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Missouri State

Isiaih Mosley

Regular-Season Finale at Evansville Up Next for Ford, Bears

February 23, 2021

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAMES 21-22 - Missouri State Bears (15-5, 11-5 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (8-12, 6-8 MVC)
Dates and Times Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 | 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021 | 6:00 p.m.
Location Ford Center (8,930), Evansville, Indiana
Tickets Ford Center Box Office | (812) 422-1515
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner, Shane Friebe) | MSU Radio Network
| Listen Live
Television ESPN+ (Kyle Peach, Marcus Wilson) | Watch Friday | Watch Saturday
Series Missouri State leads, 38-35 | Last Meeting: MSU 68, UE 58 (1/18/20) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Evansville | MVC Notebook | MSU Record Book
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next Arch Madness runs March 4-7 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis! | Tourney Central

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State (15-5, 11-5 MVC) takes a conference-best six-game winning streak into Evansville this weekend when the Bears square off with the Purple Aces for games Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m.) at Ford Center. MSU, which sits in third place headed into the final weekend of league play, .is in the middle of its longest conference win streak since reeling off eight straight MVC victories from Feb. 5 to Dec. 31, 2011.
  • Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) is coming off career highs in scoring (29 points) and rebounds (21) in MSU's Feb. 17 win at Southern Illinois. His 20-20 game was the league's first since former Bear Alize Johnson had 24 points and 20 rebounds against UNI on Jan. 4, 2018. Prim has 7 double-doubles this season and 8 twenty-point games.
  • Ja'Monta Black (So., Columbia, Mo.) is shooting 50 percent (18-of-36) from 3-point range over the last 5 games. In that span, Black is averaging 14.0 points per game and shooting 23-for-36 (.500) overall from the field.
  • Isiaih Mosley (So., Columbia, Mo.) continues to lead the MVC (35th nationally) in scoring at 19.7 points per game. The Bears have never had a Valley scoring champion, although Blake Ahearn led all players in MVC-only scoring (16.0) in 2005-06. The last time MSU had a player average 19.0 points per game was Danny Moore (19.5 in 1996-97), and MSU's only player of the Division I era to average 20 points per game was Winston Garland (21.2 ppg in 1986-87).
  • MSU has finished .500 or better in league play all three seasons under coach Dana Ford. The Bears (currently 11-5 in Valley games) were 10-8 in Ford's first season (2018-19) and 9-9 last season (2019-20). This year's squad has the most MVC wins since the Bears went 15-3 en route to the MVC regular-season title in 2010-11.
  • Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) has recorded a steal in 15 straight games while emerging as a defensive stalwart in the league. He leads the team in steals (25) and blocks (24), while ranking 1st in the MVC (33rd nationally) in total rebounds per game (9.3). The MVC Player of the Week is coming off three straight 20-point games (including 29 pts., 21 rebounds at SIU), and ranks 10th nationally in FG% (.613).
  • Prim is just the eighth player in the NCAA this season to record a 20-20 game, while his 29 points at SIU (Feb. 17) are the fourth-highest among that grouping of players. Only three NCAA players in the past 10 seasons (none on the road) have had a 29-point, 21-rebound, 6-assist night, and none of the others had 3 blocks or shot better than .684.
  • MSU is 6-1 in Valley road games this season and just 1 win away from matching the 2010-11 team's record of 7 MVC road wins in a season (7-2). Mosley averages a team-best 22.1 points per game away from home, and Prim scores 18.1.
  • The Bears are 10-0 this season and 25-0 under coach Dana Ford when they shoot 50 percent or better from the field. MSU's .474 field goal percentage ranks 38th nationally.
  • Nine of the Bears' 11 Missouri Valley Conference wins this season have been by double figures. Missouri State's scoring margin in conference wins is +12.3.
  • Missouri State is 12-1 this year (and 33-12 under Dana Ford) when it out-rebounds its opponents. The Bears rank 10th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.20) and lead the MVC in that category.
  • The Bears have allowed 58 points or less in 4 straight games and have surrendered 60.0 points per game in February.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 47-38 (.553) in his third season as Missouri State head coach, including a 31-12 ledger at JQH Arena, 14-20 record in away games, and 2-6 mark at neutral sites. He is now 104-103 (.502) in his seventh season as a head coach. Ford is 3-1 in his career against Evansville.
  • With a 72-62 win at Illinois State on Feb. 7, Ford picked up his 100th career victory.
  • 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 Aces is a rich one that dates back to March 13, 1959 when Evansville beat MSU in the championship of the NCAA Division II Tournament, 83-67, at Roberts Stadium in Evansville.
  • Missouri State now leads the series, 38-35, with Missouri State posting a 22-11 record in Springfield against Evansville (8-4 at JQH Arena), an 12-22 ledger in Evansville (3-6 at Ford Center) and 4-2 mark at neutral sites. The teams have split the regular-season series the last three years. Missouri State has not swept the regular-season series since 2013-14.
  • Last season in Springfield (Dec. 31), Tulio Da Silva scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the second half to help lift MSU to a 65-52 come-from-behind win in the MVC opener. Lamont West and Isiaih Mosley also poured in 13 points apiece to help the Bears' cause. MSU fell behind by 13 in the early going, but overcame a sluggish start by shooting 59.3 percent in the second half.
  • In the second matchup in Evansville (Jan. 18), Mosley scored a season-high 23 points and Keandre Cook added 19 to lift the Bears to a 68-58 win at Ford Center. Evansville led by as many as 7 in the second half before the Bears turned to Mosley (10-of-14 FG) and Gaige Prim (12 points) to rally for the win. 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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