Dec. 20, 2015
Missouri State Game Notes | SEMO Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- Bears' senior Dorrian Williams (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) has 340 career assists - No. 12 all-time -- just 4 shy of Ryan Bettenhausen (1995-99) and 8 shy of Randy Magers (1970-74) for the No. 10 spot. He also has 596 points and 338 rebounds in his 103 career games.
- Dequon Miller (Jr., Charleston, W.Va.) has scored in double figures 5 straight games, averaging 14.0 points per game in that span with 17 rebounds and 9 3-pointers. He was named MVC Newcomer of the Week the previous two weeks.
- Williams hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to defeat SEMO on 12/29/13 (81-78), in the only previous meeting at JQH Arena.
- Obediah Church (Fr., Springfield, Ill.) ranks 42nd nationally in blocks (23) and 54th in blocks per game (2.09). He is also 7th nationally among all DI freshmen players in total blocked shots. He has 14 blocks over the last 6 games (2.3).
- On a trey with 11:48 left in the game at Valpo, Ryan Kreklow (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) extended MSU's streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 160 in a row. The last time MSU went scoreless beyond the arc was Jan. 7, 2011.
- Over the last 2 games, Tyler McCullough (Jr., Fayetteville, Ark.) is averaging 13.0 minutes and 5.5 rebounds.
- Camyn Boone (Sr., Mesa, Ariz.) ranks 86th nationally among all DI players in field goal percentage (.543), which also ranks 7th among all Missouri Valley Conference players.
- This is the 145th meeting between the Bears and Redhawks - MSU's longest-standing rivalry and one that dates back to 1911. The Bears are 90-54 against SEMO -- 61-12 in Springfield and 1-0 at JQH Arena.
- Southeast Missouri State ranks 57th nationally in 3-point FG percentage defense (.304).
- As a team, the Bears are converting just 28.5 percent of their 3-point attempts (51-for-179).
The Bears are 3-2 at home this season and averaging 75.8 points per game. MSU is 25-11 at home the last 3 years.
Southeast Missouri State represents the Bears' longest-standing rivalry, and today's game is the 145th meeting between the clubs. MSU leads the series, 90-54, including a 61-12 mark in Springfield and 1-0 mark at JQH Arena.
Last year in Cape Girardeau, the Bears overcame a 4-point halftime deficit to steal a 73-61 road win behind 5 treys and 16 points from Austin Ruder, while Camyn Boone snagged 9 rebounds. SEMO was led by Antonius Cleveland (12 points) and Isiah Jones (11).
The Redhawks and first-year head coach Rick Ray -- a former coaching associate of Paul Lusk's at Purdue -- have struggled out of the gates to an 0-10 start. SEMO is 0-7 on the road and comes to Springfield with an 11-game losing streak, dating back to last season.
Antonius Cleveland (6-6, Jr., Memphis, Tenn.) leads Southeast with 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, while Trey Kellum (6-7, Jr., Peoria, Ill.) and Joel Angus (6-7, Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) average 9.1 points per contest.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 62-78 (.443) in his fifth season at MSU and 64-101 (.388) 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 30-32 against all non-conference foes (20-10 at JQH Arena, 9-12 away and 1-10 at neutral sites). In all games, he is 41-25 at home, 18-39 on the road, and 3-14 at neutral sites. Lusk is 2-0 vs. SEMO, including a 1-0 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
|
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.
Hot Shots Avenge Early-Season Loss
|
Missouri State shot 53.3 percent from the field and jumped out to an 18-2 lead in its Dec. 16 victory over Oral Roberts at JQH Arena. The impressive 85-66 win avenged the Bears' season-opening loss at ORU and gave the Bears their first 50-percent shooting performance since Feb. 25, 2014 -- 44 games. MSU also got a career-high 27 points from Camyn Boone (Sr., Mesa, Ariz.) in the impressive home victory.
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). MWC teams now have an all-time 28-17 edge in Series games from 2009-15. The Mountain West won this year's series, 6-4:
- 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
- Bradley at Boise State, BSU 90-70
- Evansville at Fresno State, UE 85-77
Missouri State is now 1-3 all-time in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.
MSU takes to the road on Wednesday, Dec. 30 to open Missouri Valley Conference play at Illinois State (7 p.m.). The game will air live on KOZL-TV and the Missouri State Bears Television Network.
