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Rematch with Bradley Up Next for Basketball Bears

February 13, 2023

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 27 - Missouri State Bears (14-12, 10-6 MVC) at  Bradley Braves (19-8, 12-4 MVC)
Date and Time Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023 | 7:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Carver Arena (11,433) | Peoria, Illinois
Tickets Tickets | (309) 677-2625
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Don West, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live | Varsity Network
Television ESPN+ (Brian Bedo, Matt McClain) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 43-26 | Last Meeting: BU 58, MSU 40 (12/3/22) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Bradley | MVC Weekly Release | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Bears Mobile App App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next MSU hosts Northern Iowa on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State wraps a two-game Valley road swing Wednesday when the Bears square off with MVC co-leader Bradley (7 p.m., ESPN+) from Carver Arena in Peoria. The Bears have reeled off two straight league wins and are gunning for their fifth conference road win of the season. Bradley has won five in a row and is 12-1 at home this winter.  
  • Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) led MSU to a 2-0 week last week with inspired efforts in wins over first-place Belmont and upstart Evansville. Clay tallied 18 points vs. Belmont, including 14 points in the second half, with 5 assists. He followed that with 17 points and 5 rebounds at UE with his two free throws in the final minute sealing the win. For the week, Clay averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists with a .520 FG percent, 50 percent from three and 7-for-7 FT's.
  • With their win over Evansville on Sunday, the Bears secured their 10th Valley victory of the season, marking the fourth time in five years under coach Dana Ford -- and third straight season -- MSU has reached that milestone. The Bears had not reeled off 10 league wins in three straight seasons since 2005-07 under Barry Hinson. MoState has finished .500 or better in every season under Ford.
  • During Dana Ford's tenure at MSU, the Bears have won 25 Valley road games, second only to Drake's 26 in that span.
  • Kendle Moore (Sr., Danville, Ill.) has 206 career 3-pointers which ranks 110th among all active DI players. He has knocked down 7 threes over the last 2 games.
  • Missouri State is 3-1 so far in February and 26-12 under Dana Ford in February games. 
  • The Bears have used 14 different starting lineups this season, the program's most since the 2012-13 season (14)j. All 13 Missouri State players who have seen action have started at least once. 
  • Alston Mason (So., Overland Park, Kan.) turns 21 on Wednesday. Since returning to the starting lineup (last 6 games), Mason is leading the team in scoring (17.0), 3-pointers (11), FT percentage (.931) and assists (34) in that span.
  • Over the last 4 games, Chance Moore (So., Brookhaven, Ga.) is averaging 12.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. His 3 treys in the final two minutes of Sunday's game at Evansville were instrumental in MSU's win. He has been the Bears' first sub 13 times this season and has accounted for 232 of Missouri State's league-leading 607 bench points.
  • Bradley (+3.8) and Missouri State (+3.6) represent the top teams in the Valley in rebound margin.
  • The Bears have eclipsed 200 3-pointers on the season (206), marking the sixth time in seven years MSU has reached that milestone. The team's 7.92 threes per game currently ranks 2nd all-time in program history. 
  • MSU ranks 30th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 63.3 points per game this season. 
  • Over the last 7 games, Jonathan Mogbo (Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla.) is averaging 10.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game with a .660 FG percentage, 3 double-doubles. His 8.6 rpg in MVC games ranks second 2nd in the league.
  • MoState is 6-6 in games decided by two possessions or less (1 to 6 points), including a 6-2 mark in Valley contests.
  • The Bears ranks 59th nationally and 2nd in the MVC in blocks per game (4.15) with Mogbo (1.2) ranking 3rd in the league and Clay (0.9) ranking 10th. Bradley's Malevy Leons leads the league in blocks per game (1.6).
  • Missouri State is 10-3 this season when it has 3 or more players scoring in double figures.
The Series
  • The series between Missouri State and Bradley dates back to 1991 when the Bears joined the MVC. Missouri State leads the rivalry, 43-26. The Bears are 26-7 at home (12-4 at Great Southern Bank Arena), 14-17 in Peoria, and 3-2 at neutral sites against BU.
  • Missouri State swept the 2021-22 series against Bradley, starting with a 71-69 win in Peoria on 1/5/22 behind a clutch 3-pointer at the buzzer from Isiaih Mosley. In the encore in Springfield on 2/23/22, Mosley scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while the Bears shot 53.2 percent from the field in an 83-67 win. Donovan Clay also added 17 points and 7 rebounds on a 7-for-7 shooting effort.
  • Earlier this season in Springfield (12/3/22), Bradley ran away with a 58-40 win at Great Southern Bank Arena in catching the Bears on the heels of a four-game, nine-day road trip. Bradley went to all-conference post Rienk Mast early and often in the second half as the 6-foot-9 junior accounted for six of the Braves' first eight points of the final period and pushed them up 34-22 with his hook shot at the 17-minute mark. Bradley then capped a 19-4 run to give the Braves their largest lead of the night, 58-36. Mast was the game's only double-figure scorer with 15 points, while Malevy Leons tallied 8 points and 10 boards for the visitors. Kendle Moore and N.J. Benson led MSU with 7 points apiece, while Donovan Clay's had 6 rebounds. | Box Score
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 86-63 (.577) in his fifth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 52-19 (.732) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 27-33 record in away games, and 7-11 mark at neutral sites. He is now 143-128 (.528) in his ninth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 54-34 (.614) in Valley games (29-15 at home, 25-19 away). 
  • Coach Ford is 6-4 all-time against Bradley (4-2 at home, 2-2 in Peoria).
  • 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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