Bears Begin Valley Road Swing at Indiana State

GAME 16 - Missouri State Bears (6-9, 0-2 MVC) at Indiana State Sycamores (9-5, 1-1 MVC)
Date and Time	Tuesday, January 8, 2019 \| 6:02 p.m. (Central)
Location	Hulman Center (10,200) \| Terre Haute, Ind.
Tickets	ISU Tickets
Radio	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) \| MSU Radio Network \| Listen Live
Television	ESPN3 (Watch) \|
Series	Missouri State leads 45-25 \| Last meeting: MSU 81, INST 62 (2/6/18) [Box Score]
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 road swing Saturday, Jan. 12 at Bradley at 7 p.m., before returning to JQH Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 16 to play Evansville [Evansville Game Tickets]

The Ten Count

The Bears begin a two-game Missouri Valley Conference road swing Tuesday when they travel to Indiana State for a 6 p.m. (Central) tip against the Sycamores at Hulman Center. Missouri State then travels to Bradley on Saturday (7 p.m.) as part of a rigorous start to the league schedule that includes four of its first six on the road.
Jarred Dixon (G, Kansas City, Mo.) climbed to No. 23 on MSU's career scoring list (1,042) after his game-high 23 points in Saturday's game against Valparaiso. He is now 37 points away from Andy Newton (1973-76) for the No. 22 position on the Bears' all-time points chart. Dixon has scored 76 career points (6 games) against Indiana State and has posted double figures in scoring 12 times in 15 games this season.
Over the last five games, Josh Webster (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) has tallied 37 assists with just 3 turnovers. He ranks 9th nationally -- and first in the MVC -- with a 4.09 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Ryan Kreklow (Sr., Columbia, Mo.) has made at least one 3-pointer in nine straight games, combining to make 24-of-50 (.480) treys in that span. He is one 3-pointer away from matching last year's total (34), while improving his 3-point percentage from .296 to .446 since last season.
Kreklow, has 148 career 3-pointers and is tied for the No. 7 spot on MSU's career triples list. Only six Bears have ever posted 150 career 3-pointers. He also needs just 4 points to reach MSU's all-time top 75 in scoring.
Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) is Missouri State's top road scorer, averaging 14.7 points per game away from JQH Arena. The transfer from USF is 5 points shy of 600 for his career (59 games).
Missouri State has won five in a row in the series with Indiana State, including the last two meetings at Hulman Center and two overtime victories at JQH Arena. The clubs first met during the 1951-52 season at the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City en route to the Bears' national title. MSU holds a 45-25 lead in the all-time series.
Over its last four games, Missouri State has turned the ball over just 34 times (8.5 per game), while forcing 15.3 turnovers per game in that same span. For the season, the Bears are averaging 13.0 turnovers per contest with a league-best +2.0 turnover margin.
Indiana State junior Jordan Barnes and MSU senior Josh Webster were teammates at CBC High School in St. Louis on a team that won the 2014 Missouri Class 5 state championship.
Missouri State's season 2-point field goal percentage (.547) ranks third among all MVC schools and 67th nationally.

Coach Dana Ford

Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 6-9 (.400) in his first season at Missouri State, including a 6-1 ledger at JQH Arena. He is now 63-74 (.460) in his fifth season as a head coach and 0-0 all-time vs. Indiana State.
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 lead the all-time series against Indiana State, 45-25, in a rivalry that dates back to 1951-52. MSU has won five straight in the series, including the last two games at the Hulman Center. Overall, the Bears are 14-19 all-time in Terre Haute
Last season, MSU swept ISU with a 76-73 win at JQH Arena (Jan. 14) and an 81-62 decision in Terre Haute (Feb. 6). In the first meeting, the Bears made seven free throws in the final 52 seconds with Alize Johnson scoring a game-high 21 points, and Jarred Dixon adding 15 for MSU. In the rematch in Terre Haute, Johnson had 28 points with five triples, while Dixon poured in 13 points off the bench, and Jarrid Rhodes scored 11. [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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