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Missouri State

Jaylen Minnett

Wednesday Hoops Showdown with Jackrabbits Up Next

December 13, 2021

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 11 - Missouri State Bears (6-4) vs. South Dakota State Jackrabbits (9-3)
Date and Time Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021 | 6:00 p.m. (Central)
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena
Promotions Western Theme Night
Fan Info Digital Game Program
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television ESPN+ (Scott Warmann, Mike McClure) | Watch
Series Series Tied, 3-3 | Last Meeting: MSU 73, SDSU 53 (12/2/17) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State  | South Dakota State |  MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next Saturday, Dec. 18 - Bears vs. Central Arkansas | 7:00 p.m. | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • With back-to-back wins last week, Missouri State continues its three-game home stand on Wednesday when it hosts a red-hot South Dakota State squad at 6 p.m. (ESPN+). The Jackrabbits, who rank 2nd nationally in scoring average (89.3 ppg) have won three of their last four and are making their first-ever trip to JQH Arena.
  • Wednesday's game will be Dana Ford's 100th game as Missouri State head coach. Now in his fourth season in Springfield, Ford is 55-44 (.556) as sideline boss of the Bears.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) racked up his 20th career 20-point scoring game in Saturday's win over Oral Roberts. He was 10-for-20 from the field and scored a game-high 25 points to reach the milestone. For the week, Mosley averaged 23.0 points per game with his fourth and fifth 20-point outputs of the season while making 19-of-35 (.543) field goal attempts and a team-best 7.0 rebounds per game. He is averaging a team-best 18.0 ppg at home this season.
  • Ja'Monta Black (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) is averaging 20.5 points per game during the Bears two-game win streak. He posted 25 points (one shy of his career high) at Little Rock on Dec. 8, then scored 16 points in Saturday's home win over ORU. For the week, he was also 10-for-22 (.455) from 3-point range.
  • Under coach Dana Ford, the Bears are 49-24 (.671) when holding their opponents under 50 percent from the field.
  • The Bears have shot 71-percent or better from the free throw line in all 10 games this season and currently lead the Missouri Valley Conference -- and rank 9th nationally -- in team free throw percentage (.799). After leading the MVC in FT shooting last year, Isiaih Mosley leads the league and ranks 10th nationally in charity shooting this season (.935).
  • Jaylen Minnett (Sr., Terre Haute, Ind.) has racked up 312 career 3-pointers (119 games), which ranks 8th among all active Division I players. He had a string of 21 consecutive games with at least one triple broken in Saturday's win over Oral Roberts. Minnett ranks 22nd nationally in 3-pointers per game (3.38) and 14th in 3-point percentage (.482).
  • Lu'Cye Patterson (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) has started the last 2 games for Missouri State, earning the opportunity after averaging 13.0 points the previous week, including a career-high 16 points vs. No. 12 BYU on Dec. 4.
  • Missouri State ranks 44th nationally in offensive efficiency, according to KenPom, while boasting 2 of the top 41 offensive performers in the nation. Gaige Prim (123.8) ranks 3rd in offensive efficiency, while Isiaih Mosley ranks 41st (105.5) among more than 2,200 DI players.  
  • Valparaiso transfer Donovan Clay (G/F, Alton, Ill.) is averaging 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists over the last 4 contests.
  • In effective field goal percentage, the Bears (54.6) rank 40th nationally, according to KenPom. Missouri State is ranked among the nation's leaders in free throw percentage (9th), 3-point percentage (59th) and total field goal percentage (59th), while ranking 72nd in scoring offense (78.1 ppg).
  • Despite limited playing time over the last 2 games, Gaige Prim (Aurora, Colo.) is averaging 16.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per game this season -- the exact same averages he finished with last season en route to All-MVC first-team laurels. Prim is the MVC leader -- and ranks high nationally -- in FG percentage (35th), double-doubles (27th), total rebounds (30th), offensive rebounds per game (34th) and rebounding average (35th).
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 55-44 (.556) in his fourth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 33-14 ledger at JQH Arena, 17-22 record in away games, and 5-8 mark at neutral sites. He is now 112-109 (.507) in his eighth season as a head coach. Ford is 0-0 all-time South Dakota State.
  • Ford picked up his 100th career victory on Feb. 7, 2021 at Illinois State (72-62). The Dec. 15, 2021 game vs. South Dakota State is Ford's 100th as Bears head coach.
  • Last season, Ford was named to ESPN's College Basketball 40 Under 40 list at No. 35 and was on the list of national finalists for both the Skip Prosser Award and Ben Jobe Award. The Bears completed the 2020-21 campaign with a 17-7 overall record and 12-6 ledger in the Missouri Valley Conference (third) before advancing to the MVC Tournament semifinals. Missouri State was 7-2 in road conference games to match a program high-water mark, while Isiaih Mosley and Gaige Prim earned All-MVC first team honors, and Demarcus Sharp earned a spot on the MVC All-Newcomer Team.
  • 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, TSU doubled its home attendance average and twice earned votes in the AP Top 25 poll in 2016-17.
  • Ford, 37, earned 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 (Trail Blazers) and Fred Van Vleet (Raptors).
Series History
  • MSU has an extensive history against most of the Summit League, but particularly South Dakota State, with the teams splitting the previous six meetings, 3-3. Prior to the 12/2/17 meeting in Sioux Falls, the previous three meetings between the clubs (1969, 1970 and 1973) all came in the NCAA Division II Regionals with the Jackrabbits winning two of three in that span. The Bears also split home-and-home games with SDSU in 1960 and 1961 but have never played the Jackrabbits at JQH Arena.
  • In the most-recent meeting (12/2/17) at the Stanford Pentagon -- 58 miles from Brookings -- Alize Johnson had game highs with 20 points and 14 rebounds to pace Missouri State past South Dakota State, 73-53. The Bears shot 48.4 percent from the field and never trailed. J.T. Miller started a key 10-2 run by the Bears in the second half that included three jumpers by Reggie Scurry to give MSU a 58-40 lead midway through the second half. Scurry finished with 14 points, Jarrid Rhodes contributed 12 points and current Bears graduate assistant Ryan Kreklow had 5 points and 6 rebounds. SDSU was led by Tevin King with 13 points, while highly-touted SDSU prospect Mike Daum finished 3-for-14 from the field for 7 points and just 3 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.
  • This year's Rebound Foundation game will be Sunday, Feb. 6 vs. Loyola.
  • Pledge to assist the Rebound Challenge today!  Pledge Link

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