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Men's Basketball MSU Athletics Communications

Bears Hit the Road for Saturday Showdown at Valpo

Game 21 - Missouri State Bears (11-9, 3-6 MVC) at Valparaiso Beacons (6-14, 2-7 MVC)
Date and Time Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024 | 3:00 p.m. (Central)
Location ARC (5,000) | Valparaiso, Indiana
Tickets ValpoAthletics.com | (219) 464-5233
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live |
The Varsity Network App
Television ESPN+ (Todd Ickow, Jamie Stanel) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 26-10 | Last Meeting: MSU 76, Valpo 67 (ot) (3/1/23) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Valparaiso | MVC Weekly Release | MSU Media Guide
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Up Next Bears travel to Southern Illinois on Wednesday, Jan. 31 (7 p.m.)
Next home game: Saturday, Feb. 3 vs. Belmont (1 p.m.) - KC Wolf Visit | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Fresh off a thrilling, double-overtime home win over No. 43 (NET) Drake on Wednesday, Missouri State begins a two-game Valley road swing Saturday at Valparaiso (3 p.m., ESPN+). The Beacons have won two of their last four MVC contests and are 5-6 at home this season. 
  • Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.), who played his first two seasons at Valparaiso, eclipsed 800 career rebounds in Wednesday's win over Drake. Meanwhile, his 913 points in 84 games at Missouri State ranks 37th on MSU's career scoring list and is 87 points shy of becoming the 32nd Bear to eclipse 1,000 points for the maroon and white. Among all active DI players, Clay ranks 15th in career games played (147), 33rd in rebounds (807), 34th in blocks (155), 83rd in points (1,524) and 104th in assists (342). Clay turns 23 on Monday.
  • Alston Mason (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) is coming off a career-high 36 points in Wednesday's win over Drake, including 23 in the second half and 29 after halftime (including the overtime periods). He also shattered a Great Southern Bank Arena record for FG attempts (28). His outburst matched the 18th-best single-game scoring effort in MSU history and marked the most points by a Bear since Isiaih Mosley's 40-point effort at Loyola on Jan. 22, 2022. He ranks 79th nationally in scoring average (18.2), which is 4th in the MVC.
  • Since 2020-21, the Bears are 19-13 in Valley road games. Likewise, during coach Dana Ford's six seasons as head coach at Missouri State, the Bears have won 27 MVC road games, second only to Drake's 29 in that same span. Coach Ford is 13-4 in Valley road games played in the state of Indiana.
  • Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) has made 36 straight starts. In Wednesday's win over Drake, Clay drew the toughest defensive assignment on the floor and held MVC Preseason Player of the Year Tucker DeVries scoreless for the game's final 30 minutes, including all of the second half and both overtime periods. 
  • The Bears logged a season-high 53 rebounds on Wednesday, including 22 offensive caroms. MSU ranks 18th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (28.90) and also leads The Valley in total rebounds per game (38.90) and rebound margin (+4.2). N.J. Benson (So., Mt. Vernon, Ill.) ranks 2nd in the MVC and 79th nationally in offensive rebounding (2.85).
  • With the club's win over Drake, head coach Dana Ford (100-75) became the 8th MSU coach to reach 100 wins.
  • With their 97 blocks in 20 games (4.85 bpg), the Bears rank 35th nationally and 2nd in The Valley. They are also on pace to break the club single-season blocks record (140), set last season. N.J. Benson leads the way with 40 rejections on the season (22nd nationally) and 2.0 blocks per game (31st), both of which rank 2nd in the MVC. 
  • MoState standouts Chance Moore (Jr., Brookhaven, Ga.) and Alston Mason (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) will be playing in their 50th games as Bears. Moore has 524 points and 217 rebounds through his first 49 games in Springfield, while Mason has racked up 635 points and 110 assists in the same span. Mason also has multiple assists in 31 straight games.
  • The Bears rank 44th nationally in 3-point FG% defense (.305) -- 3rd in The Valley -- and 63rd in total FG% defense (.412), which now leads the MVC.
The Series
  • Missouri State leads the all-time series with Valpo, 26-10, including a 12-4 record at Valpo. 
  • The Bears have won 7 straight games in the series since being bounced from Arch Madness by Valpo (with Donovan Clay) in 2020. The Bears have three straight season sweeps since.
