Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Missouri State

Black

Basketball Bears Host Oral Roberts Saturday

December 09, 2021

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 10 - Missouri State Bears (5-4) vs. Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (5-4)
Date and Time Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021 | 3:00 p.m. (Central)
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena
Promotions Eighties Day | Fanny Pack Giveaway for First 200 Students
Fan Info Digital Game Program
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television ESPN3 (Don West, Tom Ladd)
Series Series Tied, 9-9 | Last Meeting: ORU 82, MSU 72 (12/21/19) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State  | Oral Roberts |  MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next Wednesday, Dec. 15 - Bears vs. South Dakota State | 6:00 p.m. | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Coming off their second 20-point road win of the year, the Bears kick off a 3-game home stand Saturday when they host Oral Roberts at 3 p.m. (ESPN3). It will be "Eighties Day" at JQH with the first 200 students receiving a Bears fanny pack.
  • Missouri State scored an 81-55 win at Little Rock on Wednesday, coming just one 3-pointer shy of a school record by going 16-for-32 from beyond the arc against the Trojans. The Bears also got 46 combined points from the junior tandem of Ja'Monta Black and Isiaih Mosley who turned in 25 and 21 points, respectively. Earlier this season, they combined for 47 points in the club's Nov. 13 win over Alabama State, the most ever for the former high school teammates.
  • Ja'Monta Black (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) is coming off an unforgettable road effort at Little Rock on Wednesday after he dropped in 25 points (one shy of his career high), while matching his career-best with 7 3-pointers against the Trojans. In his career against Little Rock, Black has scored 54 points (18.0 ppg) with 15 triples in three games.
  • Missouri State and ORU represent two of the top 3-point shooting teams in the nation with Oral Roberts posting a national-best 13.4 threes per game, and Missouri State racking up 9.3 per game, which ranks 49th.
  • The Bears have shot 71-percent or better from the free throw line in all 9 games this season and currently lead the Missouri Valley Conference -- and rank 11th nationally -- in team free throw percentage (.800). After leading the MVC in FT shooting last year, Isiaih Mosley leads the league and ranks 15th nationally in charity shooting this season (.923).
  • Jaylen Minnett (Sr., Terre Haute, Ind.) has knocked down multiple 3-pointers in all 7 games he has played at Missouri State, firing at a 52-percent (27-for-52) clip from beyond the arc this season, which leads the MVC and ranks 12th nationally. His 3.86 triples per game also leads The Valley and ranks 9th nationally. The IUPUI transfer now has 312 career threes (118 games) with at least one triple in 21 consecutive games. He ranks 7th among all active DI players in career 3's.
  • Lu'Cye Patterson (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) is coming off a 36-minute assignment in his first career start in Wednesday's win at Little Rock. He posted the first two double-figure scoring games of his career last week with 10 points at Illinois State on Dec. 1 and 16 points (on 8-of-10 shooting) vs. No. 12 BYU on Dec. 4.
  • Missouri State ranks 30th nationally in offensive efficiency, according to KenPom, while boasting 2 of the top 36 offensive performers in the nation. Gaige Prim (124.4) ranks 4th in offensive efficiency, while Isiaih Mosley ranks 36th (106.5) among more than 2,200 DI players. They are the only two MVC players ranked in the top 50.
  • Freshman Isaac Haney (G, Springfield, Mo.) posted his first career double-figure scoring game at Little Rock on Wednesday with 10 points and a pair of 3-pointers. Haney is the 9th MSU player to score in double-figures this season.
  • The Golden Eagles are coming off an 18-11 season in which they advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. They return 3 starters from that team, including the 2020-21 NCAA scoring champion Max Abmas (24.5 ppg). Abmas currently ranks 8th nationally in scoring (21.5) but leads the nation in 3-pointers per game (4.38).
  • In effective field goal percentage, the Bears (55.9) rank 27th nationally, according to KenPom. Missouri State is ranked among the nation's leaders in free throw percentage (11th), 3-point percentage (26th) and total field goal percentage (43rd), while ranking 59th in scoring offense (79.1 ppg).
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 54-44 (.551) in his fourth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 32-14 ledger at JQH Arena, 17-22 record in away games, and 5-8 mark at neutral sites. He is now 111-109 (.505) in his eighth season as a head coach. Ford is 1-1 all-time Oral Roberts (1-0 at JQH Arena).
  • Ford picked up his 100th career victory on Feb. 7, 2021 at Illinois State (72-62).
  • 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
  • The series between Missouri State and ORU is tied, 9-9, in a regional rivalry that dates back to 1981. The Bears have won three of the last five meetings overall and hold a 6-2 record at home against the Golden Eagles.
  • In the most-recent meeting in Springfield (11/6/18), Jarred Dixon's 26 points paced the Bears to an 84-50 victory at JQH Arena in Dana Ford's debut as MSU head coach. Ryan Kreklow added 13 points for the Bears with Keandre Cook adding 12 and Kabir Mohammed scoring 11. The Bears shot 55.6 percent from the field (35-of-63) with 21 assists and 52 points in the paint. Kerwin Smith and Emmanuel Nzekwesi scored 12 points apiece to lead ORU which committed 21 turnovers. | Box Score
  • Two years ago in Tulsa (12/21/19), Oral Roberts got the hot hand late and scored 51 points in the second period to erase Missouri State's four-point halftime lead in an 82-72 win. ORU got 22 points from Max Abmas and 19 points apiece from Deandre Burns and Kevin Obanor. Obanor snagged a game-high 12 rebounds with teammate Emmanuel Nzekwesi also pitching in a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. The Bears had five players score in double figures led by 14 points from Lamont West and 12 apiece from Gaige Prim, Tulio Da Silva and Isiaih Mosley. Josh Hall also pitched in 10 points and a team-high 6 rebounds for MSU, which was out-rebounded 41-28. | 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

Print Friendly Version

Sponsors