Dec. 14, 2015
Missouri State Game Notes | ORU Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- Chris Kendrix (So., Willard, Mo.) has more than doubled his scoring average from last year, posting a team-best 13.0 points per game so far this season after producing 189 points in 30 games (6.3 ppg) as a freshman.
- Bears' senior Dorrian Williams (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) has recorded 4 or more assists in 7 straight games and in 8 of 9 contests this season. He enters the week with 333 career assists, which ranks No. 12 in program history, just 11 behind Ryan Bettenhausen (1995-99) for the No. 11 spot). This is his 12th career game vs. Okla. teams.
- Loomis Gerring (Sr., Grandview, Mo.) has scored 35 points in 3 previous games against ORU (11.7 ppg) -- best on the MSU squad against the Golden Eagles. He had 10 points and 4 rebounds in the Nov. 13 meeting vs. ORU.
- Missouri State has matched or out-rebounded 8 of its first 9 opponents, including 7 in a row. The Bears have also amassed 124 second-chance points behind their 107 offensive caroms on the season.
- Kendrix has scored in double figures in 6 straight ball games, the Bears' top active streak. He is averaging 15.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in that span while making good on 27-of-48 (.563) shots.
- The Bears are 3-1 when shooting at a higher percentage than their opposition and 0-5 when they do not. During Paul Lusk's five seasons at the helm, the Bears are 50-14 when they outshoot their opponent from the field.
- Dequon Miller (Jr., Charleston, W.Va.) was named MVC Newcomer of the Week for the second week in a row.
- The Bears are averaging 23.9 free throw attempts per game (3rd in the MVC), while ORU is averaging 24.0.
- MSU's 3 freshmen players accounted for 21 of the team's 61 points against Tulsa (34.4%). For the season, the Bears' freshman class has accounted for 20.6% of its scoring, which ranks just ahead of the team's sophomores (20.3%).
- As of Monday, ORU's Obi Emegano ranks 2nd among all DI players in points (262) and 8th in scoring average (23.8).
With its 80-65 win over MSU on Nov. 13 in Tulsa, Oral Roberts took a 7-6 lead over the Bears in the all-time series.
In that game, Jalen Bradley scored 11 of his game-high 16 points in the first half and knocked down 4 treys. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 20, forced 17 MSU turnovers and attempted 32 free throws. The Bears got 39 points off its bench, including 10 from Loomis Gerring and 11 from Jordan Martin.
MSU is 3-2 all-time at home against ORU, including a 2-1 mark at JQH Arena.
Scouting the Golden Eagles
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Coach Scott Suttons club is 8-3 on the season and 2-3 in true road games with wins at Tulsa and James Madison. The Golden Eagles go nine deep, but get nearly 30% of their points from Obi Emegano (Sr., Edmond, Okla.) who is 8th nationally with his 23.8 scoring average. ORU also gets 10.5 points from Jalen Bradley (Jr., Norfolk, Neb.) who notched a game-high 16 in the first meeting between the two teams in Tulsa (Nov. 13).
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 61-77 (.442) in his fifth season at MSU and 63-100 (.387) in his sixth season overall as a head coach. He is 30-42 in MVC games (21-15 at home, 9-27 on the road), 2-4 in MVC Tournament games and 29-31 against all non-conference foes (19-10 at JQH Arena, 9-11 away and 1-10 at neutral sites). In all games, he is 40-25 at home, 18-38 on the road, and 3-14 at neutral sites. Lusk is 2-4 against ORU, including a 1-1 mark at JQH Arena.
The 44-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 17th 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.
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 that same year. He was also named one of the Top 25 high-major assistants by FoxSports.com in 2010, and CollegeSportsMadness.com named him MVC coach of the year in 2012. He is a member of the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame after scoring 2,743 points during a highly-touted prep career at Wesclin High in New Baden, Ill. He went on to play 107 college games at Iowa and Southern Illinois, earning All-MVC second-team honors in 1994 for the Salukis.
Cardiac Kids Strike Again vs. IUPUI
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Missouri State overcame a 14-point, first-half deficit on Dec. 10 to score an 88-74 win over visiting IUPUI at JQH Arena. Camyn Boone (Sr., Mesa, Ariz.) scored a career-high 24 points and snagged 10 rebounds in the win while starting the decisive 18-2 run in the second half that got MSU back on top. The Bears outscored the Jaguars 55-32 in the second half, turned the ball over just twice in that span and fired at an impressive 59 percent clip (17-for-29) while making all 17 foul shots over the final 20 minutes.
Bears Get Gritty in Stillwater
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A driving layup by Dequon Miller (Jr., Charleston, W.Va.) with 7.3 seconds remaining helped Missouri State overcome a four-point deficit in the final 30 seconds and secure a 64-63 win at Oklahoma State on Dec. 5. Miller finished with a career-high 21 points to lead three Bears in double figures with senior Camyn Boone (Mesa, Ariz.) contributing 17 points and 9 boards, and Chris Kendrix (So., Willard, Mo.) adding 10 points and 9 rebounds in the win.
Missouri State out-rebounded the Cowboys by a 41-31 margin and overcame a late charge by the Big XII club that saw Oklahoma State make 7 of its final 10 field goal attempts.
It marked Missouri State's first road victory since a 53-50 win at Southern Illinois (12/31/14), and the gritty upset was also the club's first road win against a power-five conference foe since an 81-69 victory at Big East South Florida (12/22/06).
The Mountain West and Missouri Valley conferences have revived a Challenge Series that will feature head-to-head competition between 10 MWC and 10 MVC teams this season. The MWC won the last Challenge Series in 2012 (6-3). Entering this year, MWC teams had an all-time 22-13 edge in Series games from 2009-12.
The Mountain West leads this year's Challenge Series, 5-3:
- Air Force at Southern Illinois SIU, 77-75
- Illinois State at San Diego State SDSU, 71-60
- Colorado State at UNI CSU, 84-78
- Wyoming at Indiana State INS, 70-55
- Loyola at New Mexico NM, 75-51
- Utah State at Missouri State, USU 69-68
- UNLV at Wichita State, WSU 56-50
- Drake at Nevada, Nevada 79-71
- D20 -- Bradley at Boise State 1:00 CT
- D20 -- Evansville at Fresno State 3:00 CT
Missouri State is now 1-3 all-time in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.
MSU takes to the road on Saturday (Dec. 19) at Valparaiso in the team's final non-conference trip of the campaign at 1:35 p.m. The game will air live on KOZL-TV and the MSU Bears TV Network.
