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Road Test at Bradley Awaits Basketball Bears

Road Test at Bradley Awaits Basketball Bears

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 28 - Missouri State Bears (13-14, 7-7 MVC) at Bradley Braves (18-9, 9-5 MVC)
Date and Time Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020 | 7:07 p.m. (Central)
Location Carver Arena (11,060) | Peoria, Ill.
Tickets Bradley Game | Future Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television MVC TV Network | FOX Sports Midwest (Tom Ackerman, David Kaplan) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 39-24 | Last Meeting: BU 91, MSU 78 (1/15/20) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Bradley | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Up Next The Bears host Loyola at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at JQH Arena | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State looks to continue its recent hot streak Wednesday (7 p.m.) when the Bears travel to Bradley for a regionally-televised game on FOX Sports Midwest. The Bears have won three of their last four and are looking to avenge a Jan. 15 home loss to the Braves after sweeping the regular-season series from Bradley last season.
  • Lamont West (Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio) is this week's Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week. West led the Bears to a pair of victories last week, averaging 18.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game and posting season highs in back-to-back games. He scored 15 points to lift the Bears past Drake (Feb. 12), before a 22-point outburst in Sunday's road win at Indiana State. The transfer from West Virginia also led the Bears in rebounding in both games with 7 boards vs. Drake and 9 at Indiana State. For the week, he was 11-of-21 (.524) from the field, 6-of-11 (.545) from bonus range and a perfect 9-of-9 (1.000) at the free throw line with 3 steals. West also had 3 dunks in Sunday's win at Indiana State.
  • The Bears have out-rebounded their last 4 opponents with a +13.0 rebound margin in that span. Missouri State starts the week ranked 34th nationally and 2nd in the MVC in rebound margin (+5.6). MSU has matched or out-rebounded 19-of-27 foes this season.
  • Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored 10 or more points in 19-of-22 appearances this season (7 in a row) and at least 8 points in every contest. Since moving into a starting role (last 10 games), he is averaging 14.3 points and 5.1 boards. Prim is the Valley's active leader in points (25.01), field goals (10.19) and FGA (20.04) per 40 minutes.
  • During MSU's recent 4-game stretch, five Bears are scoring in double figures: Gaige Prim (13.3), Keandre Cook (12.8), Tulio Da Silva (12.8), Lamont West (12.0) and Josh Hall (11.5) have all contributed to MSU winning three of its last four games. In that span, the Bears are shooting .498 from the field with a +13.0 rebound margin and +16.5 scoring margin.
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) is just 9 treys away from cracking the program's all-time top 10 in 3-pointers. For his career, Cook is 105-for-264 (.398) from bonus distance. He is the 18th player in program history to eclipse 100 career 3-pointers and with 806 career points (59g), he also ranks 50th on MSU's career scoring chart.
  • In league play (14 games), the Bears rank second in the league in scoring (69.8), free throw percentage (.750) and rebound margin (+4.4), while leading all MVC teams in offensive rebounds per game (9.5).
  • Since returning to the starting lineup (Feb. 15 vs. Bradley), Ja'Monta Black (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) is averaging 6.3 points and shooting .486 from 3-point range (17-of-35) with a 3-pointer in all 10 games in that span.
  • Ross Owens (Sr., Woodlawn, Ill.) has started the last 4 games for the Bears, and is averaging 23.0 minutes and 4.0 assists per game in that span with a +16.0 scoring ratio when he is on the floor.
  • MSU is 4-0 this season when shooting 50-percent or better from the field and 13-0 under Dana Ford when making at least half its shots. Including his time at Tenn. State, Ford's teams are 36-5 when eclipsing 50-percent from the field.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 29-30 (.492) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 20-8 ledger at JQH Arena, 8-17 record in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 86-95 (.475) in his sixth season as a head coach. Ford is 2-2 in his career against Bradley.
  • 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 Braves began when MSU joined The Valley for the 1990-91 season. Missouri State leads the rivalry, 39-24. The Bears are 13-16 all-time in Peoria against the Braves, 23-6 in Springfield (9-3 at JQH Arena) and 3-2 at neutral sites.
  • Earlier this season in Springfield (Jan. 15), Bradley tied a Missouri State opponent record with 17 3-pointers – with seven coming in a key seven-minute stretch late in the game – to lead the Braves to a 91-78 comeback win. The improbable comeback by BU followed a remarkable Bears run to start the second half. Missouri State stormed back from a 16-point deficit to lead 68-58 with 9:28 to play in the game. The thrilling 33-7 run by MSU took just over ten-and-a-half minutes, including the final minute of the first half, and saw the Bears use timely rebounding and a series of key defensive stops to give get them back in the driver's seat.
  • Keandre Cook led the Bears with 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Lamont West added 14, Gaige Prim scored 13, and Isiaih Mosley notched 12 points for his seventh-straight double-figure scoring effort. 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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