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Missouri State

Ja'Monta Black

Bears to Fill Sunday Slate Against Missouri S&T

January 16, 2021

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 10 - Missouri State Bears (8-1) vs. Missouri S&T Miners (3-9)
Dates and Times Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021 | 5:00 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000 | 3,991) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets (417) 836-7678 or Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena
Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Sunday 10 a.m. to tipoff
Fan Guide 2020-21 JQH Arena Fan Guide
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 None
Series Missouri State leads series 115-24 | Last Meeting: MSU 68, MS&T 65 (2/4/81)
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | MVC Notebook | MSU Record Book
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next Next Home Series - vs. Drake, Jan. 26-27 | Game 1 Tickets | Game 2 Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State looks to continue its best start in seven years Sunday when it entertains Missouri S&T on Sunday at 5 p.m. at JQH Arena. It will be the 140th meeting between the two clubs in a series that dates back to 1910.
  • The Bears' 8-1 start to the season matches the team's best since 2013-14. MSU has not had a 9-1 start since the 2009-10 campaign when coach Cuonzo Martin's squad started the year 12-1.
  • Isiaih Mosley (So., Columbia, Mo.) was named MVC Player of the Week on Tuesday for the second week in a row. He averaged 29.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists, shot 64.7 percent from the field, and was 12-of-12 at the line in MSU's road sweep at Valparaiso. He is just the fifth Bear to earn MVC Player of the Week laurels in consecutive weeks.
  • With his second 29-point effort against Valparaiso on Jan. 10, Mosley became the first Bear of the Division I era -- and first since Jimmie Dull in 1977 -- to score 20 points in 7 straight games. He is just the third MVC player over the last 10 years with 7 or more straight 20-point games, joining Creighton's Doug McDermott and Evansville's D.J. Balentine.
  • Mosley (113) is just 5 points away from matching Danny Moore's (1996-97) club record for scoring in the first 10 games of a season. Mike Robinson (204 points in 1979-80), Winston Garland (199 - 1986-87), Kevin Ault (190 - 1998-99), and Darryl Reid (188 - 1989-90) also headline that exclusive list of the Bears' all-time best early-season scorers.
  • Missouri State's home-court win streak stands at 9 in a row, including a 5-0 mark at JQH Arena this season.
  • The Bears boast the top two scorers in The Valley and three of the top 10. Mosley (23.7 ppg) and Gaige Prim (17.4) rank 1-2 in the league, while Ja'Monta Black (13.4) ranks 10th. Mosley's second-half scoring average (15.8 ppg) -- which includes three 20-point halves -- would rank as the fifth-highest scoring average in the league by itself. Mosley and Black are the top two sophomore scorers in the MVC. Mosley also ranks No. 3 nationally in scoring and ranks 2nd in Kenpom's offensive player ratings (behind Iowa's Luke Garza), while Prim ranks 4th on that same list.
  • Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored in double figures in 21 straight games. His double-double at Valpo on Jan. 9 (17 points and 16 rebounds) was his 12th career double-double and 4th as a Bear (2nd this season). He also became the first Bear to record 16 boards in a game since Tulio Da Silva had 17 caroms against Miami (Fla.) on Nov. 21, 2019.  
  • Keaton Hervey (Jr., Cedar Park, Texas) ranks 32nd nationally in both effective FG% and true shooting percentage (Kenpom). MSU's defensive standout has also posted double figures on the offensive end 3 times over the last 4 games.
  • Ja'Monta Black (So., Columbia, Mo.) continues to lead the MVC in 3-point field goals made per game (3.1) and minutes played per game (34.3). He has already surpassed his 2019-20 season totals in scoring (121) and 3-pointers (28).
  • Missouri State has shot 50 percent or better in 7 of its first 9 games, already surpassing last year's total of six 50-percent shooting games. Under Dana Ford, the Bears are now 22-0 when making half their shots from the field. The Bears rank 15th nationally (.506) in team field goal percentage, which is third best in the hot-shooting Missouri Valley.
  • The Bears rank No. 4 nationally in 2-point field percentage (.634), while Missouri State's 30.33 defensive rebounds per game ranks 9th nationally and tops in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 40-34 (.541) in his third season as Missouri State head coach, including a 27-8 ledger at JQH Arena, 11-20 record in away games, and 2-6 mark at neutral sites. He is now 97-99 (.495) in his seventh season as a head coach. Ford is 0-0 in his career against Missouri S&T.
  • Ford was named to ESPN's College Basketball 40 Under 40 list this season. Ford was No. 35 on the 2020-21 rankings compiled by the ESPN staff to highlight the nation's top young head and assistant college basketball coaches.
  • 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 earned MVC All-Newcomer Team laurels.
  • 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
  • Historically, the Bears have played Missouri S&T 139 times in its 109-year basketball history, second only to MSU's 147 games against SEMO. Missouri State leads the all-time series with the Miners, 115-24, with the last meeting between the clubs coming in 1981.
  • MSU is 64-8 in home games against the Miners (7-2 at Hammons Student Center, 0-0 at JQH Arena) and 51-16 on the road at Rolla.
  • In the most-recent game between the squads on Feb. 4, 1981, Kenny Sams scored 16 points to lead the Bears to a 68-65 win at Hammons Student Center before 4,233 fans. Mark Lance added 15 points and 9 rebounds for the Bears, and Anthony Boggs poured in 14 points in the win.
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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