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Road Test at ORU Wraps Non-Conference Slate for Bears

Road Test at ORU Wraps Non-Conference Slate for Bears

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 13 - Missouri State Bears (6-6) at Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (6-5)
Date and Time Saturday, December 21, 2019 | 1:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Mabee Center (10,575), Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tickets ORU Game | Future Home Games | Winter Ticket Specials / Mini Packs
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television KOZL-TV (Don West, Kelby Stuckey) | Stretch Broadcast
Series Missouri State leads 9-8 | Last Meeting: MSU 84, ORU 50 (11/6/18) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Oral Roberts | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Coverage Dana Ford Weekly Presser (Tuesday) |
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Up Next The Bears begin MVC play at JQH on Tuesday, Dec. 31 (4 p.m.) vs. Evansville | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State concludes the non-conference portion of its 2019-20 slate Saturday when the Bears travel to Oral Roberts University to take on the Golden Eagles at 1 p.m. It will mark the 10th straight year the clubs have met at least once with the Bears owning a 9-8 overall series lead and 6-5 advantage over the last nine seasons (the clubs played twice in 2014-15 and 2015-16).
  • The Bears continue to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in rebound margin (+8.5) -- which ranks 19th nationally -- and have out-rebounded 10-of-12 opponents this season, including 8 in a row. MSU's 457 total rebounds also leads the MVC and ranks 22nd nationally, while the club's 38.1 caroms per game ranks 2nd in the MVC.
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) has reeled off a career-best 11 straight double-figure scoring games and has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in all 12 games this season. Cook leads The Valley in minutes played (35.6), ranks 4th in scoring average (16.6) and is 7th in free throw percentage (.845).
  • Tulio Da Silva (Sr., Formiga, Brazil) is sitting at 955 career points (88 games) and has scored 509 points (13.1 ppg) in two seasons (39 games) at Missouri State. He eclipsed 600 career rebounds in Sunday's game at VCU and ranks 2nd in the MVC in rebounds per game (8.3) this season and has led MSU in rebounding in 8-of-12 games to date.
  • Missouri State is 2-0 this season when shooting 50-percent or better from the field (two of the last three games) and 11-0 under Dana Ford when making half its shots. Including his time at Tennessee State, Ford's teams are 34-5 when eclipsing 50-percent from the field.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) made a strong case for Valley Newcomer of the Week honors last week, posting career highs twice in two games, including a game-high and career-high 15 points Sunday at VCU on 6-of-7 (.857) from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point range in a 25-minute reserve stint. For the week, he shot an impressive 88.9% from the field (8-for-9) and a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range 11.5 points per game in just 18.5 minutes.
  • Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored in double figures in 6 straight games, is averaging 14.8 points and made 38-of-66 (.576) field goals in that span. He is also the Bears' top scorer away from home at 15.2 points per game.
  • With his 12 points at VCU on Sunday, Keandre Cook moved into the program's top 100 career scorers in just his 44th game at MSU. His 610 career points ranks him 97th on Missouri State's career list.
  • Even with a more-difficult schedule, MSU is surrendering 11.7 points per game less than it did in non-conference play last season (63.8 to 75.5). Likewise, Bear opponents are shooting 39 points lower from the field (.407 to .446) this year.
  • Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio), the Bears' graduate transfer from West Virginia, has knocked down a 3-pointer in 9 straight games (his career-best is 11 straight).
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 22-22 (.500) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 16-5 ledger at JQH Arena, 5-12 record in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 79-87 (.476) in his sixth season as a head coach.  He is 1-0 in his career against ORU.
  • 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 with ORU, 9-8, in a regional rivalry that dates back to 1981. The Bears have won three of the last four meetings and hold a 6-2 record at home against the Golden Eagles and 3-6 in Tulsa.
  • Last year in Springfield (11/6/18), Jarred Dixon's 26 points paced the Bears to an 84-50 victory at JQH Arena in Dana Ford's debut as MSU head coach. Ryan Kreklow added 13 points for the Bears with Keandre Cook adding 12 and Kabir Mohammed scoring 11. The Bears shot 55.6 percent from the field (35-of-63) with 21 assists and 52 points in the paint. Kerwin Smith and Emmanuel Nzekwesi scored 12 points apiece to lead ORU which committed 21 turnovers.
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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