Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Missouri State

2022-23

Basketball Bears Prepare for Mid-Week Challenge at BYU

November 14, 2022

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 2 - Missouri State Bears (1-0) at BYU Cougars (1-1)
Date and Time Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022 | 8:02 p.m. (Central)
Location Marriott Center (18,987) | Provo, Utah
Tickets BYUtickets.evenue.net |  (801) 422-2981
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television BYUtv (Dave McCann, Blaine Fowler) | Watch
Series BYU leads 2-1 | Last Meeting: BYU 74, MSU 68 (12/4/21) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | BYU | MVC Weekly Release | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next Saturday, Nov. 19 vs. Middle Tennessee (2 p.m.) | Great Southern Bank Arena | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State returns to action Wednesday for the team's first road contest of the season, a non-conference matchup at Brigham Young (BYUtv, 8 p.m.). It is the first of three non-conference road contests on MSU's 2022-23 men's basketball slate and the only one in November.
  • Over the last three seasons, the Bears are 41-18 overall, including a 15-7 ledger in true road contests.
  • Missouri State is 63-11 under coach Dana Ford when the Bears shoot a higher field goal percentage than their opponent. Likewise, MoState is 38-4 under Ford when they shoot 50 percent or better from the field (1-0 this season).
  • In last seasons' game against No. 12 BYU (12/4/21), Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) snagged a game-high 8 rebounds and played 34 minutes in Missouri State's narrow 74-68 home loss. Dawson Carper (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) is the only other current Bear who saw action in that game, snagging 4 rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
  • The Bears were picked 4th in the new-look, 12-team Missouri Valley Conference this season, the league announced Oct. 19 with its preseason poll of coaches, media and communications staffs. Coach Dana Ford's squad returns one starter (Donovan Clay) from a 23-11 squad that finished as MVC runners-up and advanced to the NIT.  
  • In last Wednesday's season-opening win over Missouri S&T, the Bears tied a Great Southern Bank Arena record for fewest fouls with 7. The tally matches Bradley's foul count from a Feb. 14, 2021 game against Missouri State.
  • The Bears have one of the "newest" teams in all of Division I basketball with just 3 returning players from last season (one returning starter) and 12.5 percent of the team's scoring. Returnees Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.), Dawson Carper (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Raphe Ayres (RSo., Arlington, Va.) have combined for just 75 career games and 340 points at Missouri State. The new-look roster this winter includes 14 newcomers -- including 7 Division I transfers, 1 juco transfer and 6 freshmen.
  • The Bears' only returning starter, Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) was named to the Preseason All-MVC second team, the league announced on Oct. 19. It marks the second time in Clay's career that he has earned Valley preseason laurels (also in 2020-21 while at Valparaiso). Last season, Clay earned MVC All-Defensive Team honors after posting 36 blocks, 21 steals and 165 defensive rebounds on the season, while averaging 8.4 points and shooting at a 53.7-percent clip from the field. Wednesday's game at BYU will be his 99th career game. 
  • With an admittedly-small sample size from which to measure, the 1-0 Bears start the week ranked 9th in the nation in scoring defense (47.0), 15th in defensive FG percentage (30.6) and 2nd in rebound margin (+23.0).
  • In his short tenure with the Bears, juco transfer Jonathan Mogbo (Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla.) has racked up 8 blocked shots and 13 rebounds, including 5 blocks and 6 boards in the exhibition win over Newman. A product of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO), Mogbo ranked 17th among all NJCAA players last season with 10.5 rebounds per game.
  • After this week's 1,243-mile trip to Provo, the Bears will embark on a 1,260-mile trip next week to participate in the Baha Mar Nassau (Bahamas) Championship. That event will feature a first-round game against UNC Wilmington, a second-round game vs. Vermont or Ball State; and either North Texas, San Jose St., Oakland or Long Beach on the final day.
The Series
  • The Bears and Cougars have played three times with BYU owning a 2-1 series lead. 
  • The clubs have met in Provo twice, including a 62-61 Missouri State overtime win on 1/6/87 and a 66-46 BYU win on 12/14/84. The 1987 game, the Bears owned a 36-32 rebounding advantage and got 25 points from future NBA standout Winston Garland to secure road victory.
  • Last season in Springfield (12/4/21), Jaylen Minnett's 19 points led Missouri State as the Bears pushed the No. 12-ranked Cougars to the brink in a 74-68 home loss. Gaige Prim added 17 points for MSU with Lu'Cye Patterson scoring 15, and Donovan Clay snagging a game-high 8 rebounds. BYU was led by Alex Barcello's 21 points, while Te'Jon Lucas scored 17, and Spencer Johnson added 14 points and 6 boards off the bench.  | Box Score
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 73-51 (.589) in his fifth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 44-16 ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 23-26 record in away games, and 6-9 mark at neutral sites. He is now 130-116 (.528) in his ninth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 44-28 in Valley games (23-13 at home, 21-15 away). 
  • He is 0-1 all-time against BYU (0-0 on the road; 0-1 at home).
  • CollegeInsider.com recently named Ford one of the dozen "Coaching Names to Remember" for the 2021-22 season.
  • He picked up his 100th career victory on Feb. 7, 2021 at Illinois State (72-62) and coached his 100th game at Missouri State on Dec. 15, 2021 vs. South Dakota State.
  • In a breakout 2021-22 campaign, Missouri State finished the season as one of the nation's most-efficient offensive teams, ranking 2nd nationally in free throw percentage (.797), 14th in field goal percentage (.482) and 23rd in 3-point FG percentage (.374) -- the only DI team to rank in the top 25 in all three. KenPom also rated the Bears 21st in effective FG percentage (54.6) and 23rd in adjusted offensive efficiency (113.2). MSU led the MVC in all of those metrics, except 3-point percentage, while also leading The Valley in scoring (77.3) and turnovers per game (10.6), which ranked 38th and 34th in the country, respectively.
  • Likewise, the 2021-22 Bears finished as runners-up in the Missouri Valley Conference, racking up a 23-11 overall record and 13-5 record in the league. The Bears' season win total was the program's most since 2011 and the 10th-best in team history. The squad advanced to the MVC Tournament semifinals for the third straight year and also represented The Valley in the NIT in Ford's first postseason tournament showing at MoState. The Bears also set team records for 3-point field goals (283) while boasting two first-team all-conference players in the school's all-time best scoring tandem – Gaige Prim and Isiaih Mosley -- while Donovan Clay earned MVC All-Defensive Team honors, and Isaac Haney landed on the MVC All-Freshman Team. Jaylen Minnett was also named to the MVC All-Bench squad.
  • For the third time in his head coaching career, Ford was a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.
  • 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, 38, 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, 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).
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
Print Friendly Version

Sponsors