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Bears Return Home for Nationally-Televised Clash with Valpo

Bears Return Home for Nationally-Televised Clash with Valpo

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 20 - Missouri State Bears (9-10, 3-3 MVC) vs. Valparaiso Crusaders (10-9, 3-3 MVC)
Date and Time Thursday, January 23, 2020 | 7:35 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Valparaiso Game | Future Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television CBS Sports Network (Brent Stover, Tim Doyle)
Series Missouri State leads 18-8 | Last Meeting: MSU 55, Valpo 54 (ot) (1/29/19) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Valpo | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Coverage Dana Ford Media Availability (Tuesday) | MVC Weekly Coaches Call
Promotions Coaches vs. Cancer Sneaker Game | Cheer Team Recognition
Up Next The Bears travel to Drake on Sunday (3 p.m.) and UNI on Jan. 29 (6 p.m.)

The Ten Count
  • Fresh off its second straight MVC road win, Missouri State returns to JQH Arena on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) to take on long-time rival Valparaiso in a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network. The Bears and Crusaders are both 3-3 in conference play, locked in a five-way tie for fourth place, but just two games out of first place with the midway point in The Valley season just a week away.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) has scored in double-figures in 8 straight games and is Missouri State's top scorer in conference play with 14.3 points per game. He is coming off a career-high (and game-high) 23 points in MSU's road win at Evansville on Saturday, a game in which he was 10-of-14 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. The 2019 Mr. Show-Me Basketball has made a 3-pointer in 9 straight games and leads all MVC freshmen in scoring in league play.
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) is coming off an incredible week in which he averaged 20.5 points per game, shooting 54.5 percent from the field (12-of-22), 53.8 percent from 3-point range (7-of-13) and 10-for-10 at the FT line. With 696 points in his MSU career (51 games), he is looking to become just the 77th Bear to eclipse 700 career points
  • Cook has also converted 25 straight free throws, dating back to Dec. 6. He ranks 28th nationally with .882 season free throw percentage (67-of-76), which also ranks 2nd in the MVC.
  • Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored in double figures in 5 straight games and in 12-of-14 appearances this year (his season low is 8 points). He is averaging 12.5 points per game over the last 2 games (both starts), and has posted 10.6 points per game at home this season.
  • 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 last 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, while West was featured in the Enterprise Bank MVC Scholar-Athlete Spotlight on Jan. 15.
  • Ford Cooper Jr. (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.) has started the last 2 games for the Bears and is coming off career-bests in scoring (7 points), rebounds (5) and assists in a 26-minute assignment in the team's win at Evansville on Saturday.
  • The Bears are looking to avoid a third straight conference home loss at JQH Arena, something they have not done since Feb. 12-25, 2017 (to UNI, Illinois State and Wichita State). MSU is 119-51 (.700) at home over the last 11 seasons.
  • As a team, the Bears rank 51st nationally in free throw percentage (.751), just behind league-leader Northern Iowa (.768) in the Valley rankings. MSU has eclipsed 80% at the line in 4 of their last 5 games and have the best FT% in The Valley in league games (.783).
  • 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 25-26 (.490) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 17-7 ledger at JQH Arena, 7-14 record in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 82-91 (.474) in his sixth season as a head coach. Ford is 1-1 in his career against Valparaiso.
  • 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 series that dates back to 1967, the Bears are 18-8 all-time against Valpo, including a 7-5 record at home against the Crusaders. MSU is also 9-3 on the road against Valpo and 2-0 at neutral sites.
  • Last season at JQH Arena in Springfield (1/5/19), A 30-6 run late in the first half by Valpo proved fatal for Missouri State as the Bears dropped their first home game of the season, 82-66. The Bears were led by Jarred Dixon's game-high 23 points, while Kabir Mohammed scored 13 points with a team-high eight rebounds in his only start of the year. Valparaiso was led by Ryan Fazekas' 18 points behind six 3-pointers, while Bakari Evelyn added 13 off the bench with three triples. Box Score
  • In the rematch at Valparaiso (1/29/19), Keandre Cook's free throws with 2.3 seconds left in overtime lifted the Bears to a 55-54 win for MSU's third straight Valley win. Cook scored the final four points of the game to help MSU overcome a 3-point deficit in the final two minutes of the contest. Cook scored 17 points with Jared Ridder and Josh Webster scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. Javon Freeman led the Crusaders with 12 points and Bakari Evelyn added 11.  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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