Nov. 21, 2013

Missouri State Game Notes Hampton Game Notes

Missouri State Bears (3-0) vs. Hampton (2-2)
Date: Sunday, Nov. 24, 2013
Kickoff: 2:05 p.m. (Central)
Location: JQH Arena (11,000), Springfield, Mo.
Series: First meeting. (0-0 in Springfield)
TV: None
Radio: MSU Bears Radio Network, flagship KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner)
Live Stats: (mobile friendly)
Live Video: Bears All-Access
Listen Live: RadioSpringfield.com
Tickets: Game 4 Tickets | MSU Students Free with BearPass ID | Mini Ticket Plans

THE TEN COUNT

• For the second time in three seasons under Coach Paul Lusk, Missouri State is off to a 3-0 start. The Bears started 4-0 under Lusk in his debut season (2011-12). In its Division I era (1982-83), MSU has started 4-0 just eight times.
• Marcus Marshall (So., G, St. Paul, Minn.) has scored in double figures in six straight games dating to last season, averaging 16.8 points per game in that stretch.
• Seven different Bears knocked down 3-pointers in the team's 97-67 win over Grambling on Wednesday.
• MSU begins a four-game week with Sunday's game against Hampton in the Corpus Christi Challenge. The tournament will also include a Tuesday home game against Liberty; a Friday matchup with Texas A&M and a foe TBA Saturday.
• Missouri State is one of three unbeaten teams in The Valley, along with #14 Wichita State (5-0) and Evansville (4-0).
• MSU's opponents have scored first in all three games this season.
• Last year, MSU's six freshmen provided 43.5% of the team's scoring to lead all classes. This year, that same class (now sophomores) also lead the team, scoring 35.3% of the team's points.
• The Bears are 17-11 all-time in games that Jarmar Gulley (Sr., F, Beaumont, Texas) starts.
• Keith Pickens (Sr., G/F, St. Louis, Mo.) is the MVC's active leader in career blocked shots with 48.
• Through three games this season, the Bears are averaging 39.3 points per game from their bench players.
• (+1) Against Grambling, Emmanuel Addo (Sr., F, Toronto, Canada) notched his 25th career-double-figure scoring effort.

THE SERIES

This is the first-ever meeting between the Bears and Hampton. Missouri State is 12-1 all-time against current members of the MEAC, including an 11-1 record at home and 2-0 record at JQH Arena. Norfolk State (2008) and UMES (2009) are the only previous MEAC teams to visit The Q. North Carolina A&T is the only MEAC member to ever defeat MSU with a 55-52 decision at Hammons Student Center (12/8/90).

COACH Paul Lusk

Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 30-38 (.441) in his third season at MSU and 32-61 (.344) in his fourth season overall as a head coach. He is 16-20 in MVC games (10-7 at home, 6-13 on the road), 1-2 in MVC Tournament games and 14-17 in non-conference play (8-6 at JQH Arena, 5-6 away and 1-5 at neutral sites). He is also 18-14 in all home games, 11-18 on the road, and 1-6 at neutral sites. He has never coached against Hampton.
The 42-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 16th 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.
With the seventh-youngest team in Division I basketball last year, Lusk led MSU to its 42nd straight winning record at home and the fifth-best turnover average in the nation (10.2). The 2012-13 Bears also set high-water marks for most games against ranked opponents with six and the best single-season scoring total for a freshman class in program history (855).

LAST GAME

Missouri State shot 60 percent from the field and got 17 points from Marcus Marshall to help turn back visiting Grambling, 97-67.
The Bears also got 14 points from newcomer Emmanuel Addo who was 8-for-8 at the line. MSU out-rebounded the Tigers by a 36-25 margin while collecting 23 assists on 34 field goals. Paul Lusk's troops also shot a JQH Arena record 80.8 percent from the field (21-of-26) in the second half and got 45 points from the bench.
A'Torri Shine led Grambling State with a game-high 20 points, including an 8-for-9 effort at the foul line. Remond Brown added 16 points for the Tigers, while Chase Comier knocked down three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points and a game-high 7 assists.
In the first half, the Bears fell behind 4-0 after a couple of quick jumpers by Brown, but reeled off 11 unanswered points over the next three minutes to take a lead they would never relinquish. Dorrian Williams' 3-pointer at the 13:01 mark gave MSU a double-figure advantage for the first time at 16-6.
MSU would eventually lead by 15 in the first stanza as a pair of Addo free throws with just over four-and-a-half on the clock made it a 35-20 contest, but Grambling rallied within six with a 9-0 run to cut its deficit to 35-29 with 2:51 remaining. The home team closed out the opening half with an Addo-generated 4-1 run to lead 39-30 at the intermission.
Less than three minutes into the second half, MSU opened up its biggest lead to that point as Addo closed out an 11-4 scoring outburst with a coast-to-coast layup. A 3-pointer by freshman Austin Ruder with 12:52 left in the game gave Missouri State its first 20-point advantage, and the Bears stretched their lead to 30 for the first time when Marcus Marshall scored on a traditional 3-point play that made it 78-48 at the 6:30 mark.
A trey by Bruce Marshall with just 1:22 to go gave Missouri State its biggest lead of the night, 95-61, in a contest that saw 12 Bears in the scoring column, including six with eight points or more.
Ron Mvouika led all players with 6 rebounds in an 8-point scoring effort by the newcomer. Ruder, Devon Thomas and Gavin Thurman also tacked on 8 points apiece, while Jarmar Gulley and Thomas led the winning side with 5 assists each.