in his sixth year at UNI, has 123-65 overall record and returns three starters and eight lettermen from a 20-14 club. Last year's Panthers' squad finished 10-8 (4th) in the MVC.