Bears Return to JQH for Showdown with Western Kentucky

GAME 9 - Missouri State Bears (3-5) vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (4-3)
Date and Time	Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018 \| 7:02 p.m.
Location	JQH Arena (11,000) \| Springfield, Mo.
Tickets	WKU Tickets \| Missouri State students admitted free with BearPass ID
Radio	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) \| MSU Radio Network \| Listen Live
Television	ESPN+ (Watch) \| (Don West, Kelby Stuckey)
Series	Missouri State leads 1-0 \| Last meeting: MSU 85, WKU 80 (11/10/17) [Box Score]
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State \| Western Kentucky \| MVC Notebook \| MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook \| Athletics Twitter \| Basketball Twitter \| Instagram \| #MSUBears
Promotions	$15 game-day tickets in Sections E, J, O and P
Up Next	The Bears travel to North Dakota State on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m. MSU returns to JQH Arena on Saturday, Dec. 22 to host UAPB at 1 p.m. [UAPB Game Tickets]

The Ten Count

The Bears return to JQH Arena on Wednesday for the team's first home game in three-and-a-half weeks. It is the longest stretch between home contests since 1982-83, the Bears' first season of NCAA Division I play.
Obediah Church (Sr., Springfield, Ill.) is one block shy of 200 for his career, a milestone achieved by just five players in Missouri Valley Conference history. He leads the MVC in blocks and blocks per game for the third straight season.
USF transfer Tulio Da Silva (Formiga, Brazil) scored 22 points at Air Force and 21 at Oregon State last week in his first two starts at MSU. He was 17-for-27 (.630) from the field for the week and 3-of-5 (.600) from 3-point range. He also compiled team-high 7 rebounds at Oregon State with a career-high 4 assists. He is now 4 points shy of 500 for his career.
Senior Jarred Dixon (G, Kansas City, Mo.) needs just 36 points to reach 1,000 for his career. MSU has had 28 1,000-point scorers in its proud history, but none since Kyle Weems reached the milestone in 2011. Dixon has scored in double figures in 12 of his last 14 games and is coming off a career-high 31 points at Oregon State on Saturday.
MSU ranks 49th nationally in fewest personal fouls per game (16.6), which is second in the MVC, behind Loyola (16.1).
Missouri State has forced 10 or more turnovers in seven of its first eight games. The Bears snagged 9 takeaways at Oregon State on Saturday for a season low. The Bears have racked up 15.5 points per game off opponent turnovers and accounted for 48 steals. MSU's 14.75 takeaways per game ranks second in the MVC to Bradley's 14.78.
Jarred Dixon's 31-point performance at Oregon State was not only a career high but the 91st 30-point scoring game in program history. It was also the team's first since Alize Johnson scored 30 against Indiana State on Dec. 31, 2016. Dixon ranks third in the MVC in scoring (17.4) and third in 3-pointers per game (2.6).
The Bears are a perfect 3-0 at JQH Arena this season and are 105-44 (.705) over the last 10 seasons at home. All-time at "The Q," Missouri State is 114-52 (.687) at the 11,000-seat facility, which opened with a 62-57 win over Arkansas on Nov. 22, 2008.
Bears' senior Josh Webster (G, St. Louis, Mo.) continues to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.08), which ranks 50th nationally. His 5.0 assists per game ranks third in The Valley and 71st nationally.
The Bears have recorded nine individual 20-point efforts this season, already more than the team recorded during the recent 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons. Keandre Cook (Jr. Baltimore, Md.) has four, followed by two apiece from Jarred Dixon (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) and Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) and one by Ryan Kreklow (Sr., Columbia, Mo.). No Bears' team during the Division I era has had more than five individuals score 20 points.

Coach Dana Ford

Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 3-5 (.375) in his first season at Missouri State, including a 3-0 ledger at JQH Arena. He is now 60-70 (.462) in his fifth season as a head coach and 0-0 all-time vs. Western Kentucky.
He was introduced as Missouri State's 18th men's basketball coach on March 22, 2018 after coaching the previous four seasons at Tennessee State. The native of Tamms, Illinois was 57-65 (.467) at Tennessee State, including a 52-39 ledger in his last three seasons in Nashville.
Ford, 33, was awarded the Ben Jobe Award in 2016 as the nation's top Division I minority coach. That same year, he was named Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year and NABC District 19 Coach of the Year after engineering one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA history, swaying Tennessee State from a 5-26 record in his first season to a 20-11 mark in 2015-16.
He coached five All-OVC players in addition to two players recognized on the OVC All-Newcomer Team. Under his leadership, Tennessee State also doubled its home attendance average and twice earned votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll during the 2016-17 season.
TheAthletic.com named Bears' head coach Dana Ford to its list of 30 "up and coming coaches to keep an eye on" during its 2018-19 preseason basketball coverage.

Series History

The Bears have played Western Kentucky just once -- last year's season opener in Bowling Green, Ky., that resulted in an 85-80 MSU victory. J.T. Miller led five Missouri State players in double-figures, going 7-for-12 from the field with 3 dunks and 8 rebounds. Alize Johnson played just 14 minutes but accounted for 13 points and 8 rebounds, including four key free throws in the final 32.1 seconds.
Obediah Church (11 points on 5-for-5 shooting) and Ryan Kreklow (7 points) also contributed for MSU, which shot 55.7 percent from the field.
WKU attempted 36 free throws, including 10 by Lamonte Bearden who posted a game-high 24 points. [Box Score]

Print Friendly Version