Feb. 15, 2016
Missouri State Game Notes | Wichita State Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
Missouri State Bears (11-15, 7-7 MVC) at Wichita State Shockers (19-7, 12-2 MVC)
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Thu., Feb. 18, 2016
| Koch Arena, Wichita, Kan. | 6:00 p.m. | CBS Sports Net.
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| Location | Koch Arena (10,506) | Wichita, Kan. |
| Promotions | -----
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Tickets
| Game 27 vs.Wichita State |
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| Television | CBS Sports Network with Brent Stover, Bob Wenzel, John Schriffen |
| Radio | Missouri State Radio Network with Art Hains & Mike Keltner |
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All-Time Series
| WSU leads 38-30 | MSU Streak: L11 | Last Meeting: WSU 78, MSU 62 (1/13/16) |
Up Next
| MSU begins a two-game home stand on Sunday (3 p.m.) against Loyola at JQH Arena | Tickets |
- Jarred Dixon (Fr., Kansas City, Mo.) is just 1 point shy of becoming the 16th MSU freshman to eclipse 200 points. His 132 pts. in MVC games is 2nd in the league among the frosh, while he leads all MVC newbies in steals with 33.
- Obediah Church (Fr., Springfield, Ill.) is 2 blocks away from entering MSU's single-season top 10 in shot rejections. His 39 blocked shots are already an MSU freshman record and ranks among the top 100 players in the country.
- Chris Kendrix (So., Willard, Mo.) has scored 81 points (20.3 ppg) in February games, second only to SIU's Anthony Beane as the top scorer in the league this month. He is coming off his first career double-double.
- Kendrix has already eclipsed his MVC scoring total from last season (147 in 18 games) with 167 points in just 12 MVC games this season. He has upped his Valley scoring average from 8.2 points per game last year to 13.9 this year.
- MSU's four freshmen have combined to score 536 points (20.6 ppg) and 30.3% of the team's offense. They are just the fourth freshman class in program history to score 500 points and have combined for 1,836 minutes this season.
- Five-time MVC Newcomer of the week Dequon Miller (Jr., Charleston, W.Va.) has scored in double figures in 10 of 14 Valley games. Since Dorrian Williams' injury, he is averaging 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
- Camyn Boone (Sr., Mesa, Ariz.) is coming off his 3rd career double-double with career highs 30 points and 12 boards.
- Loomis Gerring (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) is averaging 8.0 points per game off the bench over the last two games.
- The Bears are one of the top 100 most-improved teams in Division I basketball, already matching least season's win total with 4 regular-season games remaining, plus the MVC Tournament.
- MSU's 62 points against Wichita State on Jan. 13 was just the second time the Bears have eclipsed 60 points against the Shockers in the last 10 meetings between the clubs. WSU has won the last four meetings at Koch Arena..
The series between the Bears and Shockers dates back to the 1941-42 season with Wichita State holding a 38-30 advantage. WSU has won the last 11 meetings since MSU's memorable home win over the Shockers to clinch the MVC regular-season crown on Feb. 26, 2011. The Bears are 6-23 all-time in Wichita and have lost four straight at Koch Arena.
Coach Gregg Marshall is in his ninth season at Wichita State and returns 3 starters and 9 lettermen from last year's 30-5 Sweet 16 club that won the MVC regular-season title for the second straight season.
All-American guards Fred VanVleet (6-0, Sr.) and Ron Baker (6-4, Sr.) lead the Shockers. Baker averages a team-best 13.8 points with 45 3-pointers and 4.5 rebounds, while VanVleet scores 12.4 with 116 assists.
WSU is 11-1 at home this season and is averaging a conference-best 10,881 per game in home attendance average.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 69-86 (.445) in his fifth season at MSU and 71-109 (.394) in his sixth season overall as a head coach. He is 37-49 in MVC games (25-18 at home, 12-31 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 45-29 at home, 21-43 on the road, and 3-14 at neutral sites. Lusk is 0-11 against Wichita State with an 0-4 mark at Koch 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.
Dixon Picks Up League Honor
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After breaking a school record and posting a career high, freshman guard Jarred Dixon (Kansas City, Mo.) was named Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 1. Dixon had a breakout week for the Bears, posting a career-high 19 points at Indiana State and then taking over in overtime to help MSU topple Illinois State at home. His 6 steals against Illinois State -- including 2 in the final two minutes of regulation -- were a new MSU freshman single-game record and matched the third-best effort in program history. For the week, he averaged 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.5 assists.
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 begins a two-game home stand on Sunday (3 p.m.) against Loyola at JQH Arena | Tickets.
| Team | MVC | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| Wichita State | 12-2 | .857 | 19-7 | .731 |
| Illinois State | 10-4 | .714 | 16-11 | .593 |
| Evansville | 9-5 | .643 | 20-7 | .741 |
| Southern Illinois | 9-5 | .643 | 20-7 | .741 |
| Northern Iowa | 8-6 | .571 | 16-11 | .593 |
| Missouri State | 7-7 | .500 | 11-15 | .423 |
| Indiana State | 7-7 | .500 | 13-13 | .500 |
| Loyola Chicago | 5-9 | .357 | 12-14 | .462 |
| Bradley | 2-12 | .143 | 4-23 | .148 |
| Drake | 1-13 | .071 | 6-20 | .231 |
