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Bears Set Take on Rival Salukis in Carbondale

Bears Set Take on Rival Salukis in Carbondale

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MSU Athletics Communications

GAME 25 - Missouri State Bears (11-13, 5-6 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois Salukis (14-10, 8-3 MVC)
Date and Time Saturday, February 8, 2020 | 7:02 p.m.
Location Banterra Center (8,339) | Carbondale, Ill.
Tickets Southern Illinois Game | Future Games
Radio KTXR (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television ESPN3 (Connor Onion, Mike Trude) | Watch
Series Missouri State trails 38-49 | Last Meeting: MSU 65, SIU 59 (2/6/19) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Southern Illinois | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearUp
Coverage MVC Weekly Coaches Call
Up Next The Bears return to JQH Arena on Wednesday (Feb. 12) to play Drake at 7 p.m. | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State travels to Carbondale on Saturday for its first game of the season against red-hot Southern Illinois. The Salukis are 10-1 at the newly-named Banterra Center (formerly SIU Arena) this season and have reeled off 6 straight Valley wins. Coming off a convincing 80-60 home win over Illinois State on Wednesday, the Bears are seeking their first win in Carbondale since Dec. 31, 2014.
  • Missouri State is 3-0 this season when shooting 50-percent or better from the field  and 12-0 under Dana Ford when making half its shots. Including his time at Tennessee State, Ford's teams are 35-5 when eclipsing 50-percent from the field.
  • Missouri State is just 1 win shy of 700 as a Division I program. The Bears are currently 699-489 (.588) in their 38th NCAA Division I season (since 1982-83).
  • In his first start since Nov. 10, Josh Hall (Jr., Houston, Texas) played 25 minutes in Wednesday's win over Illinois State, racking up 7 points, 6 rebounds and a career-high 6 assists with no turnovers. Hall was 3-of-5 from the field and also snagged a steal.
  • Gaige Prim (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) is averaging a team-best 14.5 points per game on the road this season. In 11 appearances away from Springfield, Prim is 65-of-127 (.512) from the field, 29-of-37 (.784) at the line and is averaging 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists. Prim has scored 10 or more points in 16-of-19 appearances this season and at least 8 points in every contest. Since moving into a starting role (last 7 games), Prim is averaging 14.6 points and 5.4 rebounds.
  • Tulio Da Silva (Sr., Formiga, Brazil) will be appearing in his 100th career game Saturday (51st game as a Bear). Including his 49 games at South Florida, Da Silva has produced 1,060 career points and 673 rebounds. The 2019 MVC Newcomer of the Year is coming off game highs 22 points (on 10-of-13 field goals) and 8 rebounds in Wednesday's win over Illinois State. Over the last 3 games, he is averaging 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.
  • Keandre Cook (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) is just 3 three-pointers away from 100 for his career (56 games). At 773 points, he ranks 59th on MSU's career scoring chart. He is averaging 14.2 points and 5.3 rebounds on the road this season.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) is just 9 points away from becoming the 18th freshman in program history to score 200 points in their rookie season -- and the squad's first since the 2015-16 season (Jarred Dixon and Obediah Church).   
  • Ja'Monta Black (Fr., Columbia, Mo.) has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in 7 straight contests.
  • Missouri State scored 54 points in the paint in Wednesday's win over Illinois State, the team's best paint production on record. The Bears previously scored 52 points in the paint at Drake (1/12/10). Points in the paint first appeared on NCAA box scores in 2005.
  • Ross Owens (Sr., Woodlawn, Ill.) earned his first career start in Wednesday's game against Illinois State. He played 19 minutes and accounted for 2 points, 3 rebounds and a steal. The longest-tenured Bear is averaging 22.5 minutes over the last 2 games while registering 3.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. 
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 27-29 (.482) in his second season as Missouri State head coach, including a 19-8 ledger at JQH Arena, 7-16 record in away games, and 1-5 mark at neutral sites. He is now 84-94 (.472) in his sixth season as a head coach. Ford is 1-1 in his career against SIU.
  • 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 (Rockets) and Fred Van Vleet (Raptors).
Series History
  • Southern Illinois leads the all-time series, 49-38, in a rivalry that dates back to 1957. The Bears snapped a 9-game SIU win streak in the series on Feb. 6, 2019 at JQH Arena. MSU is 9-27 in Carbondale, 5-6 at neutral sites and 24-16 all-time at home against the Salukis, including a 7-4 mark at JQH Arena.
  • Last season in Carbondale (Jan. 2), MSU ran out of clock in a 75-70 defeat in the Valley opener. Ryan Kreklow and Keandre Cook led the Bears with 15 points apiece and combined for eight 3-pointers. Kavion Pippen led SIU with 23 points, while Aaron Cook poured in 15. After trailing by nine at the break, the Bears took less than six minutes into the second half to tie the game for the first time, 46-46. Box Score
  • In the rematch in Springfield (Feb. 6), the Bears got 19 points from Jarred Dixon and a career-high 9 rebounds from Kreklow to turn back the Salukis, 65-59. MSU overcame a narrow deficit in the final five minutes that started with a jumper by Josh Webster and continued with a 3-pointer from Cook at the four-minute mark. Cook and Webster added 12 points apiece, while Pippen led SIU with 24 points and 11 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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