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Basketball Bears Set for Clash in Carbondale

February 03, 2023

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 24 - Missouri State Bears (12-11, 8-5 MVC) at  Southern Illinois Salukis (17-7, 9-4 MVC)
Date and Time Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023 | 1:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Bantera Center (8,284), Carbondale, Ill.
Tickets Tickets | (877) 725-8547
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 (John Rooney, Rich Zvosec)
ESPN+ (outside of Valley footprint only)
Series Southern Illinois leads 51-43 | Last Meeting: SIU 61, MSU 57 (1/21/23) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Southern Illinois | MVC Weekly Release | MSU Media Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Up Next MSU returns home on Wednesday, Feb. 8 vs. Belmont (6 p.m.) | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • With wins in 2 of its last 3 contests, Missouri State squares off with Valley co-leader Southern Illinois on Sunday (1 p.m., MVC-TV Network) with an opportunity to gain ground on the league front-runners. The Bears are looking to avenge a 61-57 home loss to the Salukis on Jan. 21. MSU starts the weekend 1 game out of first place in the MVC standings. 
  • Sunday's game will be the 95th all-time meeting between the Bears and Salukis, dating back to 1957. SIU leads the series 51-43, snapping MSU's 5-game series win streak on Jan. 21 in Springfield. The Bears would like to return the favor by winning at Bantera Center for the 3rd straight season and snapping SIU's current 8-game home win streak. 
  • Bears head coach Dana Ford grew up in nearby Tamms, Illinois, some 37 miles from Carbondale. He scored a school record 2,222 points at Egyptian High School, started every game during his four-year career (1999-2002) and earned Class A first-team all-state honors by the Associated Press and the IBCA.
  • MoState has played 3 overtime games in Valley play this season (2-1), the team's most since 2016-17 (5).  
  • Alston Mason (So., Overland Park, Kan.) has eclipsed his career scoring high in 3 straight games, posting 19 points vs. UIC (1/24/23), 22 at Murray State (1/28/23) and 27 in Wednesday's game vs. Valpo (2/1/23). In that span, he is averaging a team-best 22.7 points in addition to 6.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 3-pointers with a 45.5 FG percentage (20-of-44) and 91.7 FT percentage (22-for-24). 
  • During his tenure at Missouri State, head coach Dana Ford is 24-11 in the month of February. The Bears were 6-2 in February last season, which catapulted them to the No. 2 seed at Arch Madness. Ford is also 24-18 in Valley road games with the Bears, the most MVC road wins by any conference team in that span.
  • Over the last 4 games, Jonathan Mogbo (Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla.) is averaging 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game with 3 double-doubles and a 65.7 FG percentage (23-of-35). He racked up a career-high 17 points in Wednesday's win over Valparaiso, converting 7-of-11 field goals in his 12th straight start.
  • Mogbo has also racked up 11 dunks over the last 4 games, giving him 26 flushes on the season, which ranks No. 6 on Missouri State's single-season dunk chart. He is 2 dunks away from Tulio Da Silva (2019-20) for the No. 5 position.
  • The Bears rank 56th nationally -- and tops in the MVC -- in bench points per game (24.65). MSU also ranks 8th nationally in bench minutes (42.2 pct.). MSU's bench has outscored its opponent's reserves in 19-of-23 games this year.
  • Dalen Ridgnal (Sr., Kansas City, Mo.) is Missouri State's top 3-point shooter in road games, burying 48.3 percent of his shots behind the arc (14-of-29) away from home, while converting 50.0 percent of his field goals (20-of-40) overall.
  • The Bears rank 59th nationally -- and 2nd in the MVC -- in blocks per game (4.2) with Mogbo's 1.2 blocks per game leading the team and ranking 3rd in the MVC.
  • Damien Mayo Jr. (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) has made 2 straight starts and is averaging 8.0 points and 2.0 assists per game in that span with a 50-percent FG percentage (6-for-12). 
  • MSU ranks 29th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 63.2 points per game this season (also 63.2 in MVC games). Likewise, SIU ranks 13th nationally and tops in the MVC, allowing just 61.2 points per game this season.
The Series
  • SIU leads the all-time series, 51-43, in a rivalry that dates back to 1957. MSU is 26-16 at home (10-6 at Great Southern Bank Arena), 11-28 all-time in Carbondale, and 6-7 at three different neutral sites against the Salukis.
  • A 61-57 Salukis win in Springfield on 1/21/23 snapped a five-game win streak by the Bears in the series.
  • In that contest, MSU trimmed an 11-point deficit to just two in the final minute but ultimately could not catch SIU. The Salukis had four players score in double figures, including a team-high 11 points from Lance Jones who knocked down three 3-pointers. But it was Xavier Johnson who hit the game's biggest shot, burying a game-clinching mid-range jumper on SIU's final possession of the night. 
  • Earlier, Chance Moore's 3-pointer by the Bears drew the home club within 45-42 with 9:25 to go. But the Bears went cold for the next four minutes, while a 10-2 run by SIU in that span put the Salukis ahead 55-44, their biggest lead of the game. Later, a dunk-back by Jonathan Mogbo made it a 59-54 contest with 1:25 remaining. Then, after getting a defensive stop on SIU's next possession, the Bears turned to Kendle Moore for a huge three from the right wing to make it a 59-57 contest with 42 seconds left. But as the shot clock expired on SIU's next trip down, Johnson's jumper found its mark and secured SIU's victory.  Mogbo scored a game-high 14 points for the Bears on 6-of-9 field goals to go with 11 rebounds in securing his third double-double of the year. Donovan Clay had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. | Box Score
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 84-62 (.575) in his fifth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 51-19 (.729) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 26-32 record in away games, and 7-11 mark at neutral sites. He is now 141-127 (.526) in his ninth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 52-33 (.612) in Valley games (28-15 at home, 24-18 away). 
  • Coach Ford is 6-5 vs. SIU overall, including a 6-3 ledger as MSU head coach. He is 2-3 in Carbondale against the Salukis.
  • 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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