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Bears Open New Season Tuesday at JQH

Bears Open New Season Tuesday at JQH

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 1 - Missouri State Bears (0-0) vs. Little Rock Trojans (0-0)
Date and Time Tuesday, November 5, 2019 | 7:02 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Little Rock Tickets | Future Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television ESPN3 (Don West, Mike McClure) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 7-0 | MSU 73, UALR 68 (12/4/14) | [Box Score]
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Little Rock | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Coverage Dana Ford Pregame Presser | N-L: What National Media is Saying
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Promotions Opening Night
Up Next The Bears host Alabama State on Sunday, Nov. 10 (2 p.m.) | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State kicks off its 108th basketball season tonight when the Bears entertain Little Rock at JQH Arena. MSU is 36-1 in home openers during its Division I era, including 16 in a row and all 11 home openers at JQH Arena. The Bears enter the 2019-20 campaign needing 12 wins to reach 700 as a Division I program.
  • MSU is the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley for just the second time in its MVC tenure (1990-91 to present).
  • The Bears boast a pair of returning all-conference players in Tulio Da Silva (Sr., Formiga, Brazil) and Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.). Da Silva was an All-MVC first-team selection last year and earned MVC Newcomer of the Year honors (the third Bear in four years to earn the distinction) after averaging 14.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in his first year in Springfield. Cook was an All-MVC third-team pick a year ago after posting 12.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 48 3-pointers. Both players were on the 2019 MVC All-Newcomer Team and were Preseason All-MVC picks this year.
  • As a head coach, MSU's Dana Ford is 4-1 in season openers (1-0 at MSU) and 5-0 in home openers.
  • Three of Missouri State's newcomers have NCAA Tournament experience with their previous clubs. Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) played in six NCAA games at West Virginia (2017 and 2018); Tyrik Dixon (Jr., Bentonville, Ark.) went to the Dance with Middle Tennessee in 2017 and played two games; and Josh Hall (Jr., Houston, Texas) made a pair of NCAA trips with Nevada (2017, 2018), playing in four games.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) is just the fourth Mr. Show-Me Basketball to play at Missouri State. Named Missouri's top prep player in 2018-19, Mosley averaged 23.2 points per game as a senior at Rock Bridge High School where he (and fellow MSU teammate Ja'Monta Black) led the Bruins to a 25-3 record and Class 5 state title. The only other Bears to earn the title of Mr. Show-Me Basketball are teammate Jared Ridder (2017), Drew Richards (2004) and Spencer Laurie (2003).
  • Over the last 10 seasons, Missouri State is 113-48 (.702) at JQH Arena with 10 or more home wins three straight years.
  • Missouri State's .452 team field goal percentage last season ranked fourth in the Missouri Valley and was the Bears' best shooting accuracy since the 2010-11 season.
  • Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) begins his senior season needing just 55 points to reach 1,000 for his career. West scored 945 points in 109 games at West Virginia before transferring to Missouri State this season. He also has 352 rebounds and 154 3-pointers in his career.
  • During its NCAA Division I era (1982-83 to present), the Bears are 27-10 in season openers.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 16-16 (.500) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 11-4 ledger at JQH Arena. He is now 73-81 (.474) in his sixth season as a head coach.
  • In his first season in Springfield, Ford led the Bears to a tie for third place (10-8) in the Missouri Valley Conference with the program's first winning record in Valley play since 2011. He guided two players -- Tulio Da Silva (first team) and Keandre Cook (third team) -- to All-MVC honors in addition to three players on the MVC All-Newcomer Team, including Newcomer of the Year Da Silva.
  • 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. He coached five All-OVC players and two OVC All-Newcomer Team selections during his tenure at TSU. 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.
  • Ford, 35, 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 has served as an assistant at Tennessee State, Wichita State and Illinois State and was responsible for recruiting future NBA talents such as Robert Covington (Timberwolves) and Fred Van Vleet (Raptors).
Series History
  • Missouri State leads the all-time series against Little Rock by a 7-0 count, including a 73-68 victory over the Trojans in the most-recent meeting, Dec. 4, 2014 at JQH Arena.
  • In that 2014 game, Austin Ruder scored a career-high 23 points and tied a JQH Arena record with seven 3-pointers to lead Missouri State (4-3) to a come-from-behind win. Ruder finished 7-for-10 from beyond the arc to pace the win. Marcus Marshall added 18 points -- 6 in the final minute -- to help the Bears, while fellow guard Dorrian Williams contributed 10 points, a career-high 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Mareik Isom led three Trojans in double figures with 14 points. Little Rock led by 11 early in the second half before going nearly six minutes without a field goal late in the game.
  • The Bears are 4-0 all-time at home against the Trojans (3-0 at JQH), 2-0 in Little Rock and 1-0 in neutral games (at Honolulu). [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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