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Missouri State

Ryan Kreklow

Men's Basketball MSU Athletics Communications

Red-Hot Bears Return Home for Wednesday Clash with Evansville

GAME 18 - Missouri State Bears (8-9, 2-2 MVC) vs. Evansville Purple Aces (8-9, 2-2 MVC)
Date and Time Wednesday, January 16, 2019 | 7:02 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Evansville Tickets
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television ESPN+ (Don West, Kelby Stuckey) | (Watch)
Series Missouri State leads 35-34 | Last Meeting: MSU 72, UE 55 (2/10/18) | [Box Score]
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Evansville | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide | Valley Media Conference
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears
Promotions Rally in the Valley Pep Rally - Monday 8 p.m.  |  AD Honor Roll Recognition at Halftime
Up Next The Bears travel to Drake on Sunday before returning to JQH Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 23 to play defending league champion Loyola at 8 p.m. (CBS Sports Net) on "Share the Bear" Night at JQH | [Loyola Tickets]

The Ten Count
  • After back-to-back conference road wins last week at Indiana State and Bradley, the Bears return to JQH Arena on Wednesday to do battle with Evansville at 7 p.m. This is the 70th meeting between Missouri State and Evansville with the Bears leading the long-standing rivalry by a narrow 35-34 margin.
  • Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) is Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week after averaging 22.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in a pair of road victories last week. He is the MVC's top newcomer this season in both scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg) averages. He is coming off his first double-double as a Bear with a career-high 24 points and 13 rebounds at Bradley and has scored in double figures in 10-of-12 games at MSU.
  • Jarred Dixon (G, Kansas City, Mo.) has scored in double figures 14 times in 17 games this season. He currently ranks 9th in the MVC in scoring (14.6 ppg) and is No. 23 on MSU's career scoring list (1,073 points ). He needs 6 points to catch Andy Newton (1973-76) for the No. 22 spot and 32 points to match Darryl Reid (1989-91) for the No. 21 position.
  • MSU has registered 20 or more forced turnovers five times this season, including both road victories last week. The Bears lead the MVC with 15.8 takeaways per game overall and 18.5 takeaways in conference games. Likewise, MSU's 2.8 turnover margin overall and 8.3 margin in MVC play are both tops among all Valley programs.
  • Josh Webster (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) leads the MVC and ranks 6th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.80). He is just 5 assists shy of 100 for the season and would be just the fourth MSU player over the last 8 seasons to reach 100 assists (joining Dequon Miller, Dorrian Williams and Michael Bizoukas on that elite list).
  • Ryan Kreklow (Sr., Columbia, Mo.) is 1 three-pointer away from 150 for his career. With 712 career points, Kreklow ranks 74th on MSU's career scoring list with familiar names within striking distance, including Chris Kendrix (716), Bobby Howard (716), Christian Kirk (718), Lee Campbell (719), Caleb Patterson (721) and Stan Worthy (722).
  • Missouri State continues to lead the MVC in steals by a wide margin at 7.6 per game. Loyola's 6.5 steals is a distant second. MSU is also averaging a league-best 10.0 steals per game in Valley games.
  • Ryan Kreklow and Jarred Dixon share the league lead with 9 steals (2.3 per game) in Valley contests.
  • The Bears are 6-1 at JQH Arena this season and 7-3 all-time against Evansville at The Q. MSU is 117-53 (.688) all-time at the 11,000-seat facility and just 18,955 patrons away from attracting the 1 millionth men's basketball fan to JQH.
  • MSU has shot 50% or better from the field 4 of its last 6 games and is 6-0 this season when reaching that standard.
  • Darian Scott (RFr., Las Vegas, Nev.) is celebrating his 20th birthday on Tuesday.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 8-9 (.471) in his first season at Missouri State, including a 6-1 ledger at JQH Arena. He is now 65-74 (.468) in his fifth season as a head coach and 0-0 all-time vs. Evansville.
  • 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 series between the Bears and Aces is a rich one that dates back to March 13, 1959 when Evansville beat MSU in the championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament. MSU leads the series, 35-34, including a 22-10 record in Springfield and 10-3 ledger at JQH Arena.
  • The teams have split the last two years, including a 64-55 Aces win in Evansville (Jan. 10) and a 72-55 Bears victory in Springfield (Feb. 10). In the first meeting, Missouri State cut its double-figure deficit down to three with just over a minute to play, but could not catch the Aces. Alize Johnson led three Bears in double figures with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Reggie Scurry and Jarrid Rhodes added 10 points apiece. In the rematch in Springfield, J.T. Miller scored 16 points and Mustafa Lawrence added 12 as MSU used a +19 rebound margin to cruised to a wire-to-wire Valley win. [Box Score]
Rebound Foundation
  • Bears' head coach Dana Ford and his wife, Christina, are founders of the Rebound Foundation. The not-for-profit raises funds and awareness to help renew and restore women who have experienced a life of domestic abuse. The foundation provides a stable home and fresh start to abuse victims and their children. The Rebound Foundation currently provides homes in Springfield, Mo., and Chicago, Ill.
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Players Mentioned

Dequon Miller

#4 Dequon Miller

G
5' 10"
Junior
Dorrian Williams

#23 Dorrian Williams

G
6' 3"
Senior
Chris Kendrix

#33 Chris Kendrix

G/F
6' 5"
Sophomore
Jarred Dixon

#11 Jarred Dixon

G
6' 4"
Junior
Alize Johnson

#24 Alize Johnson

F
6' 9"
Senior
Ryan Kreklow

#20 Ryan Kreklow

G
6' 4"
Junior
Jarrid Rhodes

#15 Jarrid Rhodes

F
6' 6"
Senior
Mustafa Lawrence

#1 Mustafa Lawrence

G
6' 0"
Freshman
J.T. Miller

#23 J.T. Miller

G
6' 3"
Senior
Darian Scott

#25 Darian Scott

C
6' 11"
Freshman
Reggie Scurry

#2 Reggie Scurry

F
6' 5"
Junior
Josh Webster

#0 Josh Webster

G
6' 3"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Dequon Miller

#4 Dequon Miller

5' 10"
Junior
G
Dorrian Williams

#23 Dorrian Williams

6' 3"
Senior
G
Chris Kendrix

#33 Chris Kendrix

6' 5"
Sophomore
G/F
Jarred Dixon

#11 Jarred Dixon

6' 4"
Junior
G
Alize Johnson

#24 Alize Johnson

6' 9"
Senior
F
Ryan Kreklow

#20 Ryan Kreklow

6' 4"
Junior
G
Jarrid Rhodes

#15 Jarrid Rhodes

6' 6"
Senior
F
Mustafa Lawrence

#1 Mustafa Lawrence

6' 0"
Freshman
G
J.T. Miller

#23 J.T. Miller

6' 3"
Senior
G
Darian Scott

#25 Darian Scott

6' 11"
Freshman
C
Reggie Scurry

#2 Reggie Scurry

6' 5"
Junior
F
Josh Webster

#0 Josh Webster

6' 3"
Senior
G

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