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Missouri State

Jarrid Rhodes

MSU Begins Key MVC Road Swing at Illinois State

January 05, 2018

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 17 - Missouri State Bears (13-3, 3-0 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (8-7, 2-1 MVC)
Date and Time Sunday, January 7, 2018 | 1:00 p.m.
Location Redbird Arena (10,200) | Normal, Ill.
Tickets Illinois State Game | (309) 438-8000
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television CBS Sports Network (Jerry Recco, Tim Doyle)
Series Illinois State leads 41-29 | Last Meeting: ISU 67, MSU 66 (2/15/17)
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Illinois State | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears
Up Next The Bears travel to Evansville on Wednesday, Jan. 10 (7 p.m.) before returning to JQH Arena on Sunday, Jan. 14 to take on Indiana State | Tickets for Indiana State Game

Missouri State (13-3, 3-0 MVC) begins a key two-game Missouri Valley Conference road swing Sunday at Illinois State in a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network.

Series History
  • The series between the Bears and Redbirds dates back to the 1967 NCAA Division II semifinals - a 93-76 win by the Bears. However, Illinois State leads the all-time series, 41-29. MSU is 6-25 all-time in Normal with its last win at Redbird Arena coming on Feb. 12, 2011.
  • Last season the Redbirds swept the regular season series, beating MSU 74-71 in overtime in Normal on Jan. 4, before squeaking out a 67-66 win at JQH Arena on Feb. 15. In the first meeting, MiKyle McIntosh scored seven of his game-high 21 points in overtime in an OT battle that featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes. Jarrid Rhodes scored 19 points for the Bears with Ryan Kreklow adding 11 points. MSU attempted a school-record 38 threes in the contest. In the rematch in Springfield, Dequon Miller's 3-point attempt at the buzzer just missed to allow the Redbirds a one-poinit win. Alize Johnson led four MSU players in double figures with 17 points, while Obediah Church snagged 13 rebounds. Deontae Hawkins scored a game-high 19 to lead the Redbirds.

The Ten Count
  • Alize Johnson (Sr., Williamsport, Pa.) has reeled off four straight double-doubles as part of MSU's current four-game win streak, matching his career-best stretch of consecutive double-doubles. He enters the weekend with 10 double-doubles on the season (27 career), which ranks 5th nationally and No. 2 among Division I players under 6-foot-10.
  • Johnson is coming off a 24-point, 20-rebound performance against Northern Iowa. The effort marked Johnson's second 20-20 game of the season, the third of his career, and just the fifth in Division I this season (including his 23 points and 20 rebounds against North Dakota State on Nov. 17).
  • The last time MSU was 10 games over .500 was during the 2010-11 season, in which the Bears finished 26-9 overall and claimed the MVC regular-season title. That campaign was also the last time the Bears started Valley play 3-0, ultimately winning their first 7 MVC games.
  • The Bears have out-rebounded 15 of 16 opponents this season with double-figure offensive rebounds in 14 games. MSU ranks 9th nationally in rebound margin (+9.4) and has matched or out-rebounded 41 of its last 49 foes.
  • Jarrid Rhodes (Sr., Palmetto, Fla.) has converted 11 of his last 20 (.550) 3-point attempts during MSU's four-game win streak. In two games against the Redbirds a year ago, Rhodes averaged 17.5 points and made 9-of-15 (.600) threes.
  • Obediah Church (Springfield, Ill.) is just 11 blocks behind MSU career leader Danny Moore (1996-99). The junior has rejected 156 shots in his first 79 career games and currently ranks 51st nationally with a Valley-best 2.0 blocks per game.
  • Sunday's game will be the 50th career appearance for MSU seniors Alize Johnson and Jarrid Rhodes. Both second-year players have helped the program's resurgence, combining for 1,104 points and 92 starts to date.
  • MSU is 12-2 when its bench outscores its opponent's reserves. Bears' non-starters are scoring 25.1 points per game.
  • The Bears are looking for their first win at Redbird Arena since Feb. 12, 2011. MSU has dropped its last six games in Normal, including last year's memorable 74-71 overtime thriller | BOX SCORE
  • Missouri State (65) and Illinois State (79) represent the two highest-ranked MVC teams in Friday's RPI rankings.
  • J.T. Miller (Sr., Clinton, N.C.) is coming off a 13-point effort in Thursday's win over UNI. The transfer from Howard was 5-for-7 from the field and notched his ninth-double-figure scoring effort as a Bear but first since Dec. 10.

Coach Paul Lusk
  • Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 101-109 (.481) in his seventh season at MSU and 103-132 (.438) in his eighth season overall as a head coach.  He is 48-63 in MVC games (32-24 at home, 16-39 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, 27-54 on the road, and 9-18 at neutral sites. Lusk is 4-9 all-time against Illinois State (0-6 at Redbird 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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