Feb. 19, 2015
Missouri State Game Notes 
| Drake Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- Chris Kendrix (Fr., Willard, Mo.) is shooting a team-best .471 (16-for-34) percent from 3-point range in league games, which ranks 6th in the MVC. He is coming off career highs 20 points and 8 rebounds in MSUs win over Indiana State.
- Drake ranks 12th nationally in free throw percentage (.760), 21st in 3-point field goal percentage (.396) and 36th in fewest fouls per game (15.9). Freshman Reed Timmer ranks 20th among all DI players in FT percentage (.874).
- Austin Ruder (So., Nixa, Mo.) needs 9 points to reach 500 for his career (60 games).
- With his 8 points against Indiana State on Wednesday, Christian Kirk (Sr., Springfield, Mo.) became the 6th Bear ever to score 400 points or more at JQH Arena. He also moved up to 72nd on MSU's career scoring list (688) and needs just 12 points to move into program's top 70. His 121 games played ties him for 10th place all-time..
- The Bears are a much better 3-point shooting team on the road (.357) than at home (.273) this season. MSU is averaging 5.8 threes per game in away games and just 4.1 per game at JQH Arena.
- In two fewer games, Tyler McCullough (So., Fayetteville, Ark.) has already surpassed his freshman-season totals in scoring (98) and rebounds (71) while improving his free throw percentage nearly 100 points -- from .625 to .724.
- MSU has swept the regular-season series against Drake three of the last four year=s and won nine out of the last 10 matchups overall, including a 62-37 win at JQH Arena on Jan. 3.
- The Bears' 16 second-chance points against Indiana St. on Wednesday matched their most in league play this season.
- This is Gavin Thurman's 50th career conference game. He has 324 points in 49 previous Valley contests (6.6 ppg).
- Dorrian Williams (Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) is coming off a 16-point effort against Indiana State in which he knocked down a pair of 3-pointers. It was his first multiple-trey game since Jan. 7 (at Indiana State) and his fifth this season.
The Bears own a 39-11 series lead against Drake in a rivalry that dates back to 1986.
Missouri State is 23-1 in Springfield all-time against the Bulldogs and 15-9 in Des Moines.
MSU has swept the regular-season series against Drake three of the last four years and won nine out of the last 10 matchups, including a 62-37 win at JQH Arena on Jan. 3. Marcus Marshall posted 19 points in the win, while Austin Ruder and Camyn Boone contribued 12 points apiece. Drake got 13 points from Jacob Enevold and 5 rebounds from D.J. Rivers.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 57-68 (.456) in his fourth season at MSU and 59-91 (.393) in his fifth season overall as a head coach. He is 29-40 in MVC games (20-15 at home, 9-25 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 37-23 in all home games, 17-35 on the road, and 3-10 at neutral sites. Lusk is 6-1 against Drake, including a 2-1 mark at the Knapp Center.
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.
Coach Ray Giacoletti (Minot State, 1985) is in his second year at Drake and his 12th season as a head coach. He has 2 starters and 6 lettermen back from a 15-16 squad.
Leading DU are Gary Ricks, Jr. at 10.6 ppg and freshman Reed Timmer at 10.8 ppg. Jacob Envold is also posting 7.4 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Drake ranks 12th nationally in free throw percentage (.760) and 21st in 3-point field goal percentage (.396).
Missouri State freshman Chris Kendrix notched game highs with 20 points and 8 rebounds to help lift the Bears (10-17, 4-11 MVC) to a 60-56 Missouri Valley Conference victory over visiting Indiana State here Wednesday and snap a four-game conference losing streak.
The Bears also got 16 points from Dorrian Williams and 6 rebounds from Loomis Gerring to help the winning cause.
Gerring's two free throws with 31.1 seconds to play gave the Bears a 59-56 lead at the time, while the junior notched two key rebounds in the final 71 seconds to help the home side seal the victory.
Indiana State (13-14, 9-6) missed its last four field goal attempts on the night, including a potential game-tying 3-pointer by Khristian Smith with 7.6 seconds to go. Kendrix gathered in the rebound and was fouled by the Sycamores with just under 4 ticks showing. After missing the front end of the two-shot situation, the freshman splashed home the second free throw to put the game out of reach and secure his first 20-point game.
Sycamore freshman Brenton Scott led his club with 16 points behind four 3-pointers, while Smith scored 13.
The Bears held their first opponent under 40 percent shooting in five games as ISU finished at 39.3 percent from the field, including 35 percent in the second half.
The game featured 8 ties and 14 lead changes, none more critical than a jumper by Williams with 49 seconds left in the game that inched the Bears ahead 57-56 just moments after Camyn Boone missed a pair of potential game-tying free throws. Scott followed Williams' basket with a missed 3-pointer on the ISU end, and Gerring corralled the ensuing rebound and eventually sank the biggest free throws of the game.
Missouri State out-rebounded its fourth opponent in six games, 34-30, with 16 second-chance points by the Bears on 14 offensive caroms, including 5 by Kendrix.
With the win, the Bears also secured a .500 record or better at home for the 44th consecutive season as they improved to 7-6 at JQH Arena this winter.
For the game, MSU was 21-of-52 (.404) from the field, 4-of-11 (.364) beyond the arc and 12-of-17 (.706) at the line - all in the second half. MSU also snagged 6 steals and got two of its three blocked shots from senior Christian Kirk.
ISU, which had won two of its last three coming into the game, was 22-for-56 overall from the floor, 9-of-21 (.429) from long range and 3-of-6 (.500) at the line.
In the first half, a Williams 3-pointer just before the horn gave Missouri State a 28-27 lead at the intermission to wrap a 12-point half for the junior guard.
The Bears jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first eight minutes before the Sycamores converted five straight field goal attempts to tie the game, 17-17, with just seven-and-a-half minutes left in the period.
Williams later knocked down his first trey of the half to swing momentum back to the home side, 23-20, before ISU's Smith scored 6 unanswered to give the visitors a 23-20 lead at the 3:07 mark.
Kendrix would later tie the game at 25 on his second trey of the half, before Smith knocked down a pair of charity shots on ISU's final possession of the opening period. Williams then sprang loose from the right wing with 4 seconds left in the half and splashed home the clutch trey to give the Bears the lead after 20 minutes.
Missouri State returns to JQH Arena on Wednesday (7:05 p.m.) to take on Bradley in its 2014-15 home finale. It will be a White Out game with pregame recognition of seniors Christian Kirk and Ron Mvouika, in addition to Kid's Night.
