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Bears, Salukis Continue Rivalry Saturday

January 09, 2025

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 17 - Missouri State Bears (7-9, 0-5 MVC) at Southern Illinois (5-11, 0-5 MVC)
Date and Time Saturday, January 11, 2025 | 6:02 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+ (Mike Trude, Jamaal Tatum) | Watch
Series Southern Illinois leads 53-44 | Last Meeting: MSU 76, SIU 75 (ot) (1/31/24) | Box Score
Follow Along Live Stats 
Game Notes Missouri State | Southern Illinois | MVC Notebook | MSU Media Guide 
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #GoBears | #ItAllCounts
Bears Mobile App App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next Wednesday, Jan. 15 vs. Southern Illinois, 6 p.m. | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Two teams hungry for their first Valley win of the season will square off Saturday when Missouri State hits the highway to Carbondale to take on Southern Illinois (6 p.m., ESPN+) as the Bears and Salukis begin a rare back-to-back MVC series. MoState begins the second half of the season looking for its first road victory since a Dec. 1 win at Oral Roberts, while SIU looks to improve on its 3-3 home ledger at Bantera Center this winter.
  • In a series that dates back to 1957, this will be the 98th meeting between Missouri State and Southern Illinois. The Bears trail the overall series, 53-44, but are 3-1 in their last four trips to Carbondale, including last year's thrilling 76-75 overtime victory in which MSU overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half.
  • Standout freshman Zaxton King (Lawrence, Kan.) is coming off a team-high 17 points against UIC on Tuesday after going 6-of-10 from the field with 3 triples, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in his 16th start of the season. It marked King's 8th double-figure scoring game (first in Valley play). It also marked his 11th game with multiple 3-pointers.
  • The Bears have forced 10 or more turnovers in 15-of-16 games this season, including 11 takeaways against UIC earlier this week. MoState is 2nd in the MVC in turnovers forced per game (14.00) and turnover margin (+1.4), including 13.3 turnovers forced per game in true road games.  
  • Michael Osei-Bonsu (Jr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) tallied 10 points against UIC earlier this week for his 9th double-figure scoring game of the campaign and 7th over the last 8 ball games. He ranks 2nd in the MVC in rebounds per game (7.3), total rebounds (117), offensive rebounds per game (3.06) and double-doubles (3).
  • Missouri State is coming off its best free throw shooting effort of the season, going 13-for-15 (.867) from the line against UIC for the club's best percentage since finishing 17-of-19 at Middle Tennessee on Dec. 5, 2023 (.895).
  • Wesley Oba (Sr., Manchester, England) has started the last 3 games for the Bears, converting 8-of-12 (.667) field goals in that span while averaging 2.0 rebounds and 18.3 minutes per game.
  • Vincent Brady II (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.) is averaging 17.7 points over the last 3 games. Overall, he ranks 11th in The Valley in scoring average (13.9) and 7th in steals (1.57). In MVC games, he is shooting an even 50.0 percent from the field, which ranks 7th-best among league players.
  • The Bears are averaging 8.4 steals per game which ranks 70th nationally and 2nd in the MVC. MSU is just 8 steals shy of matching their entire season steal total from a year ago (142 in 33 games). 
  • Dez White (So., Jefferson City, Mo.) needs 24 points to match his scoring total from last year (277 pts., 35g).
  • Allen Udemadu (Sr., Lagos, Nigeria) needs 1 rebounds for 200 in his career (41 games).
  • Former Bears Damien Mayo Jr. and Tyler Bey have migrated east and playing at Southern Illinois this year.
     
The Series
  • SIU leads the all-time series, 53-44, in a rivalry that dates back to 1957. MSU is 11-30 all-time in Carbondale, 26-16 at home (10-6 at GSB Arena), and 6-8 at neutral sites. 
  • The teams played just once last year, a 76-75 overtime win by the Bears in Carbondale on 1/31/24. MSU got a career-high 24 points from Donovan Clay, and the Bears overcame a 12-point second-half deficit. Clay scored 8 points in overtime, including a go-ahead jumper with 4.8 seconds left. After Cesare Edwards stole the ensuing SIU in-bound pass, he was fouled with 1.8 seconds left and made both free throws to put MSU up by four. SIU's Xavier Johnson then hit a 45-footer at the buzzer for the Salukis to make the final margin one and finish with a game-high 28 points for the home club. Edwards scored 12 points for Missouri State, including 4-of-4 at the line and a team-high 9 rebounds. Also pitching in were Chance Moore with 13, including a huge three in overtime, Alston Mason with 13 and Damien Mayo Jr. with 12. Moore was 5-of-6 from the field with a pair of steals. The Bears trailed 51-39 with 12:38 to play and 59-48 at the 6:03 mark before mounting the improbable comeback. Mason, Mayo and Moore started a 15-4 run to end regulation and force overtime, including a clutch bucket from Moore with 20.1 seconds remaining in regulation to tie things up, 63-63. In overtime, it was Clay's key jumper with 4.8 ticks to go that clinched it, and ultimately forced SIU into a turnover moments later that allowed Edwards to shine. | Box Score
  • In 2022-23, the Salukis swept all three meetings, including a season-ender at Arch Madness (3/3/23). The defensive war featured nine ties and eight lead changes in a 54-51 Saluki win. The Bears were led by a game-high 18 points from Clay, including 11 in the second half, while Moore added 10 points. The Salukis got 17 points by Marcus Domansk and 13 from 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 SIU run over the next seven minutes put it away for the No. 3 seeded Salukis.

Coach Cuonzo Martin
  • After an extensive national search, Missouri State University announced Cuonzo Martin as its men's basketball head coach on March 27, 2024. The man who orchestrated Missouri State's only MVC regular-season championship run during his first tenure in Springfield originally coached at Missouri State from 2008 to 2011.
  • Martin begins his second tenure at MoState with a 271-207 (.567) career record in 15 seasons as a Division I head coach with experience at MSU, Tennessee, California and Missouri. His teams have made nine postseason appearances in that span, including four trips to the NCAA Tournament, four appearances in the NIT, and a CIT title with the Bears in 2010. 
  • Coach Martin is also 68-50 (.576) in his fourth season (and second stint) at Missouri State University. Martin is 5-3 vs. the Salukis in his career (4-3 at MSU).
  • In Martin's first stint in Springfield (2008-11), he was named Missouri State's 16th head coach in time for the program's 100th anniversary season and its inaugural campaign at Great Southern Bank Arena. In his second season (2009-10), Martin guided MoState to a 24-12 overall ledger, a 19-2 home record, and an impressive run to the CIT Postseason Tournament title.
  • His third season at MSU (2010-11) was one of the program's most memorable, as the Bears finished 26-9 overall on the way to the program's first-ever MVC regular-season title with a 15-3 league record. The Bears fell to Indiana State in the finals of the MVC Tournament in St. Louis and capped an unforgettable campaign by advancing to the second round of the NIT. Martin was named 2011 MVC Coach of the Year and recipient of the Ben Jobe Award as the nation's top minority head coach. Over Martin's last two years at MoState, the Bears were 35-3 at home and did not lose a non-conference home game.
  • Martin has made three head coaching stops since leaving Springfield with stints at Tennessee (2011-14), California (2014-17) and Missouri (2017-22).
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