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Missouri State

Kendle Moore

Bears Set for Wednesday Game at Drake

January 17, 2023

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 19 - Missouri State Bears (9-9, 5-3 MVC) at  Drake Bulldogs (14-5, 5-3 MVC)
Date and Time Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023 | 7:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Knapp Center (7,152), Des Moines, Iowa
Tickets DrakeTix.com | (515) 271-3647
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Don West, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live | Varsity Network
Television MVC-TV Network / Bally Sports Midwest (Brad Wells, Adam Ememenecker)
Series Missouri State leads series, 47-22 | Last Meeting: MSU 52, DU 49 (1/1/23) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Drake | MVC Weekly Release | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next MSU returns home on Saturday, Jan. 21 vs. Southern Illinois (1 p.m.) | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Fresh off a win over Missouri Valley front-runner Indiana State on Sunday, the Bears take a mid-week road trip to Des Moines on Wednesday (7 p.m., MVC TV Network) for a matchup with Drake. Missouri State topped the Bulldogs 52-49 on New Year's Day in Springfield and is looking for its second straight regular-season sweep of DU.
  • In 8 previous games vs. Drake (all starts), Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) is averaging 11.8 points and 7.4 rebounds. 
  • Bryan Trimble Jr. (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) is coming off a season-high 20 points vs. Indiana State, which included 5-of-10 from 3-point range and a perfect 5-of-5 at the FT line. His 209 career treys ranks 87th among active players.
  • The Bears rank 50th nationally -- and tops in the MVC -- in bench points per game (26.00). MSU also ranks 9th nationally in bench minutes (42.6 pct.) with Bear reserves scoring at least 20 points in 13-of-18 games this season and combining for 30 points on 6 occasions. MSU's bench has outscored its opponent's reserves 15 times this year.
  • Senior Donovan Clay (G/F, Alton, Ill.) has posted an assist in 19 straight games and has led MSU in assists 11 times this season, including 3.6 assists per game against Valley foes. His 62 assists this season is 1 shy of a career-best for a season (63 in 2020-21).
  • Sunday's win over Indiana State marked the first time this season the Bears have won when their opponent has shot a higher FG percentage. When MoState shoots a higher FG percentage, it is 8-0 this season and 71-11 under Dana Ford.
  • MSU ranks 30th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 62.8 points per game this season (62.4 in MVC games). 
  • Bears head coach Dana Ford is on the verge of his 50th Valley victory. The fifth-year sideline boss is 49-31 (.613) in Valley games, including a league-best 23-17 ledger in MVC road games during that span. 
  • All 13 Missouri State players who have seen the floor this season have started at least one game with the Bears using 10 different starting lineups. A total of 11 different Bears have scored in double figure this season. Missouri State is one of 41 teams in the nation with at least 11 players who have scored 10 or more points in a game in 2022-23. 
  • The Bears have matched or out-rebounded 7 of their last 8 opponents, posting a +6.4 rebound margin since Dec. 16.
  • Kendle Moore (So., Danville, Ill.) needs 5 3-pointers for 200 in his career (138 games). He also needs 32 points to reach the 1,200-point milestone in his collegiate career, which began at Colorado State.
  • Led by 21 points from Donovan Clay and 20 from Bryan Trimble Jr., Sunday's win over Indiana State marked the first time since last year's MVC Tournament semifinals (vs. Drake) that two Bears scored 20 or more points in a game. The last time it happened (March 5, 2022), Isiaih Mosley (27), Gaige Prim (21) had a day against the Bulldogs in St. Louis.
  • MSU leads the MVC in offensive rebounds per game (11.17), well ahead of Bradley which is 2nd in the league (10.0).
  • The Bears collected 54 total points from their senior players on Sunday vs. Indiana State which marked a season-high (Clay 21, Trimble 20, Ridgnal 9 and K.Moore 4) for the group. The MSU seniors previously posted their best total of 40 points against Oakland on Nov. 27.
  • MSU's roster has combined for 674 career 3-point field goals, led by 209 by Bryan Trimble Jr. & 195 by Kendle Moore.
The Series
  • MSU leads the all-time series between the Bears and Bulldogs, 47-22, with wins in three of the last four meetings. The Bears have an 18-13 ledger in DesMoines, a 27-6 record in Springfield (11-5 at Great Southern Bank Arena) and 2-3 mark in neutral games. The Bears swept the regular-season series vs. DU last season before suffering a one-point OT loss to the Bulldogs in the Arch Madness semifinals.
  • Earlier this season in Springfield (1/1/23), Donovan Clay scored three points in the final 77 seconds and finished with a team-high 15 points to lift Missouri State to a 52-49 home win. Clay's jumper with 1:07 to go erased Drake's narrow one-point lead, and pushed the Bears ahead 50-49. That score held until Clay attacked the rim with 21 seconds left in the game and got fouled before making one-of-two at the line. Missouri State's defense then stepped up big, forcing the Bulldogs (11-4, 2-2) to miss their last 4 field goal attempts of the night, while Jonathan Mogo's free throw with 3.8 seconds remaining pushed the home club up by its final winning margin. Mogbo's defensive rebound off a Drake miss moments earlier was his eighth of the game, matching Clay for team-high rebounding honors, and was one of the biggest caroms of the ball game.
  • Kendle Moore joined Clay in double figures for Missouri State with 13 points off the bench, while Chance Moore scored 9. Clay also dished out a team-high 5 assists, blocked 4 shots and eclipsed 1,000 career points in the victory. Drake was led by Tucker DeVries with 20 points, while D.J. Wilkins scored 11.  | Box Score
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 81-60 (.574) in his fifth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 49-18 ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 25-31 record in away games, and 7-11 mark at neutral sites. He is now 138-125 (.525) in his ninth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 49-31 in Valley games (26-14 at home, 23-17 away). 
  • Coach Ford is 4-7 vs. Drake overall, including a 1-2 ledger in Des Moines (also 3-3 at Great Southern Bank Arena and 0-2 in St. Louis).
  • 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.
  • CollegeInsider.com recently named Ford one of the dozen "Coaching Names to Remember" for the 2021-22 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 vs. Murray State on Feb. 21.
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