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Missouri State

Ja'Monta Black

Home Stand Continues for Bears with Monday Clash vs. Little Rock

December 18, 2020

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAMES 2-3 - Missouri State Bears (1-0) vs. Northwestern State & Little Rock
Dates and Times vs. Northwestern State | Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020 | 7:00 p.m.
vs. Little ROck | Monday, Dec. 21, 2020 | 7:00 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000 | 3,991) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Northwestern State Game | Little Rock Game
Fan Guide 2020-21 JQH Arena Fan Guide | Game Program
Promotions Upper-Level Tickets $10 | MSU Students Free with BearPass ID
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television Northwestern State Game - ESPN3 (Tom Ladd, Kelby Stuckey) | Watch
Little Rock Game - ESPN3 (Corey Riggs, Kelby Stuckey) | Watch
Series vs. NSU | Missouri State leads 2-0 | Last Meeting: MSU 75, NSU 73 (12/10/96)
vs. LR | Missouri State leads 7-1 | Last Meeting: LR 67, MSU 66 (11/5/19) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | MVC Notebook | MSU Record Book
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next The Bears open MVC play at Northern Iowa, Dec. 27-28.
Next Home Series - vs. Indiana State, Jan. 2-3  |  Game 1 Tickets  | Game 2 Tickets

The Ten Count
  • With the Bears win over William Jewell in the season opener Wednesday, Missouri State improved to 37-2 in home openers during its Division I era and pushed the Bears to 12-1 in home openers at JQH Arena.
  • Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference selection Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored in double figures in 14 straight games. He posted a game-high 20 points in the season opener vs. William Jewell (12/16). At 13.7 points per game, Prim led all Missouri Valley Conference newcomers in scoring last season to earn a spot on the MVC All-Newcomer Team and All-MVC third team. Prim has scored 10 or more points in 26-of-29 career appearances. Similarly, he scored 9 or more points in 28 games, and at least 8 points in all 29 contests.
  • Ja'Monta Black (So., Columbia, Mo.) is coming off career-highs 16 points and 8 rebounds in the season opener, firing 6-of-13 from the field with three 3-pointers and 5 assists in the win. Black started 20 games a year ago as a true freshman and made 46.2 percent of his 3-pointers in Valley play (24-of-52).
  • Through MSU's first game, Prim ranks 2nd nationally in field goal percentage (.818) and 5th in assists per game (8.0).
  • The Bears have out-rebounded 10 of their last 11 foes after finishing the 2019-20 season ranked 25th nationally in rebound margin (6.2).
  • Missouri State's top rebounder in the season opener was freshman Lu'Cye Patterson (Minneapolis, Minn.) who snagged 9 boards, including a pair of offensive caroms. MSU was +12 on the glass against William Jewell with six Bears snagging 4 rebounds or more in the contest.
  • In his first start since 12/30/18, Jared Ridder (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) posted 10 points in the season opener against William Jewell, his fourth career double-figure scoring game, with a pair of 3-pointers.
  • Isiaih Mosley (So., Columbia, Mo.) scored 13 points in Wednesday's opener, his fifth double-figure effort over the Bears' last six contests. Mosley posted 267 points in his freshman campaign last season, which is the 10th-best scoring output ever by a Bears freshman.
  • Missouri State drew 5 charges against William Jewell, including 3 by newcomer Keaton Hervey (Jr., Cedar Park, Texas). Hervey was also 3-for-6 from the field in his MSU debut with a pair of steals.
  • The Bears produced 50 of their 73 points in their Dec. 16 opener vs. Jewell with baskets in the paint. It marked the second time over their last 11 games that Missouri State eclipsed 50 points in the paint, something the team had not done previously since 2010.
  • After shooting .525 from the field against William Jewell, the Bears improved to 16-0 under Dana Ford when making at least half their shots. Including his head coaching tenure at Tennessee State, Ford's teams are now 39-5 when MSU makes 50 percent or more from the field.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 33-33 (.500) in his third season as Missouri State head coach, including a 23-8 ledger at JQH Arena, 8-19 record in away games, and 2-6 mark at neutral sites. He is now 90-98 (.479) in his seventh season as a head coach. Ford is 0-0 against Northwestern State and 0-1 against Little Rock in his career.
  • Last year, Ford engineered a solid season finish that saw the Bears go 9-9 in the MVC and upset third-seeded Indiana State in the Valley Tournament quarterfinals. MSU matched or out-rebounded 24-of-33 opponents, including nine of their last 10, to finish 25th nationally in rebound margin (6.2). The Bears also posted their second-best free throw percentage (.749) of the program's Division I era and had their highest scoring average in league games (71.6) in 10 years. The Bears also boasted two All-MVC performers for the second year in a row with second team selection Keandre Cook and third-teamer Gaige Prim, who also was recognized on the MVC All-Newcomer Team.
  • In his first season in Springfield in 2018-19, Ford led the Bears to a tie for third place (10-8) in The Valley with the program's first winning conference record 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 AP Top 25 poll in 2016-17.
  • Ford, 36, 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 (Rockets) and Fred Van Vleet (Raptors).
Series History
  • The Bears are 2-0 all-time against Northwestern State with the teams last meeting on Dec. 10, 1996 in Natchitoches. In that game, the Bears improved to 6-0 on the season with a narrow 75-73 road win, led by 15 points apiece by Danny Moore and Ryan Bettenhausen, the Bears forced 18 turnovers and held on down the stretch for their second win over the Demons in as many seasons.
  • NSU's only previous trip to Springfield was a 79-68 Bears win at Hammons Student Center on Dec. 16, 1995. Ben Kandlbinder had 27 points, 10 rebounds and made 13-of-15 free throws in the Bears win.
  • The series with Little Rock dates back to 1986 with a neutral-site win for MSU at the Hawaii Pacific Tournament (Nov. 30, 1986). The Bears, who are 4-1 at home against LR, had reeled off seven straight wins in the series until last year's 67-66 Trojans win in the season opener (Nov. 5, 2019).
  • In that game, Little Rock's Ruot Monyyong knocked down an open 20-footer with 2.3 seconds remaining to lift the Trojans to a one-point win over MSU in the season opener. The game-winning two-pointer spoiled a late steal by Ja'Monta Black that gave the Bears the ball with the lead in the final 13 seconds. MSU, which led by as many as eight, was paced by Lamont West's 12 points, while Tyrik Dixon and Josh Hall added 11 apiece. LR was led by Ben Coupet's 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. 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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