Feb. 25, 2016

Missouri State Game Notes | SIU Game Notes | MVC Weekly Notebook

Missouri State Bears (12-17, 8-9 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois Salukis (21-9, 10-7 MVC)
Sat., Feb. 27, 2016	SIU Arena, Carbondale, Ill. | 7:00 p.m. | ESPN3
Location	SIU Arena (8,339) | Carbondale, Ill.
Promotions	Senior Night
MSU Tickets	Game 30 vs. SIU
Fan Information	BearWear | Browser Theme | Visitors Guide | MSU Bookstore
Television	ESPN3 with Mike Trude and Darren Kinnard
Radio	Missouri State Radio Network with Art Hains & Mike Keltner
Online Coverage	Live Audio Stream | ESPN3 |
MissouriStateBears.com	| Basketball Home Page
Connect	@MissouriStBears | @MSUBearsHoops | Bears on Facebook |Bears on Instagram | #MSUBears | #MVCHoops
All-Time Series	SIU leads 42-37 | MSU Streak: L2 | Last Meeting: SIU 80, MSU 65 (1/24/16)
Up Next	MSU heads to the MVC Tournament at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, March 3-6. Opponent, date and time to be determined.

The 10 Count

• MSU is 12-5 this season when out-rebounding its opponents and 0-12 when getting out-rebounded.
  
• Camyn Boone (Sr., Mesa, Ariz.) has scored in double figures 5 times in the last 7 games, including a game-high 17 points on senior night against Drake. He was scoreless in just 10 minutes of action the last time MSU played SIU.
  
• With Wednesday's win, MSU solidified its 45th straight winning season at home (8-7), a streak that began in 1971-72.
  
• The Bears are are just 40 points shy of 2,000 for the season, a milestone the club has reached just once since 2011-12. The squad's overall scoring average has improved from 59.7 ppg last year to 67.6 this year.
  
• Chris Kendrix (So., Willard, Mo.) has scored in double figures in 8 straight games and has improved his overall scoring average from 6.3 points per game as a freshman to 11.9 as a sophomore. He is averaging 16.0 points in Feb.
  
• Obediah Church (Fr., Springfield, Ill.) now has a team record 34 dunks this season, almost as many as the next two individuals -- 18 by Kyle Weems in 2009-10 and 17 by Wade Knapp in 2008-09 -- combined. His 45 blocked shots this season is an MSU freshman record and ranks 8th on MSU's single-season list.
  
• MSU's 11 blocked shots against Drake on Wednesday marked the team's most since 10 vs. Harding on 11/16/07.
  
• Five-time MVC Newcomer of the week Dequon Miller (Jr., Charleston, W.Va.) has multiple treys in 4 straight games.
  
• Tyler McCullough (Jr., Fayetteville, Ark.) needs 2 rebounds to reach 200 for his career (83 games) and also needs just 1 board to reach 100 in MVC games (46 g). He is the only active MSU player with more than 2 years experience.
  
• Former Saluki players who have recently coached at MSU include Bears head coach Paul Lusk (1992-95), current assistant Brad Korn (1999-2004), and former MSU assistants Derrick Tilmon (1997-2000), Kent Williams (1999-2003) and Kyle Smithpeters (2004-06). SIU head coach Barry Hinson was 169-117 (.591) in 9 seasons at MSU..

The Series

The Bears and Salukis first met in 1957 in a rivalry that has seen SIU take a 42-37 lead. The Bears are 9-23 in Carbondale with wins in 3 of the last 5 meetings at SIU Arena.
Earlier this season, five Salukis scored in double figures in an 80-65 win over the Bears at JQH Arena. MSU got 22 points from Dequon Miller and 7 rebounds and 5 assists from Obediah Church.
MSU has won 11 of the last 15 meetings between the two squads.

Scouting the Salukis

The new-look Salukis are 21-8 this year after a 12-21 campaign a year ago. Fourth-year head coach Barry Hinson has 3 starters and 6 lettermen back, including standout senior Anthony Beane (6-2, G) who is averaging 19.4 points per game with 68 3-pointers on the season. Sean O'Brien (6-7, Jr., F) averages 12.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, while newcomer Mike Rodriguez (5-10, Jr., G) is averaging 8.5 points and a team-best 3.0 assists.

Coach Paul Lusk

Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 70-88 (.443) in his fifth season at MSU and 72-111 (.393) in his sixth season overall as a head coach. He is 38-51 in MVC games (26-19 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 46-30 at home, 21-44 on the road, and 3-14 at neutral sites. Lusk is 7-4 against SIU and 2-2 in Carbondale against the Salukis.
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.

MSU Freshmen Turn Heads

Missouri State's four freshmen players have emerged as an intrigal part of the club's rotation this season, becoming just the fourth freshman class in program history to tally more than 600 combined points.
The Bears' freshmen have combined to play 2,087 minutes this season, which ranks No. 18 nationally among all Division I programs. They have also tallied 609 points (21.0 ppg), which accounts for 31.1 percent of the team's offense. MSU ranks 60th nationally in freshman points per game and 68th in scoring percentage by freshmen.
A summary of the freshmen class achievements:
* Jarred Dixon -- 29g, 17 starts, 7.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg; 9.4 ppg in MVC play
36 steals leads all MVC freshmen, 6th overall in MVC
MVC Newcomer of the Week 2/1/16
* Obediah Church -- 29g, 29 starts, 6.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 34 dunks
180 rebounds and 45 blocks lead all MVC freshmen;
6th overall in MVC in rebounds, 2nd in blocks
* Ryan Kreklow -- 24g, 4 starts, 6.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 33 3-point FG%
.369 3-point pct. in MVC play
* Robin Thompson -- 17g, 1 start, 1.6 ppg, 1.2 rpg, .478 FG%

Buzzer Beaters Define Dequon

Missouri State junior Dequon Miller (Charleston, W.Va.) has dropped in four buzzer-beating shots this season, three of which were game winners and the fourth sent the Bears into overtime in an eventual victory.
Miller hit a driving layup at Oklahoma State with 7.3 seconds left on Dec. 5 to help the Bears to a 64-63 win in Stillwater in his first game-winner of the season. He then hit game-winners in back-to-back games in early January with a layup with 6 seconds to go on Jan. 6 to beat UNI and knocked down a jumper with 3.4 seconds to play at Loyola on Jan. 9. Most recently, he drained a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the Jan. 30 game against Illinosi State at JQH Arena, a game the Bears won in overtime, 84-81.

Sixth Place at the Turn

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.

Up Next

MSU heads to the MVC Tournament at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, March 3-6. Opponent, date and time to be determined.

MVC Standings

Team	MVC	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Wichita State	15-2	.882	22-7	.759
Evansville	12-5	.706	23-7	.767
Illinois State	12-5	.706	18-12	.600
Southern Illinois	10-7	.588	21-9	.700
Northern Iowa	10-7	.588	18-12	.600
Missouri State	8-9	.471	12-17	.414
Indiana State	7-10	.412	13-16	.448
Loyola Chicago	7-10	.412	14-15	.483
Bradley	3-14	.176	5-25	.167
Drake	1-16	.059	6-23	.207