Jan. 3, 2016
Missouri State Game Notes | UNI Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- Camyn Boone (Sr., Mesa, Ariz.) is averaging 13.4 points and 8.3 rebounds at home this season, both team highs.
- Northern Iowa is 6-1 all-time at JQH Arena, the most wins by any team other than MSU at the facility. The Panthers' average margin of victory in their wins at The Q is just 5.0 points with three games decided by two points or less.
- Dequon Miller (Jr., Charleston, W.Va.) has scored in double figures in 8 straight games, something no other current MSU player has achieved in his career. Miller is a two-time MVC Newcomer of the Week recipient this season.
- Over the last 7 games (since Dec. 5), Chris Kendrix (So., Willard, Mo.) has made 30-of-33 (.903) free throws. He ranks 2nd in the MVC in free throw percentage (.831).
- Obediah Church (Fr., Springfield, Ill.) has 25 blocks on the season which ranks 58th among all Division I players and 10th nationally among all freshmen. He is coming off 7 points and a team-high 7 rebounds against Evansville.
- Church has produced 14 dunks this season for Missouri State. Since the Dunk-O-Meter debuted for the 2008-09 season, only Kyle Weems (18 in 2009-10) and Wade Knapp (17 in 2008-09) have had more MSU dunks in a season.
- Jarred Dixon (Fr., Kansas City, Mo.) was 5-for-8 from the field with 10 points against Evansville in his second start of the season. He is averaging 9.7 points and shooting 14-for-27 (.519) from the field over the last 3 games.
- MSU has squandered halftime leads in each of its first to Valley games, making the Bears 3-2 when leading at the intermission this season. Under Coach Paul Lusk, MSU is 47-17 when taking a lead into the locker room.
- MSU guards Austin Ruder (9), Shawn Roundtree, Jr. (9) and Dorrian Williams (1) have combined to miss 19 games this season due to injuries. All three players missed the MVC home opener against Evansville.
- Northern Iowa senior guard Wes Washpun ranks 20th nationally in assists per game (6.2).
In a series that dates back to 1983, the Bears lead UNI by a 40-29 margin. However, the Panthers have won 6 in a row in the series and 8 of the last 10. The Panthers are also 6-1 at JQH Arena, more wins in the facility than any team other than the Bears.
All-time, MSU is 21-12 at home against UNI. The Panthers have swept the season series the last three years with MSU's last victory coming at home on Jan. 28, 2012 by a 63-51 margin.
Coming off their third straight road loss on Saturday at Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa comes to Springfield with an impressive non-conference resume that includes wins over No. 1 North Carolina (home) and No. 4 Iowa State (neutral) earlier this season.
Ben Jacobson's troops are led by former MSU commit Wes Washpun (6-1, Sr., G) who averages 15.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, while Paul Jesperson (6-6, Sr., F) adds 12.7 points and a team-best 5.2 rebounds with 37 threes.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 62-81 (.434) in his fifth season at MSU and 64-104 (.381) in his sixth season overall as a head coach. He is 30-44 in MVC games (21-16 at home, 9-28 on the road), 2-4 in MVC Tournament games and 30-33 against all non-conference foes (20-11 at JQH Arena, 9-12 away and 1-10 at neutral sites). In all games, he is 41-27 at home, 18-40 on the road, and 3-14 at neutral sites. Lusk is 1-7 against UNI, including a 1-3 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.
Rare Loss in Streaky MVC Opener
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The Bears' MVC opener at Illinois State on Dec. 30 snapped a six-game win streak by MSU in Valley openers, dating back to the 2009-10 season. The wild battle featured a 13-0 first-half run by the Bears, who led by 13 points in the opening period, and an 18-0 run by the Redbirds in the second half. MSU ended the game on an 11-1 run and shot 46.2 percent from 3-point range (6-of-13), the club's best percentage from beyond the arc in 35 games. The last time the Bears were as accurate from bonus distance was Dec. 17, 2014 at Tulsa (10-for-19, .526), also the last time MSU tallied 10 or more treys in a game.
Hot Shots Avenge Early-Season Loss
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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.
MSU travels to Loyola on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 9) for a 3 p.m. tipoff at Gentile Arena on KOZL-TV and the MSU TV Network.
| Team | MVC | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| Evansville | 2-0 | 1.000 | 13-2 | .867 |
| Southern Illinois | 2-0 | 1.000 | 13-2 | .867 |
| Wichita State | 2-0 | 1.000 | 8-5 | .615 |
| Illinois State | 2-0 | 1.000 | 8-7 | .533 |
| Northern Iowa | 1-1 | .500 | 9-6 | .600 |
| Indiana State | 1-1 | .500 | 7-7 | .500 |
| Drake | 0-2 | .000 | 5-9 | .357 |
| Loyola Chicago | 0-2 | .000 | 7-7 | .500 |
| Missouri State | 0-2 | .000 | 4-10 | .286 |
| Bradley | 0-2 | .000 | 2-13 | .133 |
