Missouri State Bears (8-3) vs. Las Vegas Classic Semifinals and Finals
Date and Time	Thursday, Dec. 22, 10 p.m. (CT) vs. No. 23 USC (11-0) Friday, Dec. 23, 7:45 p.m. or 10 p.m. (CT) vs. DePaul (7-4) or Wyoming (9-2)
Location	Orleans Arena (8,500) | Las Vegas, Nevada
Tickets	Las Vegas Classic Tickets | Season Tickets
Radio	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television	FS1 | (Justin Kutcher, Steve Lavin)
Series	MSU is 0-0 vs. USC | MSU is 0-1 vs. DePaul | MSU is 3-1 vs. Wyoming
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears
History	The Bears are 7-7 all-time in the Las Vegas Classic with previous appearances in 2001, 2007 and 2011.

Missouri State (8-3) rides a three-game win streak into the semifinals of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic Thursday at 10 p.m. (Central) against No. 23 Southern California (11-0) at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The winner advances to Friday's 10 p.m. (CT) championship game against DePaul or Wyoming, while the losers will play for third place at 7:15 p.m. (CT) on Friday. All games will be televised nationally on FS1.

Series History
Missouri State has never played USC and has just one previous meeting with DePaul -- a narrow 68-66 road loss earlir this season (Nov. 23) in Rosemont.
In that game, DePaul's Billy Garrett hit a jumper at the buzzer to break up a late tie and finish with 23 points. Garrett was 8-for-8 at the line and put DePaul ahead 66-64 with 48 seconds to go on a three-point play. MSU led for 38 minutes, 19 seconds and had a 10-point lead at the 11-minute mark.

The Bears are also 3-1 all-time against Wyoming, including an 83-75 win over the Cowboys on Nov. 28, 1999 in the most-recent matchup (in Hawaii). MSU led by as many as 24 in that game and got a game-high 19 points from Kevin Ault as the team shot 56 percent and overcame 15 Wyoming steals. MSU is also 1-1 in Laramie and 1-0 in Springfield against the Cowboys.

The Ten Count

• The winner of MSU's semifinal matchup with No. 23 USC (11-0) will play in the Las Vegas Classic championship game on Friday at 10 p.m. (CT) against either DePaul (7-4) or Wyoming (9-2). The third-place game is Friday at 7:45 (CT).
• Alize Johnson (Jr., Williamsport, Pa.) leads the Missouri Valley Conference with 9.0 rebounds per game which is 52nd nationally. The two-time MVC Newcomer of the Week also ranks 37th nationally in FG% (.585).
• MSU's five-player junior class is accounting for 41.5 points per game -- 52.4 percent of the team's total.
• Ryan Kreklow (So., Columbia, Mo.) has made a 3-pointer in all 11 games this season and 15 straight games overall.
• The Bears have led at the half in 10 of 11 games (8-2) and are 60-19 under Lusk when leading at the break.
• Since coming off the bench for the first time in his career on Dec. 10, Obediah Church (So., Springfield, Ill.) is 14-for-17 (.824) from the field. In those 4 games, Church as also blocked 9 shots (2.3 per game).
• The Bears are 7-7 all-time in the Las Vegas Classic with previous appearances in 2001, 2007 and 2011.     
• MSU's bench has outscored its opponents' reserves in all 11 games and holds a 358-132 scoring edge from the pine. The Bears' backups are collectively averaging 32.5 ppg, which is 41.1% of the team's offensive production.
• FS1's Justin Kutcher (play-by-play) has called two previous MSU games in Springfield, notably the Bears' 89-76 win over Murray State in the 2011 NIT, and also against Old Dominion at JQH Arena in the 2012 BracketBusters game. Steve Lavin (FS1 analyst) is part of the Gene Keady Coaching Tree, along with MSU's Paul Lusk (see p. 6).
• USC represents Paul Lusk's 18th ranked foe in his six seasons as MSU head coach -- more than the Bears' previous four head coaches combined. His biggest Top 25 moment was a 77-65 victory at No. 21 Creighton on 12/28/11.