  • In the only game between the clubs last season (2/1/23) in Springfield, Alston Mason scored 12 of his game-high (and then career-high) 27 points in the last three minutes of regulation and overtime to help lift Missouri State to a 76-67 win over visiting Valparaiso. Mason never came out of the game, playing all 45 minutes of the overtime contest, while dishing out 9 assists and burying three clutch triples to help the Bears weather a 10-0 run by the Beacons late in regulation.
  • After the Bears took a 54-51 lead with 6:32 left in regulation, Valpo went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 61-54 with 3:11 left in the game. Quinton Green caught fire to spark the run by the visitors, pushing home the Beacons first five points of the outburst before Ben Krikke and Nick Ewards followed suit. Mason and James Graham combined for three 3-pointers over a 90-second span to draw MoState within 65-63 in the final minute. Then after a missed trey on Valpo's last offensive possession, Chance Moore gathered in the rebound and got the ball to Mason who was fouled and made both free throws at 22.5 seconds, to force overtime.  
  • In the extra period, Mason gave the Bears a five-point lead with a reverse layup midway through the extra period. Missouri State's defense then stepped up again with a steal by Moore, a rebound by Mogbo and a block by Moore giving the Bears the energy they needed to gain separation as part of a 16-0 run by the Bears.
  • See page 8 of game notes for complete series history.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 100-75 (.571) in his sixth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 59-23 (.720) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 30-40 record in away games, and 11-12 mark at neutral sites. He is now 157-140 (.529) in his tenth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 59-42 (.584) in Valley games (32-19 at home, 27-23 away). He landed his 100th win at Missouri State on Jan. 24 vs. Drake.
  • Coach Ford is 9-3 all-time against Valpo (3-1 at home, 4-1 away, 2-1 neutral).
  • He picked up his 150th career win on Nov. 20, 2023 with the Bears' 87-69 win over Abilene Christian in the Virgin Islands and his 100th career victory on Feb. 7, 2021 with a Bears' win at Illinois State (72-62). He coached his 100th game at Missouri State on Dec. 15, 2021 vs. South Dakota State. His win over Oakland on Nov. 27, 2022 in The Bahamas was his 75th victory at MSU, while his OT victory at Drake on Jan. 18, 2023 was his 50th MVC win.
  • In 2022-23, the new-look Bears featured 14 new faces and ultimately turned the squad into Valley contenders. The Bears landed an All-MVC selection in second-teamer Donovan Clay and All-Bench Team honoree Chance Moore. Clay, who was also on the MVC All-Defensive Team, led the Bears in scoring (11.9 ppg) and assists (108) while becoming the first Bear since 2018-19 to reach the century mark in assists. Moore averaged 10.6 points per game and racked up 17 double-figure scoring games.
  • Ford's fifth season in Springfield concluded with a 12-8 conference record, making him the first sideline boss in program history to collect a dozen or more conference wins in three straight seasons. The Bears allowed just 63.2 points per game on the year, which ranked 24th nationally and was the club's best scoring defense in more than a decade. MSU also eclipsed its season record for blocked shots (140) -- a mark that had held for nearly a quarter century -- and ranked second in The Valley in rejections.
  • 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, 39, earned the Ben Jobe Award in 2016 as the nation's top Division I minority coach, a distinction he has been nominated for three times. 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 (Clippers) and Fred Van Vleet (Rockets).
  • Ford was recognized by 417 Magazine as one of its top 100 most-influential professionals in 2022 and 2023. He also serves on the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee. 
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.
  • This year's Rebound Foundation Game is Saturday, Feb. 17 vs. Valparaiso
  • Pledge to assist the Rebound Challenge today! Pledge Link
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Players Mentioned

James Graham

#21 James Graham

G/F
6' 7"
Junior
N.J. Benson

#35 N.J. Benson

F
6' 8"
Sophomore
Donovan Clay

#5 Donovan Clay

G/F
6' 8"
Senior
Alston Mason

#1 Alston Mason

G
6' 2"
Junior
Chance Moore

#0 Chance Moore

G
6' 6"
Junior

Players Mentioned

James Graham

#21 James Graham

6' 7"
Junior
G/F
N.J. Benson

#35 N.J. Benson

6' 8"
Sophomore
F
Donovan Clay

#5 Donovan Clay

6' 8"
Senior
G/F
Alston Mason

#1 Alston Mason

6' 2"
Junior
G
Chance Moore

#0 Chance Moore

6' 6"
Junior
G

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