The Missouri State Bears complete a two-game road swing Wednesday (Dec. 7) when they renew their longest-standing rivalry with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff at in-state foe Southeast Missouri State.
Coach Lusk Preview
Series History
Missouri State will renew its longest-standing rivalry when the Bears and Redhawks match up in Cape Girardeau for the first of two games between the clubs this season. The series began in 1911 and includes 145 previous meetings. MSU holds the all-time advantage 90-55, including a 29-41 mark in Cape Girardeau (1-2 at Show-Me Center). The clubs have split the last 10 meetings with the Bears going 4-3 against Southeast as Division I foes. Bears' head coach
Paul Lusk is 2-1 vs. Southeast Missouri State.
 Last season, the Redhawks scored a 78-74 win at JQH Arena (12/22/15) in Southeast's first win in Springfield since 1981. The Bears trailed by as many as a dozen in the second half but climbed back within one point of the lead late in the half after a trey by
Ryan Kreklow with 1:14 to go. But the Redhawks held off the late surge and snap an 11-game skid. Southeast's starting five all finished in double figures, including a double-double by Antonius Cleveland who had 18 points and 10 rebounds, while
Dequon Miller tallied 17 points to lead MSU.
Scouting SEMO
Second-year head coach Rick Ray returns four starters and four lettermen from a 5-24 club that was 2-14 (12th) in the Ohio Valley Conference last season. The Redhawks are 3-0 at home this year.
Senior guard Antonius Cleveland (6-6, Memphis, Tenn.) leads SEMO in scoring at 15.6 points and is second on the club in rebounds (5.5). Fellow senior Trey Kellum (F, 6-7, Peoria, Ill.) is scoring 12.1 points and snagging 7.0 rebounds per game in addition to being an 79 percent free throw shooter.
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
- Dequon Miller (Sr., Charleston, W.Va.) has started all 38 games of his MSU career and has scored in double figures 27 times in that span. The 2016 MVC Newcomer of the Year is currently leading the MVC in FT% (.929).
- The Bears rank No. 3 nationally in turnovers per game (9.9) and are also third in turnover margin (+7.5), while SEMO is ranked 18th in turnovers forced per game (17.6), 20th in steals (9.0) and 12th in turnover margin (+5.6).
- Ronnie Rousseau III (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) has scored in double figures four straight games. He is averaging 14.5 points per game and shooting .550 (22-for-40) from the field in that span.
- MSU's reserves are outscoring their opponents' Â Â Â subs, 198-89, this season and averaging 33.0 points per game, which ranks 21st nationally.
- Jarred Dixon (So., Kansas City, Mo.) is coming off a career-high 21 points at Air Force, his first career 20-point game. He made 9-of-11 shots off the bench in that game and is now just 9 points shy of 300 for his career (36 games).
- This is the 146th meeting between the Bears and Redhawks in a series that dates back to 1911. SEMO is MSU's longest-standing rival, while historic series against Missouri S&T (139) and NW Missouri (137) pale in comparison.
- 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 and accounting for 39.3 percent of the team's offense.
- MSU is just one win shy of matching its non-conference win total from last season (5-9).
- Austin Ruder (Jr., Nixa, Mo.) needs just two treys for 150 for his career. He is the MVC's active leader in 3-pointers.
- Ruder also leads the MVC in 3-pointers per game (3.0) -- 48th nationally -- and is 4th in the MVC with a .484 percentage from beyond the arc, which ranks 31st among all Division I players.
