Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Missouri State

Mayo-238523

Bears Begin Second Half of Valley Slate in Carbondale

January 29, 2024

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 22 - Missouri State Bears (12-9, 4-6 MVC) at Southern Illinois Salukis (14-7, 6-4 MVC)
Date and Time Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024 | 7:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Bantera Center (8,284) | Carbondale, Illinois
Tickets SIUSalukis.com | (877) SALUKIS
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live |
The Varsity Network App
Television ESPN+ (Noah Reed, Mike Trude) | Watch
Series Southern Illinois leads 53-43 | Last Meeting: SIU 54, MSU 51 (3/3/23) | 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
Bears Mobile App App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next Saturday, Feb. 3 vs. Belmont (1 p.m.) - KC Wolf Visit | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State closes out the month of January and begins the second half of The Valley schedule this Wednesday when the Bears travel to Carbondale to square off with the rival Salukis at Bantera Center (7 p.m./ESPN+) in the only scheduled meeting between the squads this season. MoState has earned victories in two of its last three MVC road contests and is looking for a third straight league victory overall. 
  • Alston Mason (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) is this week's MVC Player of the Week after he averaged 29.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 threes and 6.0 assists as part of a 2-0 week for MSU. His 36-point effort against Drake last Wednesday 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. 
  • Mason is 18 points away from 700 for his collegiate career (68 games) and 7 threes from 100. He leads The Valley in minutes per game (35.29), which is 31st nationally, while ranking 4th in the MVC in scoring (18.4), 3-point FG percentage (.378) and 3-pointers per game (2.68).
  • In Valley games, the Bears boast 3 of the league's top 5 shot blockers, including     No. 2 N.J. Benson (1.60), No. 3 Donovan Clay (1.50) and No. 5 Chance Moore (1.22). Nationally, Benson ranks 26th in total blocks (41) and 33rd in blocks per game (1.95), both of which rank 2nd in The Valley. As a team, the Bears have 104 blocks in 21 games (4.95 bpg) which ranks 29th nationally and puts MSU on pace to break the club single-season blocks record (140), set last season.
  • Since 2020-21, the Bears are 20-13 in Valley road games. Likewise, during coach Dana Ford's six seasons as head coach at Missouri State, the Bears have won 28 MVC road games, second only to Drake's 29 in that same span.
  • Cesare Edwards (Jr., Hartsville, S.C.) averaged 14.0 points and a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game last week, including 10 points in overtime vs. Drake and his first career double-double (16 pts., 11 reb.) at Valparaiso on Saturday.
  • Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) needs 69 points to reach 1,000 at Missouri State (85 games). He would be the 32nd player in program history to do so. Among all active DI players, Clay ranks 15th in career games played (148), 34th in blocks (157), 35th in rebounds (813) and     83rd in points (1,542). He has started 37 straight games for the Bears.
  • The Bears have scored 80 points in back-to-back Valley games for the first time since Feb. 23-26, 2022 (vs. Bradley and at Evansville). The last time MSU hit the 80-point plateau in three straight league games was Jan. 1-9, 2007.
  • MoState leads the MVC in defensive FG percentage (.409), while KenPom ranks the Bears 34th nationally in effective FG% defense (.463), 46th in 2-point FG% defense (.463) and 46th in 3-point FG% defense (.310).
  • 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.
  • Over their last 5 games, the Bears have held their opponents to a collective .417 FG percentage and maintained a +6.6 rebound margin. Mason is averaging 21.8 points per game during that stretch.
The Series
  • SIU leads the all-time series, 53-43, in a rivalry that dates back to 1957. MSU is 26-16 at home (10-6 at Great Southern Bank Arena), 11-29 all-time in Carbondale, and 6-8 at neutral sites. SIU swept all three meetings between the clubs last year.
  • A 61-57 Salukis win in Springfield on 1/21/23 snapped a five-game Bears win streak in the series. MSU trimmed an 11-point deficit to two on a triple by Kendle Moore with 42 seconds to go before fading late. The Salukis had four players score in double figures, including a team-high 11 points from Lance Jones, but it was Xavier Johnson's game-winning mid-range jumper on SIU's final possession that stole the spotlight. Jonathan Mogbo scored a game-high 14 points for the Bears with 11 rebounds, while Donovan Clay had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
  • In the rematch in Carbondale (2/5/23), A decisive 18-2 run over a seven-minute stretch in the second half propelled SIU to a 73-53 win. Lance Jones (18) and Troy D'Amico (15) led SIU which racked up a dozen steals and nine 3-pointers. The Bears got 14 points apiece from Chance Moore and Alston Mason. MoState cut a double-figure deficit to four late behind a runner by Damien Mayo Jr. and a triple by Alston Mason to make it 50-46. But the Salukis responded with the 18-2 stretch to put things away.
  • The rubber match at Arch Madness (3/3/23) was a defensive war that featured nine ties and eight lead changes in a 54-51 Saluki win. The Bears were led by a game-high 18 points from Donovan Clay, including 11 in the second half, while Chance Moore added 10 points. The Salukis got 17 points by Marcus Domansk and 13 from Xavier Johnson. Damien Mayo Jr.'s close-range bucket with 9:05 to go gave the Bears a six-point lead, but a decisive 13-0 outburst over the next seven minutes to put it away for the No. 3 seeded SIU club.
  • See page 8 of game notes for complete series history.
Coach Dana Ford
  • Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 101-75 (.574) in his sixth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 59-23 (.720) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 31-40 record in away games, and 11-12 mark at neutral sites. He is now 158-140 (.530) in his tenth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 60-42 (.588) in Valley games (32-19 at home, 28-23 away). He landed his 100th win at Missouri State on Jan. 24 vs. Drake.
  • Coach Ford is 6-7 vs. SIU overall, including a 6-5 ledger as MSU head coach (2-3 in Carbondale, 4-1 in Springfield, and 0-1 in St. Louis).
  • 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
Print Friendly Version

Sponsors