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Bears Continue Home Stand Against Valley State

Bears Continue Home Stand Against Valley State

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 10 - Missouri State Bears (4-5) vs. Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (1-7)
Date and Time Friday, December 6, 2019 | 7:02 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets MVSU Game | Future Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television KOZL-TV & ESPN3 (Don West, Kelby Stuckey) | Watch
Series Series tied 2-2 | Last Meeting: MSU 73, MVSU 45 (12/9/88)
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | MVSU | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Coverage Dana Ford Weekly Presser |
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Promotions MSU holiday ornament for first 500 fans | Pregame visit from Santa
Up Next The Bears host Arkansas State on Wednesday, Dec. 11 (7:00 p.m.) | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State continues a three-game home stand Friday (7 p.m.) when the Bears host Mississippi Valley State at JQH Arena. The Bears are 3-1 at home this season and 125-57 (.687) all-time at The Q.
  • The Bears continue to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in rebound margin (+6.9). Missouri State has out-rebounded 7-of-9 opponents this season, including five in a row, with double-figure offensive rebounds in seven contests to date.  
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) has reeled off a career-best 8 straight double-figure scoring games and is averaging 17.8 points per game in that span with multiple 3-pointers in seven of those games.
  • Tulio Da Silva (Sr., Formiga, Brazil) is coming off his 10th career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's win over Murray State. The 2019 MVC Newcomer of the Year is averaging 15.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game over the last three games. He is sitting at 929 career points, 590 rebounds and 49 career dunks.
  • In his first career start, Ja'Monta Black (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) scored 5 points and played 32 minutes in MSU's win over Murray State on Tuesday.
  • Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) has knocked down a 3-pointer in 6 straight games (his career-best is 11 straight). He has 48 career double-figure scoring games (118 games), and his next start will be the 50th of his career.
  • Point guard Tyrik Dixon (RJr., Bentonville, Ark.) is just 2 assists away from reaching 250 for his career (77 games). The transfer from Middle Tennessee State is also shooting .833 (10-of-12) from the free throw line this season.
  • Missouri State enters the weekend ranked 53rd nationally in 3-point field goal defense with its opponents making just 28.4 percent of their long-range shots. In fact, only four of MSU's opponents this season have eclipsed 30-percent from beyond the arc and just one (Miami) has made 40-percent of its treys.
  • Josh Hall (Jr., Houston, Texas) is closing in on a pair of career milestones, needing just 6 points to reach 400 and 1 rebound to reach 250. The standout transfer from Nevada has played 73 career games and posted his first career double-double two games ago at LSU with 11 points and 11 rebounds in Baton Rouge (11/29/19).
  • Keandre Cook leads the MVC and ranks 53rd nationally in minutes played (315:54). The dazzling senior has scored a 3-pointer in every game this season and logged 34+ minutes in 7-of-9 contests this campaign.
  • The last time the Bears and Delta Devils squared off (12/9/88), Kelby Stuckey (announcing for ESPN3/KOZL today) scored 12 points, and the Bears forced 24 turnovers en route to a 73-45 victory over MVSU at Hammons Student Center. Hubert Henderson led MSU with 17 points, while Chris Stange scored 15 and Doug Lewis added 11.
  • Tulio Da Silva ranks 37th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (3.44) and 48th in total rebounds (80).
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 20-21 (.488) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 14-5 ledger at JQH Arena, 5-11 ledger in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 77-86 (.472) in his sixth season as a head coach.  He is 0-0 in his career against MVSU.
  • 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
  • The two squads have played four times previously with the series tied 2-2. MSU is 2-1 at home all-time against MVSU, but meeting the Delta Devils for the first time at JQH Arena. The teams played twice during MSU's inaugural Division I season (1982-83) with MVSU winning both games of the home-and-home matchup. The Delta Devils returned to Springfield on 1/28/87 with MSU winning 78-59 before beating the SWAC program again in the Mazzio's Pizza Classic in 1988.
  • In that most-recent meeting between the clubs (12/9/88), the Bears got 17 points from Hubert Henderson and 15 from Chris Stange to turn back the Delta Devils at Hammons Student Center, 73-45. MSU got to the free throw line 31 times -- to MVSU's four -- and forced 24 turnovers to extend a 17-point halftime lead into a 28-point victory before 7,616 fans next door. Kelby Stuckey (12 points) and Doug Lewis (11) also scored in double figures for the Bears, while Timothy Pollard led MVSU with 16 points.
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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