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Key MSU Road Swing Starts with Sunday Clash at Drake

Key MSU Road Swing Starts with Sunday Clash at Drake

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GAME 21 - Missouri State Bears (10-10, 4-3 MVC) at Drake Bulldogs (14-6, 4-3 MVC)
Date and Time Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020 | 3:02 p.m.
Location Knapp Center (7,152) | Des Moines, Iowa
Tickets Drake Game | Future Home Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television ESPN3 (Brad Wells, Adam Emmenecker) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 43-17 | Last Meeting: DU 73, MSU 62 (3/2/19) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Drake | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Up Next The Bears continue the Iowa road swing Wednesday (6 p.m.) at UNI | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State will embark on a two-game conference road tour through Iowa this week, starting with a 3 p.m. Sunday tilt at Drake. The Bears own the second-longest win streak in the league and are looking for a third straight MVC victory for the first time since reeling off four Valley wins in a row Feb. 6-17, 2019. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have put together 4 straight wins in the series between the clubs with MSU seeking its first win at Knapp Center since Feb. 18, 2017.
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) has had the hot hand for the Bears of late, averaging 22.7 points per game over the club's last three outings. In that span, he has also averaged 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while making 18-of-34 (.529) field goals, 10-of-18 (.556) 3-pointers and 22-of-26 (.846) free throws. He has scored in double figures in 16-of-20 games this season with three 20-point efforts over the last five contests.
  • Cook is also averaging a team-best 14.2 points per game in road and neutral contests, while his 15.9 scoring average in Valley games ranks 6th in the league. He eclipsed 700 career points in Thursday's win over Valpo and now sits in 69th place on MSU's career scoring chart (in just 51 games) with 723 points.
  • Missouri State goes into Des Moines just 2 wins shy of 700 as a Division I program. The Bears are currently 698-486 (.590) in their 38th NCAA Division I season (since 1982-83).
  • The Bears are 20-4 under coach Dana Ford when shooting a higher percentage than their opponents (8-3 this year) and 23-8 when holding their foes under 70 points (10-4 this season). 
  • Ford Cooper Jr. (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.) has started the last 3 games for the Bears and has compiled a 2.67 assist-to-turnover ratio in that span while averaging 5.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 25.3 minutes in that span.
  • Ja'Monta Black (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) is averaging 31.3 minutes per game over the last 3 contests -- all starts -- while producing at least one 3-pointer in each game and averaging 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds. He is coming off career highs in points (8), rebounds (6) and assists (3) in Thursday's home win over Valparaiso.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) had a streak of 8 straight games scoring in double figures snapped Thursday in the Bears' win over Valpo. Mosley had 9 points and 7 boards in the victory. The 2019 Mr. Show-Me Basketball is averaging 13.6 points per game in Valley contests, tops among MVC freshmen.
  • Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored in double figures in 12-of-15 appearances this year with at least 8 points in every contest. He is averaging 14.0 points on the road this season and shooting 53.5 percent away from JQH Arena.
  • As a team, the Bears rank 47th nationally in free throw percentage (.753), just behind league-leader Northern Iowa (.764) in the Valley rankings. MSU has also shot .783 at the line in league play, tops in the conference.
  • Tulio Da Silva (Sr., Formiga, Brazil) ranks 5th in the league in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and 3rd in offensive rebounds (2.8).
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 26-26 (.500) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 18-7 ledger at JQH Arena, 7-14 record in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 83-91 (.477) in his sixth season as a head coach. Ford is 0-2 in his career against Drake.
  • 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 Drake started in Honolulu in 1986 and resumed in 1991 when MSU joined the Valley. MSU leads the all-time series, 43-17, including a 17-12 record in Des Moines, a 24-4 record in Springfield (8-3 at JQH Arena), and 2-1 ledger at neutral sites. The Bulldogs have won 4 in a row in the series with season sweeps each of the past two seasons.
  • Last season in Des Moines (Jan. 20), Drake got a game-high 25 points from Brady Ellingson who made 7 threes and led the Bulldogs to a 74-63 win. He was 7-for-8 from 3-point range and 9-of-10 from the field to lead the DU. The Bears were led by Jarred Dixon with 15 points and Tulio Da Silva with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Keandre Cook also scored 11 points for MSU, which committed an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers. Box Score
  • In the rematch in Springfield (March 2), Drake got a game-high 22 points with 13 rebounds from Nick McGlynn and rallied to a 73-62 win on senior day at JQH Arena. The win clinched a share of the MVC regular-season title for Drake (23-6, 12-6). With DU leading 52-48 with 11 minutes to go, a controversial technical foul on Bears head coach Dana Ford changed the complexion of the game, leading to a four-point Drake possession and keeping MSU six points back the rest of the way. The Bears were led by Dixon with 18 points, while DaSilva poured in 17 points with 17 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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