Missouri State Bears (15-13, 6-9 MVC) at Drake Bulldogs (7-20, 5-10 MVC)
Date and Time	Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, 7 p.m. (Central)
Location	Knapp Center (7,452) | Des Moines, Iowa.
Tickets	Drake Game | Wichita State Game
Radio	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television	FOX Sports Midwest | MVC Television Network (Tom Ackerman, Adam Emmenecker)
Series	MSU leads 42-13 | Last Meeting DU 72, MSU 71 (ot) (1/24/17)
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State | Drake | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears
Up Next	The Bears return to JQH Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25 for Senior Day and the regular-season finale against Wichita State on ESPN2 at11 a.m. | WSU Tickets

Missouri State begins the final week of the regular season with a Saturday evening (7 p.m.) road game at Drake. The Bears look to avenge a one-point overtime loss to the Bulldogs earlier this season and solidify their hold on a top-six seed for the MVC Tournament.

Series History
MSU leads the all-time series, 42-13, including a 16-10 record in Des Moines.

On Jan. 24 in Springfield, Missouri State got 17 points and 17 rebounds from Alize Johnson and 15 points and 6 assists from senior Dequon Miller, but it wasn't enough as Drake's Reed Timmer scored on a driving, off-balance layup with 17.1 seconds left in overtime to secure a 72-71 win over the Bears. Timmer finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting with three 3-pointers, and 5 assists. The Bears led for more than 30 minutes, but DU ended the second half on a 10-4 run. MSU missed its last 10 shots of the final stanza and scored only on free throws by Miller and Jarrid Rhodes. With the game tied 68-68 in the final minute of OT, MSU's Obediah Church was called for a controversial goal-tend call to give the Bulldogs a two-point advantage. Miller made one free throw at the 46-second mark, but Timmer's game-winner inside 20 seconds sealed it for Drake, which won in Springfield for just the second time ever.

Scouting the Bulldogs
Jeff Rutter (Winona State, 1988) assumed coaching duties at Drake on Dec. 6 after three-and-a-half years as assistant coach. He is 6-13 as head coach at Drake with 4 starters back from a 7-24 team that was 2-16 (10th) in the Valley last season. Leading the way for the Bulldogs is junior Reed Timmer (G, 6-1) and sophomore Billy Wampler (F, 6-6). Timmer is averaging 15.7 points with 48 3-pointers, while Wampler is scoring 10.1 points with 57 threes.

The Ten Count

• Missouri State's 7 single-possession losses this season (losses by 3 points or less) is second-most in the nation, trailing only Mercer's 8 close losses among all Division I programs. The Bears also have 5 close losses in MVC play.
• Jarred Dixon (So., Kansas City, Mo.) has scored in double figures in 5 of the last 6 games. He is averaging 11.7 points per game since Jan. 28 and has 20 assists, 3 three-pointers and 7 steals in that span.
• Alize Johnson (Jr., Williamsport, Pa.) continues to lead The Valley with 10.3 rebounds per game. He ranks 16th nationally in double-doubles (14) and 15th in rebounds per game. He has 18 double-figure rebound games this year.
• MSU has matched or out-rebounded 14 of 15 league foes this season. Only Evansville (Feb. 4) has bettered the Bears on the glass during conference play. MSU ranks 33rd nationally in rebound margin (+5.8).
• Chris Kendrix (Jr., Willard, Mo.) is 5 points shy of 700 for his career.
• Obediah Church (So., Springfield, Ill.) leads the MVC and ranks 24th nationally in blocked shots per game (2.38). He also has climbed to No. 6 on MSU's career blocks list (112), just 58 games into his collegiate career. He is 2 blocks shy of Kyle Weems (2008-2012) for the No. 5 spot.
• Dequon Miller (Jr., Charleston, W.Va.) now has 100 career 3-pointers and is just the 14th MSU player to reach that milestone -- and first since Austin Ruder (Jr., Nixa, Mo.). He has a team-high 43 three-pointers this season.
• Jarrid Rhodes (Jr., Palmetto, Fla.) is coming off a 16-point outing against league front-runner Illinois State on Wednesday. He made 4-of-6 3-pointers in the game and notched his fifth double-figure scoring game in MVC play.
• MSU is just 17 3-pointers shy of matching the club single-season record of 252 set in 2009-10. With 235 treys, the Bears are averaging 8.39 treys per game, which is on pace to break the team's per-game mark of 7.36 set in 2006-07.
• Drake's .756 free throw percentage ranks 31st nationally and tops in the MVC.