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Bears Focus on Road Test at Evansville

Bears Focus on Road Test at Evansville

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 19 - Missouri State Bears (8-10, 2-3 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (9-9, 0-5 MVC)
Date and Time Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 | 1:02 p.m.
Location Ford Center (8,930) | Evansville, Ind. | Note Clear Bag Policy
Tickets Evansville Game | Future Home Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television ESPN+ (Kyle Peach, Alex Gould) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 37-35 | Last Meeting: MSU 65, UE 52 (12/31/19) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Evansville | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Up Next The Bears return to JQH Arena on Thursday, Jan 23 for a 7:30 p.m. game against Valparaiso | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State looks to bounce back from back-to-back Valley home losses with a Saturday trip to the Ford Center in Evansville to battle the Purple Aces at 1 p.m. The Bears are 1-1 on the Valley road this season, including a 67-63 win at Illinois State in their most-recent excursion on Jan. 7.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) has scored in double-figures in 7 straight games. The 2019 Mr. Show-Me Basketball has scored 12.9 ppg in that span and has scored a 3-pointer in 8 consecutive contests. He is tied for 4th among MVC freshman in conference scoring (12.6 ppg) and has connected on 44.2 percent of his field goals in league contests.
  • Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored in double figures in 4 straight games and 11-of-13 appearances this year (he scored 9 against Evansville on Jan. 31). He is coming off 13 points and a team-high 5 rebounds on Wednesday against Bradley in his first career start and leads the Bears with 14.3 points per game away from JQH Arena and shooting 54.3 percent from the field on the road.
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) has scored 22 points twice in the last three games with clutch performances at Illinois State (Jan. 7) and against Bradley (Jan. 15). In those two games, he was 8-for-14 (.571) from 3-point range and 12-of-12 from the foul line. Cook has converted 21 straight free throws, dating back to Dec. 6.
  • After out-rebounding 12 of their first 15 opponents this season, the Bears' glass crashers have been out-rebounded in three consecutive games. Missouri State has a -6.3 rebound margin in that span.
  • Three Bears -- Ross Owens (Sr., Woodlawn, Ill.), Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) and Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) were all named to the Missouri State Athletic Director's Honor Roll this week for achieving a 3.0 grade-point average or better during the fall 2019 term. Owens, a Construction Management major, was also named to the Dean's List.
  • Ford Cooper Jr. (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.) has 4 three-pointers over the last 4 games and is coming off a season-high 26-minute appearance in his first career start vs. Bradley on Wednesday, scoring 6 points and dishing out a team-high 3 assists.
  • Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio), a Preseason All-MVC third-team selection, has made 25 consecutive free throws, including all 23 attempts this season and his final two attempts last year at West Virginia. West is coming off a 14-point game against Bradley in which he drained 4 three-pointers -- his 9th game this season with multiple treys.
  • The Bears have made 76.7 percent of their free throws (56-of-73) in Valley contests and head into the weekend ranked 59th nationally in free throw percentage on the season (.746). On the road this season, MSU is 86-of-115 (.748) at the foul line.
  • Missouri State is 3-5 in games decided by 4 points or less this season, including a 1-1 mark in Valley games.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 24-26 (.480) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 17-7 ledger at JQH Arena, 6-14 record in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 81-91 (.471) in his sixth season as a head coach. Ford is 2-1 in his career against Evansville.
  • 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 series between the Bears and Aces is a rich one that dates back to March 13, 1959 when Evansville beat MSU in the championship of the NCAA Division II Tournament, 83-67, at Roberts Stadium in Evansville.
  • Missouri State now leads the series, 37-35, with Missouri State posting a 22-11 record in Springfield against Evansville (8-4 at JQH Arena), an 11-22 ledger in Evansville (2-6 at Ford Center) and 4-2 mark at neutral sites. The teams have split the regular-season series the last three years. Missouri State has not swept the regular-season series since 2013-14.
  • Earlier this season in Springfield (Dec. 31), Tulio Da Silva scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the second half to help lift MSU to a 65-52 come-from-behind win in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both squads. Lamont West and Isiaih Mosley also poured in 13 points apiece to help the Bears' cause.
    MSU fell behind by 13 in the early going, but overcame a sluggish start by shooting 59.3 percent in the second half and outscoring the Purple Aces by a 48-22 margin over the game's final 22 minutes. Evansville got 13 points from K.J. Riley and 12 from DeAndre Williams who also had a game-high 10 boards. 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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