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Bears Look to Continue Hot Streak Wednesday vs. A-State

Bears Look to Continue Hot Streak Wednesday vs. A-State

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 11 - Missouri State Bears (5-5) vs. Arkansas State Red Wolves (7-2)
Date and Time Wednesday, December 11, 2019 | 7:02 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets A-State Game | Future Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television KOZL-TV & ESPN+ (Don West, Kelby Stuckey) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads series 22-10 | Last Meeting: A-State 71, MSU 63 (12/18/18)
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | A-State | 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
Promotions MSU holiday ornament for first 500 fans | Pregame visit from Santa | ShotTracker Demo
Up Next The Bears host Evansville on Tuesday, Dec. 31 (4:00 p.m.) in MVC opener | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State concludes a three-game home stand Wednesday (7 p.m.) when the Bears host Arkansas State at JQH Arena. The Bears are 4-1 at home this season and 126-57 (.689) all-time at The Q.
  • The Bears continue to lead the Missouri Valley Conference in rebound margin (+8.0). Missouri State has out-rebounded 8-of-10 opponents this season, including 6 in a row, with double-figure offensive rebounds in 8 contests to date.  
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) has reeled off a career-best 9 straight double-figure scoring games and is averaging 18.0 points per game in that span with multiple 3-pointers in 8-of-9 games during that stretch. He is coming off his second Coors Player of the Week honor this season with 17.5 points per game in wins over Murray State and MVSU.
  • Tulio Da Silva (Sr., Formiga, Brazil) is sitting at 942 career points, 594 rebounds and 49 career dunks. During his two seasons in Springfield (37 games), Da Silva has 496 points (13.4 ppg).
  • Ja'Monta Black (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) has started the last 2 games for the Bears and is averaging 4.0 points and 26.0 minutes per game in that span.
  • Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) has knocked down a 3-pointer in 7 straight games (his career-best is 11 straight) and has 5 or more rebounds in 6 consecutive games. He also has 49 career double-figure scoring games (119 games).
  • Point guard Tyrik Dixon (RJr., Bentonville, Ark.) is coming off his third 6-assist game of the season with his 15 points (on 5-of-6 FG), 6 rebounds and 6 assists against Miss. Valley State on Friday. The transfer from Middle Tennessee State has dished out 5 or more assists 18 times in his career (78 games).
  • Missouri State is coming off its first 50-percent shooting effort of the season in Friday's win over Mississippi Valley State, in which the Bears made 30-of-60 attempts. Last year, the Bears shot 50-percent from the field nine times, giving the Bears a perfect 10-0 mark under Dana Ford when making at least half their shots.
  • Even though the Bears have scored the exact number of points in the 5 games with Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) in the lineup (342) as the 5 without, MSU has a greater team FG percentage (.443 to .428) and greater FT percentage (.763 to .686) when the 6-8 forward is on the floor. Prim is also the team's top scorer (15.2 ppg) in the games he has played.
  • Missouri State is coming off its first 50-point half since scoring posting 110 points in its win over William Woods (12/30/18) last season in which they scored 59 points in the first half and 51 in the second half against the Owls.
  • Arkansas State is 0-4 all-time at JQH Arena, including an 0-2 mark against the Bears and neutral-site defeats at the hands of Pepperdine and Pacific in the Preseason NIT in 2010-11 (11/22/10 to 11/23/10). The Bears lead the all-time series against the Red Wolves, 22-10, including a 13-2 ledger at home with two wins at JQH -- 12/6/08 and 12/22/10.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 21-21 (.500) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 15-5 ledger at JQH Arena, 5-11 ledger in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 78-86 (.476) in his sixth season as a head coach.  He is 0-1 in his career against Arkansas State.
  • 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
  • In a rivalry that dates back to 1950, the Bears lead the all-time series 22-10. MSU is 2-0 all-time at JQH Arena against A-State and 13-2 in all home games against the Red Wolves. The Bears are also 7-8 in Jonesboro and 2-0 at neutral sites against the Sun Belt squad.
  • Last year in Jonesboro (12/18/18), Arkansas State ended a nine-game win streak by the Bears in the series with 71-63 victory over MSU at the First National Bank Arena. Keandre Cook scored a game-high 18 points off the bench for Dana Ford's squad with Tulio Da Silva adding 14 points and Szymon Wojcik contributing a team-high 7 rebounds. Jared Ridder scored 7 points and snagged 4 rebounds in a 30-minute stint off the bench. The Bears turned the ball over a season-high 18 times and shot just 39.6 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range. Grantham Gillard hit four treys and led the Red Wolves with 17 points and 8 boards.
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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