Feb. 1, 2016
Missouri State Game Notes | Bradley Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- Dorrian Williams (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) will be making his 50th career Valley start with his next time in the starting rotation. He ranks among MSU's all-time top 10 players in assists (371, 9th) and minutes played (3049, 8th).
- Jarred Dixon (Kansas City, Mo.) averaged 16.5 points per game last week, including a career-high 19 against Indiana State and 14 points with an MSU freshman record 6 steals in the win over ISU. He is the MVC Newcomer of the Week.
- Dixon ranks second among all MVC freshmen in points per game (9.4) in league games. He leads the class in total steals (28) and ranks only behind WSU's Baker and VanVleet in steals in MVC games (1.8).
- The Bears are coming off their second-best shooting effort of the season in Saturday's win over Illinois State when they converted 28 of 57 shots (.491) at JQH. The Bears also knocked down a season-high 10 3-pointers against ISU.
- Ryan Kreklow (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in 7 of his last 8 games and in 14-of-17 games this season. He has scored multiple treys 10 times.
- Behind 17 points from Chris Kendrix (So., Willard, Mo.), MSU's bench tallied 33 points in Saturday's win against Illinois State, the most by the club's reserves since a 35-point effort against Minnesota on Nov. 20 in Puerto Rico.
- Miller (19.8 ppg) and Dixon (13.8 ppg) have both scored in double figures four straight games for the Bears.
- The Bears are coming off a 5-win January - the team's best January effort since going 8-2 in 2011.
- MSU is 9-1 when shooting a higher field goal percentage than their opponents and 0-12 when they do not.
- Bradley's 10 freshmen have combined for 80.4 percent of the team's scoring (1,001 points) and 74.9 percent of the team's rebounding (576). Ronnie Suggs leads all MVC freshmen in scoring (8.3 ppg) and MVC-game scoring (10.1).
The series between the Braves and Bears began in 1991 when Missouri State joined the MVC. Since then, MSU has reeled off a 35-19 record against the Braves, including a 20-4 mark in Springfield and a 6-1 record at JQH Arena. MSU has won 9 of the last 11 meetings.
On Jan. 16 in Peoria, the Bears got 13 points and 13 rebounds from Obediah Church and held BU to just 11 field goals in a 61-42 victory.
Bradley boasts one of the youngest teams in college basketball with a 14-man roster comprised of 10 freshmen. The Braves, in fact, have 5 of the top 10 freshman scorers in The Valley, including Ronnie Suggs (6-5, G) who scores 8.3 points and gets 3.8 rebounds per game. First-year head coach Brian Wardle also turns to sophomore Donte Thomas (6-7, F) for team bests 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. The Braves are 1-11 away from Carver Arena, including a 1-8 mark in true road games.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 67-84 (.444) in his fifth season at MSU and 69-107 (.392) in his sixth season overall as a head coach. He is 35-47 in MVC games (23-18 at home, 12-29 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 43-29 at home, 21-41 on the road, and 3-14 at neutral sites. Lusk is 7-2 against Bradley, including a 4-0 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.
| Miller Earns MVC Newcomer Award for Fifth Time |
For the fifth time this season, Missouri State junior guard Dequon Miller (Charleston, W.Va.) was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 25.
For the week, Miller posted a pair of 20-point games with a career-high 23-point effort helping the Bears secure a come-from-behind win at Drake on Jan. 20. He averaged 22.5 points per game for the week and was also 11-for-12 (.917) at the foul line with six 3-pointers, 4 assists and 6 rebounds.
Since the award began in 2003-04, only three other MVC players have won the award more times in their rookie season -- seven-time winner Doug McDermott (Creighton 2010-11), and six-time winners Cleanthony Early (Wichita State 2012-13) and Marcellus Sommerville (Bradley 2003-04).
Only four Missouri State players -- Danny Moore (1997), Mike Wallace (2001), Spencer Laurie (2007) and Adam Leonard (2010) -- have earned the prestigious honor of MVC Newcomer of the Year.
After being picked eighth in the MVC preseason poll, the Bears have compiled a 3-2 record on the Valley road, gone 4-4 in January and sit in sixth place at 4-5 in the league standings at the midway point.
Over the previous six seasons, MSU has been 2-7 (2014-15), 4-5 (2013-14), 4-5 (2012-13), 5-4 (2011-12), 8-1 (2010-11) and 4-5 (2009-10), respectively at the turn. The Bears made postseason appearances in three of those seasons with CIT bids in 2010 and 2014 and an NIT appearance in 2011.
MSU travels to Evansville on Saturday (Feb. 6) for an 11 a.m. tipoff on FOX Sports Midwest.
| Team | MVC | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| Wichita State | 10-0 | 1.000 | 16-5 | .762 |
| Southern Illinois | 7-3 | .875 | 18-5 | .783 |
| Evansville | 7-3 | .700 | 18-5 | .783 |
| Indiana State | 6-4 | .600 | 12-10 | .545 |
| Illinois State | 6-4 | .600 | 12-11 | .522 |
| Missouri State | 5-5 | .500 | 9-13 | .409 |
| Northern Iowa | 4-6 | .400 | 12-11 | .522 |
| Loyola Chicago | 3-7 | .300 | 10-12 | .455 |
| Bradley | 1-9 | .100 | 3-20 | .130 |
| Drake | 1-9 | .100 | 6-16 | .273 |
