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Missouri State

Alize Johnson

MSU Takes on Drake in Battle of League Co-Leaders

January 18, 2018

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 21 - Missouri State Bears (15-5, 5-2 MVC) vs. Drake Bulldogs (11-9, 5-2 MVC)
Date and Time Saturday, January 20, 2018 | 3:00 p.m.
Location Knapp Center (7,152) | Des Moines, Iowa
Tickets Drake Game
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television FOX Sports Midwest (John Rooney, Adam Emmenecker) | MVC TV Network | ESPN3
Series Missouri State leads 43-13 | Last Meeting: MSU 76, DU 73 (2/18/17)
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 travel to Peoria on Jan. 23 to battle Bradley at 7 p.m. before returning to JQH Arena on Saturday, Jan. 27 to play arch rival Southern Illinois at 5 p.m. on "Black Out" day.

Missouri State (15-5, 5-2 MVC) begins a key Missouri Valley Conference road swing on Saturday at 3 p.m. when the Bears travel to fellow MVC co-leader Drake at Knapp Center in Des Moines.

Series History
  • The series between the Bears and Bulldogs started in Honolulu in 1986 and resumed in 1991 when Missouri State joined the Valley. MSU leads the all-time series, 43-13, including a 17-10 mark in Des Moines where the Bears broke a three-game losing streak last season.
  • In the first meeting between the clubs last year (Jan. 24), the Bulldogs escaped JQH Arena with a 72-71 overtime victory for just their second-ever win in Springfield. Alize Johnson had 17 points, while Dequon Miller added 15 points for the Bears, while Reed Timmer scored a game-high 27, including the game-winner with 17.1 seconds left in OT.
  • Missouri State avenged the defeat in Des Moines on Feb. 18 with a 76-73 win. Johnson notched 23 points, 21 rebounds and 11-of-13 free throws. Jarred Dixon added 14 points. Timmer and Graham Woodward scored 15 apiece for DU, which squandered an eight-point halftime lead.
The Ten Count
  • Alize Johnson (Sr., Williamsport, Pa.) has 8 straight double-doubles, the fourth-longest streak in MVC history. Only Evansville's Egidijus Mockevicius -- with two 10-game streaks and a 9-game streak -- has reeled off more consecutive double-figure scoring/rebounding games. Johnson has 14 double-doubles this season, which is tied for 3rd nationally.
  • Missouri State enters the weekend ranked in the top 16 nationally in four key defensive categories -- 11th in rebound margin (+8.3), 11th in field goal percentage defense (.385), 13th in scoring defense (62.4), and 16th in 3-point field goal defense (.301). MSU has also out-rebounded 18 of 20 opponents this season.
  • Jarred Dixon (Jr., Kansas City, Mo.) is averaging 13.5 points per game over MSU's last two contests, going 12-of-13 (.923) at the line in that span. He has started 14 straight games and is just 19 points shy of 700 for his career (83g).
  • Johnson leads the nation in defensive rebounds per game (8.65) and is 3rd nationally in total rebounds per game (11.9). He leads the MVC in rebounding for the second straight season and is 11 rebounds shy of 600 for his career.
  • The Bears are averaging 40.5 rebounds per game, the team's best of its Division I era (since 1982-83) and most since 1979-80 (43.8). The club's best carom average of the DI era is 39.0 in 1995-96.
  • Ryan Kreklow (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) is a second-generation Valley player. Ryan's father, Wayne, averaged 13.5 points in 109 games for Drake from 1975-79. He went on to play with the Celtics, earning an NBA championship in 1980-81.
  • Bears' head coach Paul Lusk is 10-3 all-time against Drake, including a 4-2 mark at Knapp Center.
  • Alize Johnson enters today's game tied for 48th on MSU's career scoring list (805 points). However, with his next 20 points, he would move up to No. 39 on the list, passing fellow two-year Bears Jarmar Gulley (806), Coleco Buie (817), Adam Leonard (819), Anthony Downing (822) and Dequon Miller (825). He is averaging 19.4 ppg in MVC games.
  • Obediah Church (Jr., Springfield, Ill.) is just 5 blocked shots away from matching Danny Moore (1996-99) for the top spot on MSU's career block list. Church leads the MVC with 2.0 blocks per game and has 162 career rejections.
  • Alize Johnson is this week's MVC Player of the Week after he averaged 18.5 points and 15.0 rebounds per game last week against Illinois State and Evansville. It is Johnson's second such honor this season (Dec. 26) and fourth of his career. The only Bear to win the award more times is Kyle Weems (6 times).
  • Led by Obediah Church's 16 slams, the Bears have accumulated 48 dunks (2.4 per game) this season. Reggie Scurry (12) and J.T. Miller (10) have helped the Bears post their second-best dunk total in the last 10 years (56 in 2015-16).
Coach Paul Lusk
  • Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 103-111 (.481) in his seventh season at MSU and 105-134 (.439) in his eighth season overall as a head coach.  He is 50-65 in MVC games (34-24 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 66-37 at home, 28-56 on the road, and 9-18 at neutral sites. Lusk is 10-3 all-time against Drake (4-2 at Knapp Center).
  • 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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