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Missouri State

Prim - Sharp

Road Rumble with Redbirds Next for Ford, Bears

February 04, 2021

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAMES 15-16 - Missouri State Bears (9-5, 5-5 MVC) at Illinois State Redbirds (5-12, 2-9 MVC)
Dates and Times Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021 | 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021 | 2:00 p.m.
Location Redbird Arena (10,200) | Normal, Illinois
Tickets Tickets are not available for this event
MSU Fan Guide 2020-21 JQH Arena Fan Guide  |  Game Program
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television Saturday - ESPN3 (R.C. McBride, Rich Zvosec) | Watch
Sunday - ESPN3 (Kurt Pregler, Bob Morris) | Watch
Series Illinois State leads 44-32 | Last Meeting: MSU 80, ILST 60 (2/5/20) | Box Score
Live Stats Game 1 | Game 2
Game Notes Missouri State  | Illinois State |  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 returns to the road this weekend with a pair of Missouri Valley Conference games at Illinois State, Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (2 p.m.) at Redbird Arena in Normal. Both teams have dropped four in a row coming into the series, including the Bears recent string of home losses to No. 25 Drake and (RV) Loyola over a seven-day period.   
  • Bears head coach Dana Ford is 2 wins away from 100 in his career. The native of Tamms, Illinois is 98-103 in his 7th season as a head coach and 41-38 in his third season at MSU. Ford is a 2006 graduate of Illinois State where he played for coaches Tom Richardson and Porter Moser from 2002-06 as a regular starter, leading ISU in steals his senior year. Ford is 3-2 in his career against the Redbirds, including a 3-1 ledger as Missouri State's head coach.
  • In road games, the Bears are 3-1 and shooting .498 as a team with a +8.3 scoring margin and +5.5 rebound margin. Isiaih Mosley (26.0 ppg) is Missouri State's top road scorer this season, followed by Gaige Prim (17.3) and Ja'Monta Black (14.3). The Bears are looking for back-to-back road wins at Redbird Arena for the first time since 2006-07.
  • Suddenly the club leader in steals and blocks, Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) has recorded a steal in 9 straight games and emerged as a defensive stalwart. He also ranks 3rd in the MVC in defensive rebounds per game (5.8).
  • Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) is also the MVC leader in total rebounding (9.2 rpg) and needs 29 points to reach 1,000 for his career (78 games), 6 points from 600 career points at MSU (42g), and 10 points away from 400 in MVC games (28g).
  • Ja'Monta Black (So., Columbia, Mo.) needs 9 points to reach 250 for his career (46 games) and 2 rebounds to reach 100. His 2.3 made 3-pointers per game ranks 4th in the MVC.
  • Keaton Hervey (Jr., Cedar Park, Texas) has 299 career points in 39 Division I games, including his two seasons at Incarnate Word. He has started all 14 games this season for the Bears and is averaging 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in MVC play with 4 double-figure scoring games.
  • The Bears are 23-0 under Dana Ford when shooting 50 percent or better from the field. In Ford's 4 previous games against the Redbirds as MSU head coach, the Bears have hit that milestone once, firing at a .514 (36-for-70) clip against Illinois State at JQH Arena on Feb. 5, 2020 -- the most-recent game between the teams.
  • Isiaih Mosley (So., Columbia, Mo.) leads the MVC in scoring (21.4 ppg) and ranks 13th among all Division I players in that category. A Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year nominee, Mosley, who is averaging 14.8 second-half points per game, also ranks 15th nationally in free throws (81) and 16th in FT percentage (.900).
  • Demarcus Sharp (Jr., Charleston, Mo.) is coming off a career-high 21-point performance against Loyola on Feb. 1. An NJCAA Division I All-American last season at Colby (Kan.) Community College, Sharp is averaging 11.8 points per game over the last 4 contests, starting the last 2 ball games.
  • The Bears have had 5 different players score 20 points in a game this season -- Mosley (9), Prim (5), Black (1), Ridder (1) and Sharp (1). No Bears team in the Division I era (1982-83 to present) has ever had 6 players do so.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 41-38 (.519) in his third season as Missouri State head coach, including a 28-12 ledger at JQH Arena, 11-20 record in away games, and 2-6 mark at neutral sites. He is now 98-103 (.488) in his seventh season as a head coach. Ford is 3-2 in his career against Illinois State.
  • 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 Redbirds dates back to the 1967 NCAA Division II semifinals - a 93-76 win by the Bears en route to their runner-up showing. Illinois State leads the all-time series, 44-32. Against the Redbirds, MSU is 7-27 in Normal, 22-13 in Springfield (7-5 at JQH Arena) and 3-4 at neutral sites.
  • Last season, the Bears swept the regular-season series against ISU for the first time since 2010-11.
  • In the first game in Normal (Jan. 7), the Bears snapped an eight-game losing streak at Redbird Arena with a 67-63 win. Keandre Cook drew a charge and knocked down two clutch 3-pointers in the final two minutes to help Missouri State secure the win. Cook finished with a game-high 22 points with four treys to pace four MSU players in double figures. Gaige Prim notched 12 points with Isiaih Mosley and Tulio Da Silva scored 11 points apiece. Mosley's 8 rebounds led all players.
  • In the return matchup in Springfield (Feb. 5) MSU shot 51.4 percent from the field with a season-high 36 field goals and turned back visiting Illinois State, 80-60. Tulio Da Silva led the Bears with 22 points on 10-of-13 field goals and 8 rebounds. Keandre Cook poured in 18 points off the bench, while Gaige Prim tallied 12 points. Illinois State, which committed 18 turnovers and surrendered 54 points in the paint, was led by Antonio Reeves and Jaycee Hillsman who scored 17 and 16, respectively.  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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