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Bears Prep for Saturday Clash with Red-Hot Loyola

Bears Prep for Saturday Clash with Red-Hot Loyola

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 29 - Missouri State Bears (13-15, 7-8 MVC) vs. Loyola Ramblers (19-9, 11-4 MVC)
Date and Time Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020 | 2:35 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Loyola Game | Senior Night vs. SIU
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television CBS Sports Network (Brent Stover, Tim Doyle) | Watch
Series Loyola leads 8-6 | Last Meeting: LUC 62, MSU 58 (1/4/20) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Loyola | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Coverage MVC Weekly Coaches Teleconference
Promotions Athletics Hall of Fame Recognition at Halftime | Rebound Foundation Challenge
Up Next The Bears travel to Valparaiso on Tuesday, Feb. 25 (7 p.m.) on KOZL | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State returns to JQH Arena on Saturday afternoon (2:30 p.m.) when the Bears host defending MVC co-champion Loyola in a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network. MSU has won four of the last six meetings between the two clubs, including three straight wins at JQH Arena against the Ramblers.
  • The Bears have recorded 35-point home wins over defending MVC champions twice in the last two seasons -- a 70-35 win over Loyola on 1/23/19 (on CBS Sports Net); and a 97-62 win over Drake on 2/12/20.
  • 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. He continued his hot streak this week by scoring 20 points at Bradley on Wednesday.
  • With 3 games left in the conference season, the Bears are averaging 70.4 points in league play. The last time MSU scored 70.0 points per game in a Valley season was 2009-10 (72.2) with a high-water mark of 69.8 (2016-17) since then.
  • Missouri State enters the weekend ranked 38th nationally and 3rd in the MVC in rebound margin (+5.3). MSU has matched or out-rebounded 19-of-28 foes this season and four of its last five.
  • Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored 10 or more points in 20-of-23 appearances this season (8 in a row) and at least 8 points in every contest. Since moving into a starting role (last 11 games), Prim is averaging 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds -- both second on the team -- with a team-high 59 field goals and an .833 FT% (35-of-42) in that span.
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) is just 8 treys away from cracking the program's all-time top 10 in 3-pointers. For his career, Cook is 106-for-266 (.398) from bonus distance. He is the 18th player in program history to eclipse 100 career 3-pointers. His 819 career points (60g), ranks 45th on MSU's career scoring chart, 1 point behind Ryan Kreklow for 44th.
  • Josh Hall (RJr., Houston, Texas) has scored in double figures in 3-of-4 games with a 14.0 scoring average in that span. Since returning to the starting lineup on Feb. 5, he is averaging 12.6 points and 6.2 rebounds while converting 23-of-42 (.548) field goals, including 7 threes. The Nevada transfer (92g) is 4 points away from 500 for his career.
  • MSU has scored 30 or more points in the paint in 5 of their last 6 games and averaging 36.0 paint points in that span.
  • Over the last 11 games (all starts) Ja'Monta Black (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) is averaging 6.3 points and shooting .475 (19-of-40) from 3-pont range with a team-high 21 assists in that span with a 3-pointer in 11 consecutive contests.
  • Ross Owens (Sr., Woodlawn, Ill.) will be playing in his 50th career game Saturday. He has started the last 5 games (113 min.) and has 17 assists and 17 rebounds in his last 4 games.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 29-31 (.483) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 20-8 ledger at JQH Arena, 8-18 record in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 86-96 (.473) in his sixth season as a head coach. Ford is 2-1 in his career against Loyola.
  • 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 Loyola began in 1964, two seasons after the Ramblers won the NCAA title, with LUC earning an 87-83 victory over the then-Division II Bears in Chicago. Loyola, which joined the MVC for the 2013-14 season, leads the all-time series, 8-6. The Bears have won 4 of the last 6 meetings, including a series sweep of the Ramblers last season.
  • In this year's first meeting in Chicago (Jan. 4), Loyola used an 8-0 run over a key three-minute stretch late in the second half to hand Missouri State a 62-58 MVC setback. The Bears led or were tied for more than 31 minutes in the contest. However, after a hook shot by Gaige Prim with just over six minutes left gave Missouri State a 47-43 lead, MSU went nearly four minutes without another bucket while the Ramblers moved ahead with the decisive run, including a key offensive rebound with under 30 seconds left in the game. Prim led the Bears with 14 points off the bench, going 6-of-11 from the field with three blocks. Isiaih Mosley added 12 points for his fourth straight double-figure scoring game, and Keandre Cook added 10 points.
  • Cook led the Bears with 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while West added 14, Prim scored 13, and 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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