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Missouri State

Jarred Dixon

Bears Open Home Stand against Sycamores

January 11, 2018

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 19 - Missouri State Bears (13-5, 3-2 MVC) vs. Indiana State Sycamores (8-9, 3-2 MVC)
Date and Time Sunday, January 14, 2018 | 2:00 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Mo.
Tickets Indiana State Game
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television KOZL-TV (Don West, Kelby Stuckey) | MSU Television Network | ESPN3
Series Missouri State leads 43-25 | Last Meeting: MSU 73, INST 68 (1/18/17)
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Indiana State | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears
Up Next The Bears continue the two-game home stand Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Valparaiso | Tickets for Valpo Game
Promotions Tournament of Champions "Buy One Get One Free" coupon for any MSU game (available Saturday at JQH) | $5 Upper-Level tickets for Valparaiso game

Missouri State opens a two-game home stand Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Bears take on long-time MVC rival Indiana State at JQH Arena.

Series History
  • The series between the Bears and Sycamores dates back to the 1951-52 season with Missouri State leading the rivalry by a 43-25 margin. The Bears are 29-5 all-time in Springfield against ISU, including a 7-2 ledger at JQH Arena. MSU has won the last three meetings between the clubs.
  • Last year, the Bears swept the season series starting with an 81-75 overtime victory at JQH Arena on Jan. 31. Jarred Dixon scored four of his 19 points in overtime, and Alize Johnson posted a career-high 30 points and snagged 15 boards to lead the Bears. MSU led by 11 points with nine minutes to go before the Sycamores rallied thanks in part to 22 points by Brenton Scott who made six treys.
  • In the rematch in Terre Haute on Jan. 18, the Bears cruised to a 73-68 victory. Alize Johnson posted his first career 20-20 game with 26 points and 20 rebounds, while senior Dequon Miller posted a career-high 24 points. ISU never led and got 27 points from Brenton Scott.
The Ten Count
  • Alize Johnson (Sr., Williamsport, Pa.) has reeled off 6 straight double-doubles, the longest streak of his career. He has produced 12 double-doubles in 18 games this season, which is tied for 4th nationally.
  • Ronnie Rousseau III (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) is this week's MSU Coors Player of the Week after posting a season-high 16 points at Illinois State last Sunday, going 3-for-5 from 3-point range and 6-of-10 overall from the field in a 28-minute assignment off the bench. He followed that with 9 points one 3-of-5 shooting at Evansville on Wednesday.
  • Two Bears are on the verge of reaching scoring milestones this weekend. Jarrid Rhodes (Sr., Palmetto, Fla.) needs just 5 points to reach 400 for his career (51 games), while classmate Tanveer Bhullar (Etobicoke, Ontario) needs 4 points to reach 300 for his career (75 games).
  • J.T. Miller (Sr., Clinton, N.C.) averaged 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds last week, firing at a 57.9 percent clip from the field to earn MVC Newcomer of the Week honors for the first time. He logged his first-ever double-double in Sunday's game at Illinois State, racking up 16 points and a career-best 11 boards.     Against UNI, he went 5-for-7 from the field with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Wednesday was his 100th career game.       
  • Jarrid Rhodes (Sr., Palmetto, Fla.) is averaging 10.8 points per game over the Bears' last four contests.
  • In two appearances against Indiana State last season, Alize Johnson averaged 28.0 points and 17.5 rebounds per game, while converting 19-of-35 (.543) field goals and 6-of-13 (.462) threes. He recorded his first career "20-20" game in Terre Haute last Jan. 18 with 26 points and 20 rebounds. He has reached 20-20 twice this season.
  • Missouri State is 29-5 all-time at home against the Sycamres, including a 7-2 mark at JQH Arena. The Bears have won the last five meetings between the clubs in Springfield.
  • Jarred Dixon (Jr., Kansas City, Mo.) is averaging 12.0 points per game against ISU in four previous meetings (three starts). He is 11-for-14 (.786) at the free throw line in his career against the Sycamores.
  • In his first career start, Reggie Scurry (Jr., Atlanta, Ga.) played 26 minutes and scored 10 points with a pair of blocked shots Wednesday at Evansville (Jan. 10). Scurry is second on the club in points per game (9.3) and blocks (16).
  • Missouri State enters the weekend ranked in the top 25 nationally in four defensive categories -- 11th in rebound margin (+8.7), 15th in scoring defense (62.1), 15th in field goal percentage defense (.385) and 25th in 3-point field goal defense (.304). MSU has also out-rebounded 16 of 18 opponents this season.
Coach Paul Lusk
  • Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 101-111 (.476) in his seventh season at MSU and 103-134 (.435) in his eighth season overall as a head coach.  He is 48-65 in MVC games (32-24 at home, 16-41 on the road), 4-6 in MVC Tournament games and 49-40 against all non-conference foes (32-13 at JQH Arena, 12-15 away and 5-12 at neutral sites). In all games, he is 64-37 at home, 28-56 on the road, and 9-18 at neutral sites. Lusk is 7-5 all-time against Indiana State (5-1 at JQH Arena).
  • The 46-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.
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