The Missouri State Bears return to the road this Saturday when they take on the Air Force Falcons in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge at 8 p.m. (Central). The Bears are the only one-loss team in the Missouri Valley and are one of just two MVC clubs (along with UNI) to rank in the Division I RPI top 100 through the first month of the 2016-17 season.
Series History
 The Bears and Falcons have met just once on the hardwood with MSU earning a 58-48 win at JQH Arena in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge on Dec. 5, 2009.
Missouri State got a game-high 19 points from Kyle Weems in that game to help the Bears overcome a 28-27 halftime deficit. Adam Leonard also hit for 16 points for the home side as he and Weems combined for nine 3-pointers on the day. Air Force was led by Grant Parker's 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Evan Washington scored 14 points.
Scouting Air Force
  Coach Dave Pilipovich (Thiel College, 1986) returns all five starters and 15 lettermen from a 14-18 club that was 5-13 (10th) in the Mountain West last year.
Leading the way for Air Force is Frank Toohey (C, 6-7, Jr.) who averages 12.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while Jacob Van (G, 6-2, Jr.) is shooting 57 percent from long range and averaging 12.3 points and 3.8 assists. Hayden Graham (F, 6-5, Sr.) is the Falcons' top rebounder (5.3) while averaging 10.4 points per game. Air Force shoots 75 percent from the line and commits just 9.9 turnovers per game.
The MWC-MVC Challenge
  This year's Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge will take place on Saturday, Dec. 3 with nine contests between MW and MVC foes. The tenth game (SIU at UNLV) will take place on Dec. 19. This is the sixth year of the series, which originated in 2009 and was discontinued from 2013-14. The Mountain West leads the series 3-1-1.
Missouri State is 1-3 in the Challenge (0-1 on the road), defeating Air Force at JQH Arena on Dec. 5, 2009 in its only win in the series while dropping a road game at The Pit in Albuquerque in 2011 and home games to San Diego State (2012) and Utah State (2015).
 MSU's top single-game scorers in the MWC-MVC Challenge are: Kyle Weems (19 pts. in 2009),
Chris Kendrix (17 in 2015), Jarmar Gulley (17 in 2011), Anthony Downing (16 in 2012), and Adam Leonard (16 in 2009).
Ready for the Black Out
 Missouri State's next home game on Saturday, Dec. 10 vs. Valparaiso (7 p.m.) has been designated as a Black Out with all fans encouraged to wear black as part of this special promotion. Black Out gear will be available at the BearWear Team Store at JQH Arena as well as through the
MSUBearsLockerRoom.com on-line store. A limited number of free black t-shirts will be distributed to students and current season ticket holders at the game. CLICK HERE [
Tickets] for the Valparaiso game. MSU's Concert Chorale will perform the National Anthem for the game before it departs for Washington and its feature performance at the Presidential Inauguration in January.
The Ten Count
- Obediah Church (So., Springfield, Ill.) has multiple blocks in 4-of-5 games this season and 4 or more blocks in 3 games. Just 37 games into his career, he has 67 blocked shots, just three shy of cracking MSU's career top 10.
- The Bears have tallied 10 or more offensive rebounds four times, including a season high 15 vs. NDSU in their most-recent outing. MSU has collected 56 offensive caroms this season, leading to 70 second-chance points (14.0).
- Dequon Miller (Sr., Charleston, W.Va.) is averaging 11.0 points and 3.7 assists over the last three games.
- Missouri State has not trailed by more than two points at any point this season and has led or been tied for 197.5 of 200 minutes of court time. The Bears also have seven scoring runs of 10-0 or better this season.
- The Bears are coming off a 4-1 November, the club's best opening-month effort since a 6-1 performance in 2013-14. MSU is also one win shy of matching its non-conference win total from last season (5-9).
- MSU is 1-3 all-time in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference Challenge with its only win coming with a 58-48 home win over Air Force on Dec. 5, 2009. That game is also the only previous meeting between MSU and Air Force.
- Ronnie Rousseau III (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) has scored in double figures three straight games. He is averaging 13.7 points per game and shooting .625 (15-of-24) from the field in that span.
- MSU's bench continues to be a big part of the team's early success with the Bears' reserves outscoring their opponents' subs, 164-67. MSU's non-starters are averaging 32.8 points -- tied for 29th nationally -- and accounting for 39.3 percent of the team's offense.
- As of Wednesday, Air Force ranks 5th nationally in turnovers per game (9.9) and No. 8 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7).
Austin Ruder (Jr., Nixa, Mo.) is just 3 threes from 150 for his career. He is the MVC's active leader in 3-pointers.
