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Missouri State

Tyrik Dixon

Bears Set for Sunday Road Challenge at VCU

December 12, 2019

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 12 - Missouri State Bears (6-5) at VCU Rams (7-2)
Date and Time Sunday, December 15, 2019 | 6:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Siegel Center (7,500) | Richmond, Va.
Tickets VCU Game | Future Home Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television MASN / ESPN+ (Byron Kerr, Rodney Ashby) | Watch
Series First Meeting
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | VCU | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Coverage Dana Ford Weekly Presser (Tuesday) | Bears Pull Out Win Thanks to Late Leadership
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Up Next The Bears travel to Oral Roberts (2:00 p.m.) on Saturday, Dec. 21 | Evansville game Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State returns to the road this weekend when the Bears, who are riding a three-game win streak, travel to VCU. The Rams (7-2) are receiving votes in both major polls and boast an unbeaten record at the Siegel Center where they are unbeaten this season with seven sellout showings.
  • The Bears continue to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in rebound margin (+7.9) -- which ranks 27th nationally -- and have out-rebounded 9-of-11 opponents this season, including 7 in a row. MSU's 37.7 caroms per game ranks 2nd in the MVC.
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) has reeled off a career-best 10 straight double-figure scoring games and is averaging 17.9 points per game in that span. He has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in all 11 games this season and leads The Valley in minutes played (35.4), ranks 2nd in scoring average (17.0) and is 6th in free throw percentage (.845).
  • Tulio Da Silva (Sr., Formiga, Brazil) is sitting at 951 career points and 599 rebounds (87 games). Since transferring to Springfield from USF, the 2019 MVC Newcomer of the Year has scored 505 points (13.3 ppg) in two seasons (38 games).
  • Missouri State is coming off back-to-back 50-percent shooting efforts -- its first such games this season. Last year, the Bears shot 50-percent from the field 9 times, giving the Bears a perfect 11-0 mark under coach Dana Ford when making at least half their shots. In Wednesday's win over Arkansas State, MSU shot a season-high 56.8 percent from the field.
  • Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio), the Bears' graduate transfer from West Virginia, has knocked down a 3-pointer in 8 straight games (his career-best is 11 straight). He is coming off his 50th career double-figure scoring game (120 games) with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting in MSU's win over Arkansas State on Wednesday.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) is coming off a career-high 8 points in a 12-minute appearance against Arkansas State with a pair of steals. The 2019 Mr. Show-Me Basketball out of Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, has played at least 10 minutes in each of the last four games and is 4-of-5 (.800) from the field and 5-of-6 (.833) at the line in that span.
  • Since making his Missouri State debut at Xavier on Nov. 15, Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) has played in 5 of the Bears last 7 games and is averaging 15.8 points per game in that span. Prim is also averaging 4.6 rebounds and shooting 55.7 percent from the field over his last five appearances.
  • Tulio Da Silva ranks 2nd in the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounds per game (8.1) and has led the Bears in rebounding in 7-of-11 games this season and 25 times in his 38-game MSU career.
  • During the Bears recent 3-game home stand, Tyrik Dixon (Jr., Bentonville, Ark.) averaged 11.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists while converting 12-of-18 (.667) field goals and 5-of-10 (.500) 3-pointers. He scored 12 points with 3 assists at VCU (12/17/16) during his freshman season at Middle Tennessee.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 22-21 (.512) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 16-5 ledger at JQH Arena, 5-11 record in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 79-86 (.478) in his sixth season as a head coach.  He is 0-0 in his career against VCU.
  • 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
  • This is the first-ever meeting between the Bears and VCU in men's basketball. Earlier this season, Missouri State defeated fellow A-10 Conference member Saint Joseph's, 71-69, at the Charleston Classic.
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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