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Missouri State

Dana Ford

Weekend Showdown with Loyola on Tap for Bears at JQH

January 29, 2021

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAMES 13-14 - Missouri State Bears (9-3, 5-3 MVC) vs. Loyola Ramblers (13-3, 8-1 MVC)
Dates and Times Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021 | 2:00 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 1, 2021 | 7:00 p.m.
Location JQH Arena (11,000 | 3,991) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Game 1 | Game 2 | (417) 836-7678 | Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena
Fan Guide 2020-21 JQH Arena Fan Guide  |  Game Program
Promotions Sunday - Athletic Director's Honor Roll Recognition
All Games - 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 Sunday - CBS Sports Network (Daniel Waugh, Tim Doyle)
Monday - ESPN+ (Scott Warmann, Marcus Wilson) | Watch
Series Loyola leads series, 8-7 | Last Meeting: MSU 74, LUC 62 (2/22/20) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State  | Loyola |  Ford Weekly Presser | MVC Notebook | MSU Record Book
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next Next Home Game - Wednesday, Feb. 10 vs. SIU, 7 p.m. | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State continues its five-game home stand Sunday (2 p.m.) and Monday (7 p.m.) against MVC stalwart Loyola Chicago at JQH Arena. The Bears (9-3) are coming off a pair of narrow losses earlier this week to unbeaten Drake, while Loyola (13-3) brings a six-game win streak to Springfield. The Bears have won 5 of the last 7 meetings between the squads, including four in a row in Springfield.
  • Sunday's game will be Missouri State head coach Dana Ford's 200th career game. Ford is 41-36 (.532) in his third season at Missouri State and 98-101 (.492) in his seventh season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. He is listed at No. 35 on ESPN's College Basketball 40 Under 40 list this season.
  • MSU boasts one of the best 1-2 combinations in college basketball in Isiaih Mosley (So., Columbia, Mo.) and Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.). Mosley is the top scorer in the MVC (22.9 ppg), while Prim (17.1 ppg) ranks second. Kenpom's Offensive Player Ratings list Mosley as the No. 4 player in Division I, while Prim is No. 5. Mosley is the No. 2 scorer overall in Division I and the top-scoring sophomore. His second-half scoring average (15.8) alone would rank 4th in the MVC.
  • Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) is the MVC leader in rebounding (9.8 rpg) and has scored in double figures in 24 straight games. He has also recorded double-doubles in 4 of the last 5 contests, including both games against Drake earlier this week. Prim, who has recorded a steal in 7 straight games, needs 35 points to reach 1,000 for his career (76 games).
  • The Bears are shooting 48.6 percent from the field as a team this season with 8 games of 50-percent or better. The Bears are 23-0 under Dana Ford when shooting 50 percent from the field.
  • Missouri State and Loyola are two of the best 2-point shooting teams in the nation. The Ramblers rank No. 5 nationally (.593) from inside the arc, while the Bears are No. 7 (.590).  
  • Mosley (So., Columbia, Mo.) has scored in double figures in 14 straight games and all 12 contests this season. He also posted the first two double-doubles of his career earlier this week against Drake, including 23 points and a career-high 11 rebounds on Wednesday. He was named one of 40 players on the Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List earlier this week.
  • Demarcus Sharp (Jr., Charleston, Mo.) posted a career-high 13 points in Tuesday's game against Drake, converting 5-of-9 field goal attempts in 27 minutes on the floor. Sharp, a NJCAA Division I All-American last season at Colby (Kan.) Community College, has made 4 of his last 6 attempts from 3-point range, spanning the last 5 games.
  • As a team, the Bears lead the MVC and rank No. 3 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (31.0). MSU has out-rebounded 9 of 12 opponents this season and 14 of their last 17 foes, dating to last season.
  • Ja'Monta Black (So., Columbia, Mo.) needs 14 points to reach 250 for his career (44 games) and 6 rebounds to reach 100. His 2.6 3-pointers per game ranks 2nd in the MVC.
  • Jared Ridder (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) has scored in double figures 2 of the last 3 games, including a career-high 23 points against Missouri S&T on Jan. 17. He recorded 10 points and 3 steals in Wednesday's game against Drake.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 41-36 (.532) in his third season as Missouri State head coach, including a 28-10 ledger at JQH Arena, 11-20 record in away games, and 2-6 mark at neutral sites. He is now 98-101 (.492) in his seventh season as a head coach. Ford is 3-1 in his career against Loyola.
  • 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
  • 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. LUC leads the series 8-7.
  • Since then, the teams have split 14 games as MVC foes, starting when Loyola joined the league for the 2013-14 season. The Bears are 5-2 at JQH Arena against the Ramblers and have won 5 of the last 7 meetings overall, including a series sweep in 2018-19.
  • Last year 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 in the final 30 seconds. Prim led the Bears with 14 points behind 6-of-11 from the field with 3 blocks. Isiaih Mosley added 12 points and Keandre Cook added 10 points.
  • In the rematch in Springfield (Feb. 22), Missouri State got 21 points from Keandre Cook and 16 from Gaige Prim to turn back MVC co-leader Loyola, 74-62. The Ramblers got 16 points off the bench from Marquise Kennedy. MSU jumped out to a 9-0 lead from the outset and extended its advantage to double figures on back-to-back triples from Ja'Monta Black and Josh Hall seven minutes in and led 41-23 at the midway point.
    In the second half, Loyola got within 45-37 after MSU's 2-for-14 start from the field, but Mosely responded to lead a Missouri State resurgence, scoring the Bears' next 10 points. With 54 total fouls in the contest, the final six minutes became a free-throw shooting contest: the Bears made 9-of-10 while Loyola made 7-of-11. 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.
  • Pledge to assist the Rebound Challenge today!  Pledge Link
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