Jan. 19, 2015
Missouri State Game Notes 
| Wichita State Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- Dorrian Williams (Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) has scored in double figures the last two games and in four of the last six. He is averaging 9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game in that span with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- Wichita State comes into the game ranked No. 14 in this week's AP poll and No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
- Chris Kendrix (Fr., Willard, Mo.) has started the last two ball games and is averaging 4.5 rebounds per game over his last four outings with a 10-point effort against Evansville a week ago (Jan. 14).
- Two of the top three crowds in JQH Arena history have come against Wichita State, including 11,077 (2/26/11) and last year's 10,776 (1/11/14). At No. 14 this week, the Shockers are the third-highest ranked team ever to play at JQH.
- Wichita native Gavin Thurman has enjoyed some of his best games against the Shockers, including a career-high 21-point outburst at JQH Arena (1/23/13) and a pair of 9-point scoring efforts against WSU last season.
- This is Paul Lusk's 14th game against an AP Top 25 club since coming to MSU in 2011-12. He has coached against more ranked foes than any coach in Bears' history, matching Steve Alford (6), Barry Hinson (6) and Cuonzo Martin (2) combined. Charlie Spoonhour coached against eight ranked teams, including four in the NCAA Tournament.
- Despite dropping four straight Valley games, the Bears are just one game out of fourth place in the MVC standings.
- Austin Ruder (So., Nixa, Mo.) needs just two 3-pointers to move into a tie for 10th place on MSU's career list. With 110 treys to his credit, Ruder is rapidly approaching Allen Phillips (1998-2000) and Dale Lamberth (2005-08) with 112.
- The Bears have not lost three straight home games since Dec. 22, 2008 to Jan. 2, 2009 -- the only time ever at JQH.
- Wichita State comes into the game ranked 8th nationally in turnovers per game (9.9) and 14th in turnover ratio (1.44)..
The Bears and Shockers have played 65 times, dating back to the 1941-42 season with WSU holding a 35-30 lead after winning the last 8 games in the rivalry.
WSU is the only Valley team fourth-year MSU head coach Paul Lusk has not defeated. The Shockers won all three meetings last season, including an improbable 72-69 comeback win in overtime at JQH Arena.
In that game, Austin Ruder went 5-for-8 from 3-point range for a team-high 17 points, while fomer Bears Jarmar Gulley and Marcus Marshall poured in 15 apiece. WSU, which overcame a 19-point deficit in the final 12 minutes, was led by Cleanthony Early with 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Fred VanVleet scored 9 of his 16 points at the foul line.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 55-61 (.474) in his fourth season at MSU and 57-84 (.404) in his fifth season overall as a head coach. He is 27-33 in MVC games (18-12 at home, 9-21 on the road), 2-3 in MVC Tournament games and 26-25 against all non-conference foes (17-8 at JQH Arena, 8-10 away and 1-7 at neutral sites). He is also 35-20 in all home games, 17-31 on the road, and 3-10 at neutral sites. Lusk is 0-8 against Wichita State, including an 0-3 mark at home.
The 43-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.
Last season, Lusk helped engineer the eighth-best turnaround in the Division I ranks as the Bears finished 20-13 and made an appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. 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.
Gregg Marshall (Randolph Macon, 1985) is 190-73 in his 8th year in Wichita and returns thre starters and seven lettermen from a 35-1 squad that earned its second straight NCAA Tournament berth in 2014.
Ron Baker (Jr., G) leads No. 14-ranked WSU with 16.3 points per game with 42 3-pointers, while Darius Carter (Sr., F) has scored 12.8 points and snagged 6.4 boards per outing. MVC Player of the Year last season Fred Van Vleet has dished out 99 assists and compiled 10.5 points per game.
Seth Tuttle scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead No. 23-ranked Northern Iowa (16-2, 5-1 MVC) past Missouri State here Sunday, 60-46, in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Tuttle was 9-for-16 from the field with 3 assists and helped UNI out-rebound the Bears by a 37-26 margin. UNI also snagged 18 offensive rebounds, the most by any Missouri State opponent this season.
Missouri State (8-10, 2-4) got 13 points from Austin Ruder and 11 from Dorrian Williams. Loomis Gerring added 5 rebounds, while Williams contributed 5 assists for the Bears who dropped their fourth straight.
UNI set the pace early with Tuttle scoring the game's first points 16 seconds in and mounting 8 points in the first 12 minutes.
After the Panthers took a double-digit lead on a hook shot by Tuttle, the Bears countered with a 3-pointer by Gerring to make it a 15-8 game at the 10:43 mark. But UNI showed the poise and composure of a nationally-ranked club playing on its home floor, reeling of 6 of the game's next 8 points to push ahead 21-10.
Missouri State converted the game's next five points with Boone hitting a free throw, Williams knocking down a jumper from the elbow and Christian Kirk converting a hook shot to make it 21-15.
UNI managed a free throw on its next trip to climb ahead by seven, but Williams scored on the Bears' next possession to get the visitors back within 22-17 at the 4:35 mark.
But Tuttle took things into his own hands and ended a five-minute stretch without a UNI field goal on the Panthers' next possession. He accounted for 8 straight points to help get the UNI back to double-digits, 32-20, at the half.
Tuttle finished the first stanza with 16 points and 5 rebounds to help UNI to an 18-11 rebounding edge and 45-percent shooting effort in the first 20 minutes.
The second half showed signs of promise early with Ruder jumping on the Panthers early with a short jumper and a 3-pointer to get MSU back within 35-27 just over three minutes into the second half. But MSU would go almost six more minutes without a field goal from there and fell victim to UNI's assortment of long-range shooters and fancy post moves to trail by as many as 21.
The Bears, who finished 14-for-38 (.368) from the field and 6-of-16 (.375) from beyond the arc, scored the final 7 points of the game. MSU was also 12-of-17 (.706) from the foul line with 12 turnovers and 26 rebounds.
Joining Tuttle in double-figures for UNI was Deon Mitchell with 11 points, while Marvin Singleton contributed 10. The Panthers finished 22-for-56 (.393) overall, 3-of-15 (.200) beyond the arc and 13-for-18 (.722) at the foul line with just 5 turnovers.
Missouri State travels to Bradley on Saturday for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The game will be carried by KOZL TV and the Missouri State Television Network.
