Game 23 - Missouri State Bears (13-9, 5-6 MVC) vs.  Belmont Bruins 12-10 (5-6 MVC)
Date and Time	Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. (Central)
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets	Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Great Southern Bank Arena Box Office
Promos & Specials	KC Wolf Visit (Starting at Noon) | Black History Month Celebration | $5 Upper-Level Tickets  2023-24 Promo Calendar
Fan Info	Digital Program | Gates Open at 12:00 p.m.
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live | The Varsity Network App
Television	ESPN+ (Telly Hughes, Dan Muller) | Watch
Series	Series tied, 1-1 | Last Meeting: MSU 61, BEL 59 (2/8/23) | Box Score
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State | Belmont | 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	The Bears travel to Northern Iowa on Wednesday, Feb. 7 (7:00 p.m.) Next Home Game: Saturday, Feb. 10 vs. Indiana State (1:00 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 when the Bears look to extend their three-game Valley win streak against visiting Belmont (1 p.m./ESPN+). The game will feature a visit from Kansas City Chiefs mascot KC Wolf who will meet fans and pose for photos starting at Noon. Upper-level tickets for the game are available for $5 for adults and $3 for children (12 and under). It is also the annual Black History Month celebration game. 
• The Bears start the month of February No. 135 in the NET rankings, up 24 spots in the past two weeks. The Valley boasts six teams in the top 150, including: Indiana State (24), Drake (52), Bradley (59), UNI (106), SIU (112) and MoState.
• This week's MVC Player of the Week Alston Mason (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) is 5 points away from 700 for his collegiate career (69 games) and 6 threes from 100. He leads The Valley in minutes per game (35.50), which is 25th nationally, while ranking 4th in the MVC in scoring (18.1) and 3-pointers per game (2.60). He has scored in double figures in 18-of-20 games this season, including 7 in a row (19.9 ppg in that span).
• Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) needs 45 points to reach 1,000 at Missouri State (86 games). He would be the 32nd player in program history to do so. Among all active DI players, Clay ranks 13th in career games played (149), 33rd in rebounds (820), 35th in blocks (157) and 75th in scoring (1,566). He has started 38 straight games for the Bears and will be playing in his 150th career game Saturday. Clay is coming off a career-high 24 points at Southern Illinois on 12-of-17 field goals. 
• Over the last 3 games, Cesare Edwards (Jr., Hartsville, S.C.) is averaging 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, all off the bench, while making 10-of-11 (.909) at the line in that span. He posted 12 points and 9 rebounds at SIU on Wednesday. 
• Chance Moore (Jr., Brookhaven, Ga.) tallied 13 points in Wednesday's win at SIU, going 5-of-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc in the overtime victory. It marked his first double-figure scoring effort since Jan. 10  vs. Murray St..
• Rapidly earning a reputation as one of the league's top defenders, Damien Mayo Jr. (So., St. Louis, Mo.) racked up 12 points in the club's win at SIU this week, giving him back-to-back double-figure scoring games for the first time in his career. He is averaging 8.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game during MSU's current win streak and has converted 10 of his last 16 field goal attempts. Saturday's game will mark his 50th career game (32 starts in first 49 games).
• MoState leads The Valley in FG percentage defense (.410), which is 57th nationally, while its 5.0 blocks per game ranks 30th in Division I. The Bears also lead the MVC in rebound margin (4.2), total rebounds per game (39.0) and defensive rebounds per game (28.91). MSU's defensive rebounding average ranks 16th nationally.
• NJ Benson (So., Mt. Vernon, Ill.) ranks 28th nationally in total blocks (42) and 36th in blocks per game (1.91), both second in the league, while ranking 1st in The Valley in offensive rebounds per game (2.82) and 6th in total rebounds per game (7.1). Saturday's game will mark his 50th career appearance.
• In Valley games, Raphe Ayres (Jr., Arlington, Va.) is firing at a .625 clip (10-of-16) from 3-point range while averaging 3.2 rebounds per game against league foes. Ayres leads the club in both effective FG% (.697) and true shooting pct. (.720). 

The Series

• The Bears and Bruins have met just twice with last season marking Belmont's debut in the MVC. Game one was a 74-61 loss in Nashville on (1/7/23). Donovan Clay posted 20 points for Missouri State, but the visiting Bears committed a season-high 17 turnovers and were unable to stop a hot-shooting Belmont squad. The Bruins turned MSU's mishaps into 23 points and buried 11 threes to snap MSU's four-game MVC win streak. Cade Tyson led Belmont with 20 points behind three triples, while Ben Shepherd scored 17, also with three treys. The Bears shot an efficient 45 percent on the offensive end and connected on seven 3-pointers of their own. However, an eight-and-a-half minute scoring drought for the midway through the second half was pivotal for the visitors. Chance Moore, who finished with 12 points, hit a 3-pointer with 15:10 to play to pull the Bears within 47-43. But, the only scoring MSU did during the ensuing stretch was four free throws from Moore. Meanwhile, Belmont pushed ahead 61-47 with 7:26 to to.
• In the rematch in Springfield (2/8/23), the back-and-forth Valley battle featured 10 lead changes in the second half before a dunk by Missouri State's Jonathan Mogbo with 8.9 seconds remaining proved to be the difference as the Bears held on for a 61-59 win over first-place Belmont. Donovan Clay racked up a game-high 18 points to lead MSU, while Kendle Moore tallied 15 points. Mogbo posted a career-high 19 rebounds to lead all players. Belmont got 14 points and three steals from Ben Sheppard with Cade Tyson contributing 12 points for the visitors. After Clay's 3-pointer with seven minutes to play gave MoState a 55-53 lead, the Bears never trailed again, but the visitors did not go away. Belmont tied the game three times from there, including a bucket by Even Brauns with 1:30 on the clock that made it a 59-59 contest. | Box Score
• See page 8 of game notes for complete series history.

Coach Dana Ford

• Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 102-75 (.576) in his sixth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 59-23 (.720) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 32-40 record in away games, and 11-12 mark at neutral sites. He is now 159-140 (.532) in his tenth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 61-42 (.592) in Valley games (32-19 at home, 29-23 away). He landed his 100th win at Missouri State on Jan. 24 vs. Drake.
• Coach Ford is 1-1 vs. Belmont as Missouri State head coach (1-0 at Great Southern Bank Arena) and 3-7 overall in his career vs. the Bruins.
• 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