Bears Set for High-Stakes Matchup vs. Aces

GAME 26 - Missouri State Bears (13-12, 7-5 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (10-15, 4-8 MVC)
Date and Time	Wednesday, February 13, 2019 \| 6:02 p.m.
Location	Ford Center (8,930) \| Evansville, Ind.
Tickets	Tickets for Evansville Game \| (812) 488-2237
Radio	KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) \| MSU Radio Network \| Listen Live
Television	ESPN+ (Alex Gould, Luke Zeller) \| Watch
Series	Series tied, 45-45. Last Meeting: UE 70, MSU 64 (1/16/19) [Box Score]
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State \| Evansville \| MVC Notebook \| MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook \| Athletics Twitter \| Basketball Twitter \| Instagram \| #MSUBears
Up Next	The Bears travel to league-leading Loyola (Sunday, 3 p.m.) before playing three of their final four games at JQH Arena. The Bears host Northern Iowa on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. [UNI Tickets]

The Ten Count

Missouri State looks to even up the season series with Evansville Wednesday when the Bears begin a two-game MVC road swing at Evansville (6 p.m.) from the Ford Center. With their dramatic win over Illinois State on Sunday, the Bears have now won five of their last six Valley games (and seven of their last 10) and are now tied with Drake and Illinois State for second in the conference standings at 7-5.
Jarred Dixon (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) led the Bears to a pair of home wins last week, including a half-court shot at the buzzer to beat Illinois State on Sunday. He also dropped a team-high 19 points in last Wednesday's win over Southern Illinois. Dixon averaged 16.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game for the week with five 3-pointers and 4 steals.
In conference games, Missouri State is allowing just 61.3 points per game, including 52.3 points allowed over its last six contests (5-1). In their six MVC road contests (3-3), the Bears are surrendering 64.7 points per game.
Josh Webster (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) leads the MVC in assists per game (5.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.15). He enters the week ranked 18th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Texas Tech transfer is also among the league's top players in minutes per game (10th), free throw percentage (6th),and steals (6th).
One of the top newcomers in The Valley this season, Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) has scored in double figures in 17-of-20 games since becoming eligible on Nov. 24. His 14.8 scoring average ranks second among all league rookies, while his 7.0 rebounds per game leads the 2019 newcomers. Da Silva, who tied a JQH Arena record for field goal accuracy on Sunday (8-for-8), also ranks 3rd in the league (35th nationally) in FG percentage (.582) -- tops among newcomers.
Missouri State is seeking its first win at Ford Center since Feb. 5, 2014. The Bears are 1-6 all-time in the facility with a pair of overtime losses (2012 and 2013) preceding the 2014 game and four straight defeats since.
Senior Ryan Kreklow (Columbia, Mo.) is coming off a 14-point effort in Sunday's win over Illinois State, his first double-figure scoring output in 11 games. With another 45 points, Kreklow (759) will crack MSU's all-time top 50 in scoring.
MSU has forced 10 or more turnovers in 23-of-25 games and leads the MVC in turnover margin (+2.5) and steals (7.2).
The Bears rank 70th nationally in two-point field goal percentage (.540). Only Drake (.557, 33rd) and Loyola (.562, 25th) rank ahead of MSU in the conference in shot accuracy inside the arc.
Jarred Dixon moved into the program's all-time top 20 in scoring last week. With 1,151 points, he now sits in 19th place on the Bears' career scoring list. He is just 37 points away from matching Kelby Stuckey (1985-89) for 15th place on the list and 97 points away from Winston Garland (1985-87) for 14th place. The Evansville game will also put him into the club's all-time top 10 in games played (122)

Coach Dana Ford

Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 13-12 (.520) in his first season at Missouri State, including a 10-2 ledger at JQH Arena. He is now 70-77 (.476) in his fifth season as a head coach and 0-1 all-time vs. UE.
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.
Ford, 33, 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 coached five All-OVC players in addition to two players recognized on the OVC All-Newcomer Team. 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.
TheAthletic.com named Bears' head coach Dana Ford to its list of 30 "up and coming coaches to keep an eye on" during its 2018-19 preseason basketball coverage.

Series History

The series between the Bears and Aces is a rich one that dates back to March 13, 1959 when Evansville beat MSU in the championship game of the NCAA Division II Tournament, 83-67, at Roberts Stadium in Evansville.
The series is now tied, 35-35, with Missouri State posting a 22-11 record in Springfield against Evansville (10-4 at JQH Arena), a 10-22 ledger in Evansville (1-6 at Ford Center) and 4-2 mark at neutral sites.
The teams have split the regular-season series the last two years.
Earlier this year in Springfield (Jan. 16), Evansville knocked down a dozen 3-pointers, including a key trey by Evan Kulhman with just over a minute to go, to knock down the Bears, 70-64. Missouri State led 54-49 with 5:26 to go, but UE scored 11 points in the span of less than two minutes to take a 60-56 advantage. Keandre Cook and Tulio Da Silva led the Bears with 14 points apiece, while Da Silva snagged a game-high 13 rebounds. Josh Webster also added 11 points and 5 assists for MSU. Evansville was led by K.J. Riley who was 5-for-10 from the field for 16 points and a team-best 8 rebounds. [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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