Game 29 - Missouri State Bears (14-14, 10-8 MVC) vs. Murray State Racers (15-13, 10-8 MVC)
Date and Time	Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 | 6:05 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 Lower-Level Tickets | Hat Giveaway | Rebound Foundation Game | Wear Maroon Season Promos
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	CBS Sports Network (Meghan McPeak, Steve Wolf) | Watch
Series	Murray State leads 4-3 | Last Meeting: MUR 74, MSU 71 (1/28/23) | Box Score
Live Stats	Live Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State | Murray State | 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 concludes the regular season at Indiana St., on Sunday, Feb. 26 | 1 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 wraps up the home portion of its 2022-23 season Tuesday (6 p.m., CBS Sports Network) when the Bears entertain Valley newcomer Murray State at Great Southern Bank Arena. The Bears (9-4) are looking to secure their 10th home victory of the season, a milestone the team has secured in 5 of the previous 6 seasons.  
• Tuesday's game is the annual Rebound Foundation Game. 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. To pledge to the Rebound Challenge, click the Pledge Link.
• Over the last 6 games, Chance Moore (So., Brookhaven, Ga.) is averaging 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 3-pointers per game. He has been the Bears' first sub 15 times this season and is the top-scoring bench player in the MVC.
• Missouri State's 11.25 offensive rebounds per game leads The Valley and ranks 81st nationally. Jonathan Mogbo (Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla.) is 4th in the league in overall rebounding (7.1) and 2nd in offensive rebounding (2.54).
• During Dana Ford's tenure at MSU, the Bears are 52-20 (.722) at Great Southern Bank Arena. MoState has secured a winning home record (9-4 so far in 2022-23) for the 52nd straight season, a milestone that has encompassed three different home venues.
• Since the start of 2023, Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) has scored in double figures 12 times in 13 games (9 points vs. SIU on Jan. 21), while averaging 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.  
• Kendle Moore (Sr., Danville, Ill.) has 208 career 3-pointers which ranks 119th among all active DI players. The transfer from Colorado State has played 146 career games and racked up 1,213 points in his career.
• Missouri State's Jonathan Mogbo (14.3 ppg) and Murray State's Brian Moore (21.3 ppg) were the top two scorers for a 19-11 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M team last season. Mogbo also averaged a team-best 10.3 rebounds per game. Both players shot over 50 percent from the field.
• 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. 
• Donovan Clay is 30 points from cracking MSU's top 100 career scorers. Clay has 585 points in 60 games as a Bear. He is also 10 assists from 100 on the season, a milestone no Bear has reached since 2018-19 (Josh Webster).
• The Bears have eclipsed 200 3-pointers for the sixth time in seven years. The team's 221 triples this winter ranks 10th in program history, while its 7.89 threes per game is 2nd. 
• MSU ranks 30th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 63.5 points per game this season. In Valley games, the Bears have allowed just 63.7 points per game, with an adjusted scoring defense of 62.4 in regulation of MVC contests. Likewise, the Bears have allowed just 59.0 points per game at home this season.
• Missouri State has out-rebounded its last 4 opponents (+6.0 margin) and matched or out-rebouned 18-of-28 opponents this season. The Bears have also collected 10 or more offensive caroms in 8 of the last 9 games (12.2 per game). 
• The Bears have 7 losses this season by 4 points or less and are 6-7 in games decided by 6 points or less.
• MoState's three straight 10-win seasons in MVC play under Dana Ford is the program's first such run since 2005-07.
• The Bears rank 57th nationally and 2nd in the MVC in blocks per game (4.21). MSU has 4 or more blocks in 7 of its last 8 games and is coming off 6 rejections in Saturday's loss to Northern Iowa.

The Series

• The Bears and Racers have played seven times with Murray State leading 4-3 in the series, including four previous meetings in the postseason. 
• The clubs met twice in the NAIA national playoffs with Murray State winning an opening-round game in 1943, and the Bears returning the favor in the 1952 national championship game. Also in the postseason,  Missouri State defeated Murray State, 89-76 in the first round of the NIT at Great Southern Bank Arena (3/15/11). The Racers avenged the loss in the second round of the 2014 CIT, defeating the Bears, 66-63, in Springfield (3/19/14).  
• The clubs last played in Springfield on 12/3/19. Keandre Cook scored 9 of his 15 points in the final 93 seconds of the game to help lead Missouri State to a thrilling 71-69 victory.
• In their first meeting as Valley foes (1/28/23), Murray State made 14-of-17 free throws in the second half and held off a late surge from the visiting Bears in a 74-71 decision. The Bears were led by a career-high 22 points from Alston Mason and 14 points from Donovan Clay, while Damien Mayo Jr. notched a career-high 13, and Jonathan Mogbo racked up 10 points and 16 rebounds in the loss. Murray State got 17 points apiece from Rob Perry and Brian Moore Jr. The decisive swing came with a 9-0 run from the Racers that included four straight trips to the free throw line. After Clay's layup on a lob from Mason gave Missouri State a 55-53 lead at the 10:52 mark, the visitors went scoreless for nearly five minutes while the Racers made their run. | Box Score

Coach Dana Ford

• Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 86-65 (.570) in his fifth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 52-20 (.722) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 27-34 record in away games, and 7-11 mark at neutral sites. He is now 143-130 (.524) in his ninth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 54-36 (.600) in Valley games (29-16 at home, 25-20 away). 
• Coach Ford is 2-5 vs. Murray State (1-2 as head coach of the Bears).
• 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