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Missouri State

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Bears Head to Oklahoma for NIT Opener

March 13, 2022

By: MSU Athletics Communications
GAME 34 - Missouri State Bears (23-10) at Oklahoma Sooners (18-15)
Date and Time Tuesday, March 15, 2022 | 6:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Lloyd Noble Center (11,528) | Norman, Okla. | Clear Bag Policy
Tickets Tickets | (405) 325-2424
Radio KWTO (101.3 FM) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live
Television ESPN (Mark Neely, Fran Fraschilla) | Watch
Series Oklahoma leads 3-0 | Last Meeting: OU 61, MSU 53 (12/23/04)
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State  | Oklahoma |  MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next The winner of Tuesday's game plays Colorado or St. Bonaventure, March 19 or 20

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State will be making its 10th appearance in the National Invitation Tournament this week when the Bears (23-10) take on Oklahoma on Tuesday at 6 p.m. (ESPN). MoState is making its first NIT appearance since 2011 and is 10-9 all-time in its previous NIT contests. 
  • Missouri State's All-Missouri Valley Conference pair of Isiaih Mosley (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) and Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) have combined to score 1,205 points this season, making them the highest-scoring tandem in program history. Mosley's 664 points ranks 3rd on the team's single-season scoring list, while Prim's 541 points ranks 18th. 
  • The Bears are 40-17 over the last two seasons, including a 15-6 ledger in true road games (8-4 this season).
  • Missouri State remains one of the nation's most-efficient offensive teams, ranking 4th nationally in free throw percentage (.795), 14th in field goal percentage (.484) and 25th in 3-point FG percentage (.374) -- the only DI team to rank in the top 25 in all three. KenPom also rates the Bears 21st in effective FG percentage (.54.9) and 25th in adjusted offensive efficiency (113.6). MSU leads the MVC in all of those metrics, except 3-point percentage, while also leading The Valley in scoring (77.5) and turnovers per game (10.6), ranking 36th and 34th in the country, respectively.
  • Missouri State is 13-11 all-time against Porter Moser-coached teams -- 7-9 vs. Loyola and 6-2 vs. Illinois State. Bears' head coach Dana Ford is 3-3 vs. Moser in his career and also played 3 seasons for Moser as a player at ISU (2003-06).  
  • Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored in double figures in 17 straight games and has scored 20 or more points 8 times in the last 11 contests. His 17 rebounds vs. Valparaiso on March 4 were the most by any MVC player this season and capped his league-leading 11th double-double of the season in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals.
  • Isiaih Mosley (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) is on track to become just the third Division I player in the last 30 years to average 20 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent at the line. Only Utah State's Jaycee Carroll (2007-08) and Nevada's Luke Babbitt (2009-10) can boast those same milestones in that span. Mosley is currently at 20.1 points per game and .502-.429-.907 in the shooting categories. He has scored in double figures 27 times this season (in 33 games) with 19 games of 20 or more points. 
  • Led by Ja'Monta Black (74), Jaylen Minnett (71) and Isiaih Mosley (67), the Bears have broken the club's single-season record for 3-pointers (274), eclipsing the 2016-17 team's 270 treys. MSU is one of just three teams in the nation (with Syracuse and Jacksonville St.) to boast three players with 67 or more treys on the season. 
  • Donovan Clay (Jr., Alton, Ill.) earned MVC All-Defensive Team honors this year after earning a reputation as one of the league's top lock-down defenders. Clay has 33 blocks, 21 steals and 164 defensive rebounds on the season, while averaging 8.5 points and shooting at a 53.8-percent clip from the field. He is 10 points away from 900 in his career (96g).
  • One of the most-improved players in the MVC this season, Lu'Cye Patterson (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) was 19-6 as a starter this season, filling the role at point guard for the injured Demarcus Sharp. Patterson has nearly tripled his scoring average (7.6) and assist total (74) from last season and is shooting 50 percent (97-for-194) from the field.
  • This season marked Missouri State's 30th 20-win season in program history and its 17th of the Division I era (since 1982-83) All 17 DI 20-win teams have played in the postseason -- 6 in the NCAA Tournament, 9 in the NIT and 2 in the CIT.

Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 72-50 (.590) in his fourth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 43-16 ledger at JQH Arena, 23-25 record in away games, and 6-9 mark at neutral sites. He is now 129-115 (.529) in his eighth 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 0-0 vs. Oklahoma.
  • 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.
  • 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 MVC (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, 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
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