The Missouri State Bears close out a three-game home stand Thursday evening (Nov. 17) when they entertain their only non-Division I foe of the 2016-17 season at 7:04 p.m. Former MSU men's golf standout Lance Thornhill brings his Fontbonne Griffins to JQH Arena to round up MSU's third home contest in seven days. The Bears take to the road next week for a key road test at Big East DePaul on Wednesday, Nov. 23 in Chicago before closing out their November slate at The Q against North Dakota State on Sunday, Nov. 27.
Series History
This is the first-ever meeting between the Bears and Fontbonne, which is an NCAA Division III program located in St. Louis.
Scouting Fontbonne
 MSU alum Lance Thornhill is in his second year as head coach at Fontbonne. He has 14 returnees and 7 newcomers after an 8-17 campaign in 2015-16. Senior Kody Ettinger (G, Cuba, Mo.) is the Griffins' top returner after averaging 11.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game last season.
 Thornhill, who is also the golf coach at Fontbonne, has been part of all four NCAA Division III Tournament appearances by the Griffins as an assistant coach, including the most-recent run in 2009. He was a 1989 all-conference golfer for the MSU Bears under coach Bruce Hollowell and lettered three years before beginning a pro golf career.
 Griffins' assistant coach Sumner Ahearn is the cousin of Missouri State great Blake Ahearn.
The Ten Count
- Missouri State is off to a 2-0 start for the third time in four seasons under head coach Paul Lusk. The last time MSU started a campaign 3-0 was 2013-14 when the Bears jumped out to a 6-0 start en route to a 20-13 year.
- The Bears have scored 90+ points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2006-07. En route to their run to the NIT quarterfinals, the 2005-06 squad is the last MSU team to score 90 or more points in three straight contests.
- MVC Player of the Week / Newcomer of the Week Alize Johnson (Williamsport, Pa.) is averaging team bests 18.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. His .824 field goal percentage (14-of-17) leads all Missouri Valley Conference players. His 8-for-8 performance from the field against Alabama A&M in the season opener set a new JQH Arena record for field goal percentage in a game.
- MSU hit a school-record 15 3-pointers in Sunday's win over Jacksonville State. Five different players contributed to the surge, including four apiece from Austin Ruder (Jr., Nixa, Mo.) and Dequon Miller (Sr., Charleston, W.Va.).
- Missouri State's .615 field goal percentage against Alabama A&M in the season opener was the club's best under Lusk and its best shooting performance since converting 63.6 percent from the field vs. Saint Louis on Dec. 18, 2010.
- Among MVC players with more than 3.0 assists per game, Ronnie Rousseau III (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio with 12 assists and 1 turnover in 58 minutes of play this season.
- Seven different Bears tallied steals vs. Jacksonville State, helping MSU to its total of 13 -- the team's most under Lusk.
- The Bears have had at least five players score in double figures in both games this season. Prior to that, MSU had not produced five double-figure scorers in the same game since an OT loss to Washington State on 11/29/14.
- Fontbonne head coach Lance Thornhill is a 1991 graduate of Missouri State and was an all-conference golfer at MSU.
- Ruder is just 6 points away from reaching 600 for his career. The redshirt junior is also just 7 threes from 150. He entered the week as the MVC's active leader in 3-point field goals and jumped to seventh on MSU's career list.
