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Red-Hot Bears Set for Saturday Clash with UNI

January 06, 2022

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 17 - Missouri State Bears (11-5, 2-1 MVC) vs. UNI Panthers (6-7, 2-1 MVC)
Date and Time Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 | 5:00 p.m. (Central)
Location JQH Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Old Missouri Bank Box Office at JQH Arena
Promotions Old Missouri Bank "Share the Bear" Night | "Friends" Night | T-Shirt
Fan Info Digital Game Program
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Tom Ladd, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan, Tim Doyle) | Watch
Series MoState leads all-time series, 45-37 | Last Meeting: UNI 85, MSU 75 (12/28/20) | Stats
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State  | Northern Iowa |  MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next Wednesday, Jan. 12 vs. Southern Illinois (7 p.m.)  | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • After picking up their first Valley road win of the season in dramatic fashion Wednesday against Bradley, the Bears return to JQH Arena this Saturday for a nationally-televised showdown against Northern Iowa at 5 p.m. (CBS Sports Network) on OMB "Share the Bear" Night.  
  • Missouri State has won seven of its last eight games, averaging 78.0 points and 11.0 three-pointers per game in that span with a +15.0 scoring margin. Former high school teammates Isiaih Mosley (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) and Ja'Monta Black (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) have paced the MSU offense in that run with 18.0 and 13.8 points per game, respectively.
  • Isiaih Mosley's (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired lifted the Bears over Bradley, 71-69, on Wednesday night in Peoria. The game-winning bucket helped Missouri State cap their second win in their last three games at Carver Arena and improve to 2-1 in the MVC this season. Mosley has produced at least one 3-pointer in 6 straight games and currently ranks 2nd in the MVC with 17.0 points per game.
  • After Lu'Cye Patterson (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) posted a game-high and career-high 20 points at Bradley on Wednesday (on 8-of-16 field goals), he became the 6th Missouri State player this season to eclipse 20 points in a game. The Bears have 16 twenty-point games to their credit this season - Mosley 8, Prim 4, Black 1, Clay 1, Minnett 1, Patterson 1. Missouri State is 7-1 with Patterson in the starting lineup.
  • Ja'Monta Black (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) eclipsed 500 career points (72 games) in Wednesday's win at Bradley, posting 17 points behind 4-of-9 threes. He has scored a 3-pointer in 14-of-16 games this season with 11 multiple-trey games. He ranks 10th in program history in career triples (124).
  • Among the NCAA's 350 Division I programs, the Bears rank high in all phases of offensive accuracy -- 15th in 3-point FG percentage (.393), 20th in FT percentage (.777) and 27th in FG percentage (.483), while helping MSU post the 51st-highest scoring average (78.4) in the nation. According to KenPom.com, the Bears also rank 22nd in effective FG% (.551) and 53rd in offensive efficiency (108.6).
  • Isiaih Mosley is averaging 17.5 points per game in his career against UNI with a 51.1 percent shooting effort from the field, while Gaige Prim has notched 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game against the Panthers.
  • Gaige Prim matched a career-high with 3 steals at Bradley on Wednesday. The 2021 MVC All-Defensive Team member snagged a steal in 23-of-24 games last season and currently leads the MVC in rebounding (8.4 rpg) for the second year in a row.
  • Patterson is averaging 12.7 ppg in Missouri Valley Conference play this season and shooting .552 (16-of-29) from the field. He has also registered 9.8 points per game over the club's last 6 contests.
  • Donovan Clay (Jr., Alton, Ill.) has notched 5 or more rebounds in 9 of the last 10 games and has scored in double figures in 4 of the last 6 contests, while shooting .622 (23-of-37) from the field in that span.
  • The Bears are 4-3 all-time with Tim Doyle on the call as analyst for CBS Sports Network (1-1 this season), including memorable wins like the 70-35 home win over Loyola (1/23/19) and Wednesday's buzzer-beating victory at Bradley (1/5/22).
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 60-45 (.571) in his fourth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 37-14 ledger at JQH Arena, 18-23 record in away games, and 5-8 mark at neutral sites. He is now 117-110 (.520) in his eighth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is 1-5 all-time against Northern Iowa.
  • Ford picked up his 100th career victory on Feb. 7, 2021 at Illinois State (72-62). The Dec. 15, 2021 win over South Dakota State was 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
  • The Bears are 45-37 all-time against Northern Iowa in a series that dates back to 1983 when the clubs were charter members of the Mid-Continent Conference. MSU is 23-15 at home (3-9 at JQH Arena), 20-20 in Cedar Falls (4-12 at McLeod Center), and 2-2 at neutral sites against the Panthers.
  • The teams split the series last year as the Bears broke a five-game losing streak to UNI in the MVC opener.
  • In Game One (Dec. 27, 2020), Missouri State held off a second-half surge from UNI and got a (then) career-high 26 points from Isiaih Mosley to turn back the Panthers, 79-59. Mosley was 12-of-15 from the field and posted 22 points in the second half. The Bears also got 16 points from Gaige Prim, 13 from Ja'Monta Black and 11 from Jared Ridder while shooting 51.6 percent (33-of-64) from the field. Prim also snagged a team-high 9 rebounds and tied a school record with 7 blocked shots.  The winning margin was the largest ever for the Bears in Cedar Falls and halted UNI's 17-game winning streak at McLeod Center. | Stats
  • The next night, UNI responded with a Game Two win (Dec. 28, 2020), 85-76. UNI scored the game's first 16 points and led by as many as 26 in the first half, but MSU rallied to make a game of it in the second half. Prim and Mosley scored 20 points apiece to lead the Bears with Prim going 8-for-12 from the field and snagging a team-high 9 rebounds. Mosley scored 18 points in the second half and dished out 5 assists. Black also pitched in 17 points for the Bears behind 5 3-pointers. UNI was led by Austin Phyfe's 21 points while Nate Heise pitched in 15. | Stats
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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