Game 25 - Missouri State Bears (14-10, 6-7 MVC) vs.  (RV) Indiana State Sycamores (21-3, 12-1 MVC)
Date and Time	Saturday, Feb. 10, 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	Hall of Fame Weekend | $10 Lower-Level Tickets | Free Food for Students | All Ticket Deals  KIDS DAY | 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	Bally Sports (Midwest, Kansas City, Indiana, South) / NBC Sports Chicago / ESPN+ (Scott Warmann, Rich Zvosec) | Watch | MVC TV Network Coverage
Series	Missouri State leads 54-28 | Last Meeting: INST 88, MSU 66 (1/16/24) | Box Score
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State | Indiana State | 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 Murray State on Wednesday, Feb. 14 (7:00 p.m.) Next Home Game: Saturday, February 17 vs. Valparaiso (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 to entertain Missouri Valley Conference frontrunner Indiana State in a regionally-televised game on MSU Athletics Hall of Fame weekend (1 p.m./Bally Sports). The Bears look to avenge a Jan. 16 loss to the Sycamores in Terre Haute in just their second loss to the Trees in the last 9 meetings. A number of free and discounted ticket specials have been announced for Saturday's game.
• Indiana State enters the weekend ranked No. 22 in the NCAA's NET rankings. The Sycamores are also receiving votes in both the Coaches Poll (27th-highest vote total) and AP Poll (28th-highest), while ranking No. 22 in the CBS Sports Top 25 poll. ISU has won 8 straight Valley games and has a two-game lead over the field in the MVC standings. 
• Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) needs just 23 points to reach 1,000 at Missouri State (88 games). He would be the 32nd Bear to reach that milestone. If he reaches 1,000 on Saturday, he would also be the 24th-fastest Bear to reach 1,000. Among all active DI players, Clay ranks 13th in career games played (151), 32nd in rebounds (837), 35th in blocks (157), 50th in FG% (.456) and 78th in total points (1,588). He is one of 18 DI players to have 1,500 points and 800 rebounds and one of 31 players to have 1,500 points and 350 assists. Clay has started 40 straight games. 
• MoState standout Alston Mason (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.) now ranks 3rd in the MVC and 78th nationally in scoring average (18.3). He also ranks 26th nationally and 2nd in The Valley in minutes per game (35:54) and 5th in the MVC in both 3-pointers per game (2.55) and 3-point FG% (.364). Mason has scored in double figures in 9 straight games and in 20-of-22 appearances this season with multiple threes in 17 contests.
• The Bears continue to be a dominant rebounding force in the MVC, ranking 12th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (29.17), 44th in total rebounds (39.29) and 50th in rebound margin (+4.9), all of which lead the MVC. The Bears have out-rebounded 5 of their last 6 MVC foes and 16-of-24 opponents on the season.
• Matthew Lee (Sr., San Juan, Puerto Rico) is coming off a 10-point performance at UNI, his first double-figure scoring effort since Nov. 29. Lee eclipsed 700 career points in Wednesday's game (104 games) and has 315 career assists.
• NJ Benson (So., Mt. Vernon, Ill.) ranks 40th nationally in blocks (42) and 52nd in blocks per game (1.75), both of which rank 2nd in the MVC. Benson is 1st in the MVC in offensive rebounds per game (2.67) and is 3rd in double-doubles (4).
• Raphe Ayres (Jr., Arlington, Va.) has recorded 4 or more rebounds in 12-of-22 appearances this season -- 4 in a row -- and shoots an even 50-percent from 3-point range (12-of-24) in Valley games. He also leads the team in effective FG% (.634) and true shooting percentage (.658), according to KenPom metrics.
• Missouri State's bench has outscored its opponents' reserves in 5 straight games by a combined margin of 127-63. Cesare Edwards (Jr., Hartsville, S.C.) has come off the bench the last 5 games for the Bears and is averaging 11.8 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game in that span.
• Saturday is Damien Mayo Jr.'s 20th birthday. He is averaging 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds over the last 4 games.
• MSU ranks 39th nationally in blocks per game (4.8) and is on pace to eclipse its season record (140), set last season.

The Series

• The Bears lead the all-time series against Indiana State, 54-28, including a 33-6 ledger in Springfield (13-3 at GSB Arena), 17-21 record in Terre Haute, and 4-1 at neutral sites. The Bears have won 14 of the last 17 meetings and 7 of the last 9.
• Last year in Springfield (1/15/23), the Bears were led by 21 points from Donovan Clay and 20 from Bryan Trimble in a 64-62 win. On the inside, Clay came up one point shy of a career high and finished 7-of-15 from the field with a pair of threes. After leading by four at the midway point, the Bears came out strong in the second half, getting back-to-back buckets from Kendle Moore ahead of a triple from Brian Trimble, and a traditional 3-point play from Clay. Before the under-12, the Bears extended their lead to 10 before Cameron Henry and Courvoisier McCauley led a late ISU charge to make it 56-52 with 3:23 remaining.  but a Clay layup later gave MSU an eight-point cushion with a minute-and-a-half to play.   
• Earlier this season in Terre Haute (1/16/24), league-leading Indiana State had four players score in double figures, including a game-high 25 from Ryan Conwell and 24 from Robbie Avila, to hand Missouri State a 88-66 defeat. Avila was 9-of-15 from the field with 10 rebounds and 4 assists to lead the home club, while Cromwell knocked down four of his club's 11 threes on the evening. The Bears kept the second half even until the Sycamores tacked on four threes in the final three minutes with the game in hand. Prior to that, NJ Benson's put-back at the 3:30 mark made it a 76-61 game. Benson finished 7-of-10 from the field for 14 points and 8 rebounds, while Alston Mason led the Bears with 15 points and 7 assists, including three triples. Donovan Clay also pitched in 12 for the visitors who shot a respectable 45 percent from the field for the game with just 8 turnovers. | Box Score
• See page 8 of game notes for complete series history.

Coach Dana Ford

• Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 103-76 (.576) in his sixth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 60-23 (.723) ledger at Great Southern Bank Arena, 32-41 record in away games, and 11-12 mark at neutral sites. He is now 160-141 (.532) in his tenth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is also 62-43 (.590) in the MVC (33-19 at home, 29-24 away). During Ford's tenure, only Drake (72) has won Valley games than MSU.
• Ford is 9-3 all-time vs. Indiana State (5-1 at home, 3-2 on the road, 1-0 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.He captured his 100th Missouri State victory on Jan. 24, 2024 with the team's overtime win over Drake.
• 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