Game 10 - Missouri State Bears (4-5) vs. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (6-4)
Date and Time	Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022 | 7:02 p.m. (Central)
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets	Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Great Southern Bank Arena Box Office
Promotions	Holiday Game | Basketball Alumni | Season Promos
Fan Info	Digital Game Program | Gates open at 6 p.m.
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Don West, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live Varsity App
Television	ESPN+ (Tom Ladd, Don Louzader) | Watch
Series	First Meeting
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State | Purdue Fort Wayne | MVC Weekly Release | MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next	Friday, Dec. 16 at Oral Roberts | 7 p.m. | Tickets

Accessibility
Missouri State University is committed to providing an accessible and supportive environment for those with disabilities. To request reasonable disability accommodations, contact the Deputy Compliance Officer at (417) 836-6755 or DeputyComplianceOfficer@MissouriState.edu. 

The Ten Count

• Missouri State looks to get back to the .500 mark for the season when the Bears return to Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday (7 p.m./ESPN+) to host Purdue Fort Wayne. It will be the first-ever matchup against the Mastodons of the Horizon League and the first of three home games for the Bears over a 12-day span in December. 
• The Bears rank 23rd nationally and 2nd in the MVC in scoring defense (59.0 ppg). The most points the Bears have surrendered this season is 68 by UNCW (Nov. 25) in Nassau. The last time Missouri State got 10 games into the season without allowing a 70-point game was 1985-86 when Charlie Spoonhour's Bears surrendered 59.9 points per game and did not allow an opponent to eclipse 70 until Game 23 that season.
• Missouri State is one of just 12 Division I teams that will play on the road in four different time zones during in its non-conference schedule. MSU's trips to BYU (Mountain), Nassau (Eastern), Saint Mary's (Pacific) and Oral Roberts (Central) will conclude a non-MVC slate that will take the Bears some 11,812 air and ground miles. 
• The countdown to 1,000 career points has begun for Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.). Clay is currently at 972 points in 106 games (including 63 games at Valparaiso) and needs just 28 points to reach 1,000.  
• Chance Moore (So., Brookhaven, Ga.) has scored in double figures in 6-of-8 appearances this season and leads the Bears in scoring average (13.1 ppg). He is also a prime contributor to MSU's bench scoring dominance, helping the Bears post 26.7 points per game from the pine which ranks 2nd in the MVC and 81st nationally. 
• Alston Mason (So., Overland Park, Kan.) is coming off a 12-point effort at Saint Mary's, which matched Chance Moore for team-high honors. He is averaging 9.2 ppg as a starter this season with multiple 3-pointers in 5-of-9 appearances this season. 
• Kendle Moore (Sr., Danville, Ill.) had a streak of 8 straight games with a steal snapped at Saint Mary's. Moore leads the squad with 12 steals on the season.
• The Bears are averaging 5.25 blocks over their last four games, while MSU's 3.56 blocks per game overall ranks 4th in the MVC. Donovan Clay matched a career-high with 3 blocks at Saint Mary's on Wednesday.
• Donovan Clay is sitting at 49 career double-figure scoring games (17 at MSU). The senior co-captain has played 106 career games (43 at MSU) and has scored 10 or more points 17 times as a Bear. Likewise, Clay has posted an assist in 10 straight games while recording 5 or more rebounds in 9 straight contests and in 14 of the last 15.
  Bryan Trimble Jr. (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) had a streak of 12 straight games with a 3-pointer broken in Wednesday's game at Saint Mary's. The Akron transfer has 203 career treys, which ranks 65th among active Division I players. 
• The Bears Basketball Network is organizing a reunion and activities weekend for men's basketball alumni from all eras of program history. All Bears basketball alumni will be recognized at halftime of Saturday's game.

The Series

• This is the first-ever meeting between the Bears and Mastodons. 

Coach Dana Ford

• Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 76-56 (.576) in his fifth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 45-17 ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 24-28 record in away games, and 7-11 mark at neutral sites. He is now 133-121 (.524) in his ninth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 45-29 in Valley games (23-14 at home, 22-15 away). 
• He has never coached against Purdue Fort Wayne.
• 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. His win over Oakland on Nov. 27 in The Bahamas was his 75th victory at MSU.
• CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein listed Missouri State head coach Dana Ford among his "20 coaches on the rise entering the 2022-23 college basketball season."
• 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
• This year's Rebound Foundation Game is Tuesday, Feb. 21 vs. Murray State