Game 28 - Missouri State Bears (14-13, 10-7 MVC) vs. Northern Iowa Panthers (12-15, 8-9 MVC)
Date and Time	Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023 | 3:02 p.m. (Central)
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets	Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Great Southern Bank Arena Box Office
Promotions &       Specials	$5 Tickets | 90s Night Giveaway - MSU Tank Top, Scarf | SAAC Food Drive | Wear White |  Season Promos |  Hall of Fame Weekend
Fan Info	Digital Game Program | Gates open at 2:00 p.m.
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Don West, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live Varsity Network App
Television	ESPN3 (Tom Ackerman, Danan Hughes) | Watch
Series	Missouri State leads 46-39 | Last Meeting: MSU 79, UNI 67 (12/28/22) | Box Score
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State | UNI | MVC Weekly Notebook | 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 Murray State on Tuesday, Feb. 21 | 6 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 returns to Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m., ESPN3) when the Bears host Northern Iowa. The Bears have won 2 of their last 3 games overall and are looking to secure their 10th home victory of the season, a milestone the team has secured in 5 of the previous 6 seasons.  
• Since the start of 2023, Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) has scored in double figures 11 times in 12 games (9 points vs. SIU on Jan. 21), while averaging 16.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.  
• By securing their 10th Valley victory of the season on Feb. 12 at Evansville, the Bears have reeled off 10 or more league wins in three straight seasons, a feat that has eluded the Bears since a three-year stretch under Barry Hinson from 2005-07. MoState has finished .500 or better in Valley play all five seasons under coach Dana Ford.
• During Dana Ford's tenure at MSU, the Bears are 52-19 (.732) at Great Southern Bank Arena. MoState has secured a winning home record (9-3 so far in 2022-23) for the 52nd straight season, a milestone that has encompassed three different home venues.
• Kendle Moore (Sr., Danville, Ill.) has 206 career 3-pointers which ranks 115th among all active DI players. The transfer from Colorado State has played 145 career games and racked up 1,203 points in his career.
• N.J. Benson (Fr., Mt. Vernon, Ill.) is coming off a career-high 12 rebounds in Wednesday's game at Bradley. Benson saw 26 minutes (also a career high) in his 12th appearance of the Valley season. 
• The Bears have used 14 different starting lineups this season, the program's most since the 2012-13 season (14). In Division I basketball, only Coppin State (19) and Eastern Michigan (15) have used more starting lineups this season. 
• Alston Mason (So., Overland Park, Kan.) ranks 2nd in the MVC in FT percentage (.923) against league opponents, making 36-of-39 at the line in Valley contests. He has scored in double figures in 6 of his last 7 games, averaging 16.6 points and 5.3 assists per game in that span.
• Over the last 5 games, Chance Moore (So., Brookhaven, Ga.) is averaging 12.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He has been the Bears' first sub 14 times this season and has 243 of Missouri State's league-leading 627 bench points.
• In Valley games, Donovan Clay ranks 10th in the league in scoring (14.6), 8th in assists (3.4) and 4th in blocks (1.33).
• The Bears have eclipsed 200 3-pointers on the season (213), marking the sixth time in seven years MSU has reached that milestone. The team's 7.89 threes per game currently ranks 2nd all-time in program history. 
• MSU ranks 28th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 63.3 points per game this season. In Valley games, the Bears have allowed just 63.4 points per game, with an adjusted scoring defense of 62.1 in regulation of MVC contests.
• Since Jan. 1 (14 games), Jonathan Mogbo (West Palm Beach, Fla.) is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game with 7 games of 10 or more boards. His 8.29 rebound average in Valley play ranks 2nd in the league to UNI's Tytan Anderson (8.59). 
• 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 rank 62nd nationally and 2nd in the MVC in blocks per game (4.15) with Mogbo (1.2) ranking 4th in the league and Clay (0.9) ranking 11th. 

The Series

• The Bears are 46-39 all-time against Northern Iowa in a series that dates back to 1983 when the clubs were charter members of the Mid-Continent Conference. MSU is 23-16 at home against the Panthers (3-10 at Great Southern Banke Arena), 21-21 in Cedar Falls (5-13 at McLeod) and 2-2 at neutral sites against the Panthers.
• Last year in Springfield (1/8/22), UNI made 20-of-22 free throws in the second half with A.J. Green scoring 33 points on 13-of-14 foul shots to steal an 85-84 win. The Panthers had no answers for MSU's Isiaih Mosley who fired in a career-high 43 points -- the third-largest scoring game in Bears history and tops of its Division I era -- while he drained 5 treys and posted game highs in rebounds (9) and assists (4). The Bears who had just 4 turnovers and drained 12 threes.
• MoState avenged that game earlier this season with a 79-67 win in Cedar Falls (12/28/22). The Bears got 24 points and 11 rebounds from Dalen Ridgnal and shot 55 percent from the field for their third straight 50-percent effort. MSU also got double-figure scoring efforts from Kendle Moore with 15 points, Chance Moore and Damien Mayo Jr. with 13 apiece, and Jonathan Mogbo with 10 points and 4 assists. The Panthers were led by Bowen Born with 21 points and Tytan Anderson scored 15 points and snagged 6 boards 
• The Bears extended an 11-point halftime lead to 55-37 with just under 12 minutes to play and rode the momentum to the finish line for the program's 750th Division I victory. | Box Score

Coach Dana Ford

• Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 86-64 (.573) in his fifth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 52-19 (.732) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 27-34 record in away games, and 7-11 mark at neutral sites. He is now 143-129 (.526) in his ninth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 54-35 (.607) in Valley games (29-15 at home, 25-20 away). 
• Coach Ford is 2-7 vs. Northern Iowa (2-4 in Cedar Falls, 0-3 in Springfield).
• He picked up his 100th career victory on Feb. 7, 2021 with a Bears' win 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, while his OT victory at Drake (1/18/23) was his 50th MVC win.
• 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