Bears Return Home to Take on Rival Salukis Wednesday

GAME 17 - Missouri State Bears (11-5, 7-5 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois Salukis (9-7, 3-7 MVC)
Date and Time	Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 \| 7:00 p.m.
Location	JQH Arena (11,000 \| 3,991) \| Springfield, Missouri
Tickets	SIU Game \| (417) 836-7678 \| Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena
Fan Guide	2020-21 JQH Arena Fan Guide \| Game Program
Promotions	Black Out (all fans encouraged to wear black BearWear) 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	MVC TV Network - FOX Sports Midwest/Kansas City (Scott Warmann, Rich Zvosec) \| Watch
Series	Southern Illinois leads 50-39 \| Last Meeting: MSU 84, SIU 59 (2/29/20) \| Box Score
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State \| SIU \| M VC Notebook \| MSU Record Book
Follow	Facebook \| Athletics Twitter \| Basketball Twitter \| Instagram \| #MSUBears \| #BearsUnite
Up Next	Next Home Games - Saturday, Feb. 13 (5:00 p.m.) vs. Bradley \| Tickets Sunday, Feb. 14 (3:00 p.m.) vs. Bradley \| Tickets

The Ten Count

After leaping into third place in the Missouri Valley Conference after the weekend's road sweep at Illinois State, the Missouri State Bears (11-5, 7-5 MVC) return to JQH Arena on Wednesday to take on long-time rival Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. The Salukis have won two of their last three but are 1-5 in Valley road games this season.
Bears head coach Dana Ford grew up 35 miles from Carbondale, in Tamms, Illinois. As Bears head coach, Ford is 2-2 against the Salukis (2-0 at JQH Arena) and 2-4 lifetime against SIU. Ford picked up his 100th career win on Sunday with the Bears 72-62 win at his alma mater, Illinois State.
The Bears are shooting for their 1,700th all-time win on Wednesday. Now in their 109th college basketball season, Missouri State is 1699-1015 all-time and started the season No. 37 on the NCAA list of winningest DI programs.
Isiaih Mosley (So., Columbia, Mo.) leads the MVC in scoring (21.4 ppg) and ranks 10th among all Division I players in that category. A Lou Henson Mid-Major Player of the Year nominee and this week's MVC Player of the Week, Mosley, is averaging 14.8 second-half points per game. He ranks 16th nationally in free throws (89) and 35th in FT% (.881).
Mosley also ranks among the league's top players in several other statistical categories -- 1st in FT% (.881), 2nd in defensive rebounds (5.9), 2nd in minutes played (33.2), 5th in assists (3.5) and 6th in rebounding (6.7). He is also the No. 2 sophomore in scoring in the nation just behind ORU's Max Abmas (21.7 ppg).
Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) has recorded a steal in 11 straight games while emerging as a defensive stalwart. He leads the team in steals (18) and blocks (19), while ranking 1st in the MVC in rebounds per game (9.1), 1st in offensive rebounds per game (3.4), 3rd in defensive rebounds per game (5.8), 4th in scoring (15.1), and 5th in blocks (1.2). He also ranks 9th in the league in FG% (.580) and 9th in assists (3.2) while ranking No. 5 in KenPom's Offensive Player Ratings.
Value Add Basketball lists MSU standouts Gaige Prim and Isiaih Mosley both as mid-season all-conference first-team selections, along with Loyola's Cameron Krutwig, Indiana State's Tyreke Key and Loyola's Marquise Kennedy.
The Bears are 23-0 under Dana Ford when shooting 50 percent or better from the field (8-0 this season).
Jared Ridder (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) came off the bench to knock down 7 threes in the series at Illinois State. He averaged 12.0 points per game over the weekend and accounted for 89% of the team's bench scoring in that span. Ridder has dropped in multiple 3-pointers 11 times this season. He ranks 4th in the MVC in 3-pointers per game (2.3).
Demarcus Sharp (Jr., Charleston, Mo.) is averaging 12.4 points per game over the last 5 contests. An NJCAA Division I All-American last season at Colby (Kan.) Community College, Sharp has started the last 3 ball games.
A win over SIU would lock up MSU's 49th straight winning home record. With 3 home games remaining, the Bears are 6-4 at JQH Arena in 2020-21. The Bears have been over .500 at home every season since 1971-72 and are looking to snap a four-game home skid. MSU has not lost 5 straight home games since a stretch from 2/9/63 to 11/30/63.
After out-rebounding 9 of their first 11 foes this season (and 18-of-21, dating back to last year), the Bears have been beaten on the glass their last 5 games (2-3). Under Ford, MSU is 29-12 when out-rebounding its opponents (8-1 this yr.).

Coach Dana Ford

Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 43-38 (.531) in his third season as Missouri State head coach, including a 28-12 ledger at JQH Arena, 13-20 record in away games, and 2-6 mark at neutral sites. He is now 100-103 (.493) in his seventh season as a head coach. Ford is 2-4 in his career against SIU.
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

Southern Illinois leads the all-time series, 50-39, in a rivalry that dates back to 1957. MSU is 24-15 all-time at home against the Salukis (8-4 at JQH Arena). The Bears are also 9-28 in Carbondale and 6-7 at three different neutral sites against SIU.
The teams split last season with the Salukis squeaking out a 68-66 win on a buzzer beater in Carbondale (Feb. 8). A 17-foot jumper by Marcus Domansk as time expired gave SIU the win. MSU took the lead with 39 seconds to go on a basket by Tulio Da Silva that made it 66-65. Later, with the scored tied, the Bears missed two 3-pointers on their next possession before SIU scored at the buzzer, going the length of the floor to Domansk in a remarkable 1.6 seconds. Domansk had 18 points for SIU, while the Bears were led by 17 points from Hall, 16 from Gaige Prim and 12 by Da Silva who snagged a game-high 12 rebounds.
In the rematch in Springfield (Feb. 29), Kabir Mohammed, who had not played since Feb. 5, scored a career-high 15 points to help MSU to an 84-59 win in the regular-season finale. The Bears started all five seniors who combined for 61 points – a class season high – with Tulio Da Silva and Keandre Cook adding 13 points apiece, Lamont West adding 11 and Ross Owens scoring 9 more. SIU was led by a career high 28 points by Lance Jones. Missouri State never trailed in the contest. 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

Bears Return Home to Take on Rival Salukis Wednesday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Keandre Cook

Tulio Da Silva

Kabir Mohammed

Isiaih Mosley

Ross Owens

Gaige Prim

Jared Ridder

Demarcus Sharp

Lamont West

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Bears Return Home to Take on Rival Salukis Wednesday

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Keandre Cook

Tulio Da Silva

Kabir Mohammed

Isiaih Mosley

Ross Owens

Gaige Prim

Jared Ridder

Demarcus Sharp

Lamont West

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