Feb. 22, 2016
Missouri State Game Notes | Drake Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook
- During their Division I era (1982-83 to present), the Bears are 30-3 on Senior Night, including a 5-2 mark at JQH Arena. Only Valparaiso (1989), Creighton (2009) and Indiana State (2012) have beaten MSU on a DI Senior Night.
- MSU is 11-5 this season when out-rebounding its opponents and 0-12 when getting out-rebounded.
- With a number of seeding possibilities still in the balance, the Bears can rank between 5th and 8th for next week's MVC Tournament in St. Louis. MSU sits tied for 6th in the MVC standings with Loyola and Indiana St., with 2 to go.
- The Bears are 7-7 at JQH Arena this winter and are looking to clinch their 45th consecutive winning home season (since 1971-72). MSU is also seeking its 90th all-time win at JQH Arena, against just 41 losses.
- Chris Kendrix (So., Willard, Mo.) has scored in double figures in 7 straight games and has improved his overall scoring average from 6.3 points per game as a freshman to 12.0 as a sophomore this winter.
- Obediah Church (Fr., Springfield, Ill.) averaged 10.0 points and 8.5 rebounds last week while converting 9-of-12 (.750) field goals. His 41 blocked shots this season is an MSU freshman record and ranks 10th on MSU's season list.
- MSU's four freshmen have combined to play 2,008 minutes this season and have tallied 588 points (21.0 ppg), which accounts for 31 percent of the team's offense.
- Five-time MVC Newcomer of the week Dequon Miller (Jr., Charleston, W.Va.) has scored in double figures in 12 of 16 MVC games. He has drained multiple 3-pointers in three straight games and five of the last six home games.
- Tyler McCullough (Jr., Fayetteville, Ark.) needs 5 rebounds to reach 200 for his career (82 games) and also needs just 4 boards to reach 100 in MVC games (45 g). He is the only active MSU player with more than 2 years experience.
- Drake's .391 team 3-point field goal percentage leads the MVC & ranks 23rd nationally among all Division I programs.
Missouri State leads the all-time series with Drake, 40-12. The Bears and Bulldogs first met in 1986 in the only series meeting outside MVC play. The Bears are 23-1 all-time against the Bulldogs in Springfield and 7-0 at JQH Arena. MSU has won 14 straight meetings in Springfield and overcame a 15-point deficit to post a 69-60 win in DesMoines on Jan. 20. Dequon Miller posted 23 points, while Chris Kendrix added 14 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Bears to the win.
Coach Ray Giacoletti is in his third season in Des Moines with 4 starters and 6 lettermen back from a 9-22 club. DU is 0-11 on the road this season.
Reed Timmer (G, 6-1, So.) leads DU with 17.3 points per game, while Kale Abrahamson (F, 6-8, Jr.) scores 11.9 points per night with 54 3-pointers. Drake is of the nation's top 3-point shooting teams, converting 39.1 percent from behond the arc and 7.1 per game.
Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 69-88 (.439) in his fifth season at MSU and 71-111 (.390) in his sixth season overall as a head coach. He is 37-51 in MVC games (25-19 at home, 12-32 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 45-30 at home, 21-44 on the road, and 3-14 at neutral sites. Lusk is 7-2 against Drake and 4-0 at JQH Arena against the Bulldogs.
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 closes out the regular season in Carbondale on Saturday night (7 p.m.) when the Bears take on Southern Illinois on ESPN3.
| Team | MVC | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| Wichita State | 14-2 | .875 | 21-7 | .750 |
| Evansville | 11-5 | .688 | 22-7 | .759 |
| Illinois State | 11-5 | .688 | 17-12 | .586 |
| Southern Illinois | 10-6 | .625 | 21-8 | .724 |
| Northern Iowa | 9-7 | .563 | 17-12 | .586 |
| Missouri State | 7-9 | .438 | 11-17 | .393 |
| Indiana State | 7-9 | .438 | 13-15 | .464 |
| Loyola Chicago | 7-9 | .438 | 14-14 | .500 |
| Bradley | 3-13 | .188 | 5-24 | .172 |
| Drake | 1-15 | .063 | 6-22 | .214 |
