Jan. 26, 2015
Missouri State Game Notes 
| Illinois State Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- During the Bears' current six-game losing streak, Dorrian Williams (Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) has averaged a team-best 9.2 points per game with a 1.92 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- Loomis Gerring (Jr., Grandview, Mo.) is coming off a career-high 11 rebounds at Bradley, making him the first Bear this season to record double-digit caroms in a game. He has led MSU in rebounding three straight games (7.3 rpg).
- Chris Kendrix (Fr., Willard, Mo.) has scored in double figures in three of his recent four starts and is coming off career highs in points (13), rebounds (6) and 3-pointers (4) at Bradley. He is scoring 8.8 points per game over the last four.
- By out-rebounding Bradley 34-26 on Saturday in Peoria, the Bears ended a string of four straight games without owning the rebounding advantage against their opponents. For the season, MSU has outrebounded 10 of 20 foes.
- Christian Kirk (Sr., Springfield, Mo.) needs 13 rebounds to reach 400 for his career (116 games).
- Dorrian Williams needs 8 assists to reach 100 this season. He ranks 69th nationally in assists with 4.6 per game.
- Camyn Boone (Jr., Seattle, Wash.) is converting 61.8 percent of his field goal attempts in conference games. He is 21-for-34 from the field against Valley foes and has logged 4.8 rebounds per game in those games.
- Illinois State sophomore Reggie Lynch leads the Valley in blocked shots (2.7) and offensive rebounds (2.8), while teammates Bobby Hunter (.507 3-point FG%) and Paris Lee (2.4 steals) also lead the MVC in those categories.
- ISU leads the league in steals per game (7.9) which ranks 45th nationally among all 355 Division I schools.
- Austin Ruder (So., Nixa, Mo.) needs one 3-pointer to reach 112 for his career and move into MSU's all-time top 10. He is averaging 9.7 points per game in road games this season and is coming off a team-high 15 points at Bradley.
The Bears trail the all-time series against the Redbirds, 37-28, in a rivalry that dates back to 1967. MSU is 6-22 in Normal, and three of the last 14 meetings between the teams have been decided in overtime. MSU has lost its last three games at Redbird Arena.
In the most-recent meeting between the clubs (Jan. 11), the Bears got 12 points from Tyler McCullough and a game-high 7 rebounds from Loomis Gerring, but could not overcome a 22-point halftime deficit in a 69-55 loss. Illinois State was held to 40 percent shooting and committed 14 turnovers, but connected on 20-fo-24 free throws, including 14-of-15 in the first half. Bobby Hunter was 7-for-8 from the field for a game-high 17 points for Dan Muller's Redbirds.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 55-63 (.466) in his fourth season at MSU and 57-86 (.399) in his fifth season overall as a head coach. He is 27-35 in MVC games (18-13 at home, 9-22 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 35-21 in all home games, 17-32 on the road, and 3-10 at neutral sites. Lusk is 3-5 against ISU, including an 0-3 mark at Redbird Arena.
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.
Dan Muller (Illinois State, 1998) has four starters and six lettermen back from an 18-16 squad. The Redbirds are led by Daishon Knight (Sr., G) who averages 15.2 points and 3.3 rebounds, while DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell (Jr. G) has notched 12.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in his first season in Normal.
ISU had not lost a conference game in regulation play since Jan. 4 until Sunday's 54-53 home loss to Northern Iowa. The Redbirds are 6-4 at home this season and averaging 7.9 steals per game.
NMissouri State (8-12, 2-6 MVC) had two shots in the deciding moments of the game to tie or win, but couldn't find the mark on either one in a 61-59 road loss to Bradley (7-14, 2-6) here Saturday in a thrilling Missouri Valley Conference battle.
Austin Ruder, who led MSU with 15 points, hit a baseline jumper with 8.3 seconds left to get the Bears back within two points of the lead. After MSU forced Bradley into a travel on the ensuing in-bound play, the Bears got the ball back with a chance to complete the comeback after trailing by as many as 13 in the second half.
Ruder broke loose in the right corner and fired a long jumper off the rim, but the ball went off a Braves' player, giving MSU another shot with under 3 seconds to play. Ruder came off a screen on the next play from the left wing, and his potential game-winner caromed off to preserve a narrow Bradley win before 6,059 fans at Carver Arena.
Camyn Boone added 14 points for Paul Lusk's Bears, while Chris Kendrix netted a career-high 13 points. Loomis Gerring became the first MSU player this season to crack double-figures in rebounds with 11 to help Missouri State out-rebound the Braves, 34-26.
Bradley was led by Warren Jones with 16 points.
Bradley used the momentum of a 35-25 halftime lead to hold off the Bears early in the second half. The Braves scored the first bucket of the second stanza to lead by 12 - and later 13 -- and the Bears were unable to get closer than 8 points through the first 12-and-a-half minutes of the period.
MSU finally broke through with 8:30 remaining on Kendrix's fourth trey of the night to make it a 50-45 game, the closest the Bears had been since late in the first half. Tyler McCullough later went to the line with a chance to draw the visitors closer, but missed the front end.
The Braves needed just two minutes to regain a 9-point advantage, but Bears reeled off 7 unanswered points with a pair of free throws by Boone, a transition layup by Austin Ruder and a 3-pointer from the right wing by Ruder with 4:32 remaining that made it a 54-52 game.
Bradley temporarily squelched the momentum with three free throws by Jones, but Gavin Thurman responded with a hook shot for Missouri State to make it a 57-54 game headed into the final media timeout.
Boone blocked a Bradley shot with 2 minutes to go, and Ruder was fouled on a 3-point shot, making two ensuing charity shots, to get the Bears back within 57-56.
But a clutch trey by Jones with 1:30 to go got Bradley to the 60-point mark first and proved to be the game-winner, despite the last-minute heroics by Missouri State, which shot 21-for-50 (.420) from the field and 6-of-17 (.353) from three.
The Bears, who dropped their sixth game in a row, missed a season-high 9 free throws to finish 11-for-20 (.550) at the stripe.
Bradley was 19-for-41 (.463) from the field, 6-of-15 (.400) beyond the arc and 17-for-28 (.607) at the line with 12 turnovers.
In the first half, the Bears found their groove in the early going, gaining a four-point advantage midway through the period on a 20-footer by Ruder to give MSU a 14-10 advantage. Bradley responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes before Christian Kirk cooled the Braves' momentum with a pair of free throws to get MSU within 17-16.
Less than a minute later Bradley used a 3-pointer by Donte Thomas to stretch its lead to 22-16, but Loomis Gerring drew Missouri State back within three on a trey from the right wing with 6:16 to play in the opening period.
Boone dropped in a short hook, and Christian Kirk tied the game with an offensive rebound and put-back at the 3:33 mark to knot the score at 23.
But it was all Bradley down the stretch as the Geno Ford's squad ended the half on a 12-2 run, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Ka'Darryl Bell to put the home side up by double digits at the break.
Missouri State returns to JQH Arena to battle rival Southern Illinois on Saturday, January 31 at 7:05 p.m. on "Black Out" night at JQH Arena. The game will be carried live on KOZL-TV and the Missouri State Television Network | Tickets
