Jan. 5, 2015
Missouri State Game Notes 
| Indiana State Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- As of Monday, Marcus Marshall (Jr., St. Paul, Minn.) ranks 8th nationally in scoring (20.9), 4th in 3-point field goal percentage (.506), 13th in 3-pointers per game (3.33) and 20th in free throw percentage (.898).
- MSU has shot better than its opponents at the free throw line 8 games in a row and in 10-of-14 games this year.
- Missouri State's .481 field goal percentage against Drake on Saturday was its best in an 8-game span and third-highest field goal percentage of the season.
- The Bears are the only team in the league to lead wire-to-wire in their first two conference victories. Indiana State (which trailed for 49:20 of its first two games) and Wichita State (which trailed for 3:52) are also 2-0 in Valley play.
- Marcus Marshall needs 9 points to reach 800 for career. He would become the 47th Bear to reach that milestone.
- The Bears have held their last six opponents to less than 10 offensive rebounds and have matched or out-rebounded their last five foes. MSU's +20 rebound margin against Drake on Saturday was its second-best this season.
- Missouri State ranks 8th nationally and first in the MVC in free throw percentage (.762). Indiana State ranks 27th nationally in free throw attempts (353) and 28th in free throw makes (239), but is 200th in FT perentage (.677).
- The Bears' defense has forced double-figure turnovers in five of their last six games and have created 12.3 mishaps per game for their opponents during that span.
- Missouri State is 5-1 this season when committing 13 or fewer turnovers
- Dorrian Williams (Jr., G, Oklahoma City, Okla.) ranks 2nd in the MVC in assists (4.6), 3rd in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9), 5th in steals (1.4) and 7th in defensive rebounds (4.1). He has led the Bears in assists in 12 of 14 games..
The Bears own a 39-23 series lead against Indiana State in a rivalry that dates back to 1951-52. MSU is 12-17 in Terre Haute, including a 70-55 setback last year at Indiana State (1/15/14).
In the most-recent meeting between the clubs, the Bears got 15 points from Austin Ruder and 12 from Ron Mvouika while shooting 88 percent from the line (28-for-32) to post a 77-66 win at JQH Arena (2/22/14). ISU shot 36.2 percent from the field and committed 15 turnovers in the game.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 55-57 (.491) in his fourth season at MSU and 57-80 (.416) in his fifth season overall as a head coach. He is 27-29 in MVC games (18-10 at home, 9-19 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 35-18 in all home games, 17-29 on the road, and 3-10 at neutral sites. He is 3-3 all-time against Indiana State, 1-2 in Terre Haute.
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.
Missouri State (8-6, 2-0 MVC) held visiting Drake to 29 percent shooting and notched its second straight wire-to-wire conference victory here Saturday with a 62-37 win over the Bulldogs Missouri Valley Conference play.
Marcus Marshall led all scorers with 19 points for MSU, while the Bears also got 12 points apiece from Austin Ruder and Camyn Boone to extend their win streak to three.
Boone and Loomis Gerring also notched 8 rebounds to help Missouri State gain a 41-21 rebounding advantage in the game.
Drake (3-11, 0-2) was led by Jacob Enevold's 13 points.
After leading by 13 at the midway point, the Bears turned up the heat in the second half and held Drake to 2-of-11 from the field in the first nine minutes of the final period. Meanwhile, MSU pushed ahead by as many as 24 with a 14-3 run to start the frame as Ruder and Marshall knocked down 3-pointers, and Boone scored twice up close.
Drake climbed back within 49-30 midway through the half with five unanswered points over the next three minutes. But a dunk by Boone ended the Missouri State drought and started a 13-2 run for the home side that saw the Bears lead 62-32 with just over three minutes left in the game.
Drake scored 2 of its 5 second-half shots in the final three minutes of the game and finished 12-of-42 (.286) for the afternoon, including just 2-of-11 (.182) from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs, who had won two of four coming into the game, turned the ball over 12 times and made only 11-of-19 (.579) foul shots.
The Bears have now held each of their last three opponents under 35 percent shooting for the game.
Missouri State's trips to the line were limited, but the Bears converted 6-of-8 (.750) from there and 25-of-52 (.481) from the field with Ruder providing 4 of the club's 6 3-pointers. The Bears also blocked 5 shots and snagged 7 steals while posting 28 points in the paint.
In the first half, the Bears shot 50 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Bulldogs by a 19-10 margin to take a 35-22 lead into the break.
MSU used a 10-0 run midway through the opening half to stretch a one-point lead into a 24-13 advantage on a transition 3-pointer by Ruder at the 6:18 mark.
Missouri State, which never trailed, built its biggest of the opening stanza, 33-18, on a Marshall jumper with 2:02 left in the period. Marshall's shot capped a 9-2 run over two-and-a-half minutes and sent the Bears into the break with back-breaking momentum.
Missouri State hosts Illinois State on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN3. For tickets, got to MissouriStateBears.com or call (417) 836-7678.
