Bears Return to Road for National TV Game at Valpo

The Ten Count

• Winners of 8 of its last 10 games, Missouri State takes to the road Saturday when the Bears square off with Valparaiso at 4 p.m. (ESPNU). The Bears are 11-4 all-time at the ARC, including victories in 4 of the last 5 meetings there.
• Bears standout Isiaih Mosley’s (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) has scored 76 points over the last 2 games (38.0 ppg), shooting 26-of-42 (.619) from the field and accounting for 52 points in the second half alone in that two-game span. This week’s MVC Player of the Week scored 29 points against Valpo in all three meetings between the teams last season. He is coming off a game-high 33 points vs. Southern Illinois on Wednesday after a career-high 43-point outburst in last Saturday’s one-point loss to UNI, the third-highest scoring effort in Missouri State history and tops in its DI era.
• Former Valpo standout Donovan Clay (Jr., Alton, Ill.) is making his first appearance at the ARC as a Missouri State player. Clay racked up 611 points, 317 rebounds and 122 assists in 63 games at Valpo (59 starts) while earning MVC All-Freshman Team honors in 2020 and Preseason All-MVC second-team distinction in 2020-21. He is coming off a 13-point effort against Southern Illinois on Wednesday in which he eclipsed 750 career points.
• The Bears shot 52.8 percent from the field in Wednesday’s win over Southern Illinois, marking the 8th time this season MSU has made at least half its shots. MSU is 31-3 under Dana Ford when shooting 50% or better from the field, including a 5-3 mark this year.
• Clay (Jr., Alton, Ill.) ranks 2nd in the MVC and 43rd in the nation in total minutes (550:36) this season. He has racked up 5 or more rebounds in 11 of the last 12 games for the Bears.
• The Bears enter the weekend ranked 11th nationally in 3-point percentage (.395), 17th in free throw percentage (.779), 20th in field goal percentage (.487) and 41st in scoring offense (78.9). KenPom also ranks Missouri State 16th in effective FG% (.557) and 19th in raw offensive efficiency (.112.9). A year ago, the Bears ranked 136th in offensive efficiency.
• Missouri State is the only team in the country with 3 players with 40 or more 3-pointers this season. Led by Ja’Monta Black (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) with 49, Jaylen Minnett (Sr., Terre Haute, Ind.) with 46 and Isiaih Mosley (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) with 40, the Bears’ 174 threes as a team ranks No. 6 among all Division I programs.
• Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) is averaging 15.0 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in his career (6g) against Valparaiso.
• Lu’Cye Patterson (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) is averaging 9.8 points per game in Missouri Valley Conference play this season. The Bears are 8-2 with with Patterson in the starting lineup.
• Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) continues to lead the MVC in rebounds per game (8.1), while ranking 17th in the nation in total rebounds (146), 26th in double-doubles (6), and 29th in field goal percentage (.589), all of which lead The Valley.
• Mosley’s 76 points over the last two games is the most by any Bear in a two-game stretch since Jimmy Dull tallied 79 points Feb. 5-7, 1977, including his school-record 53-point outing. Dull is also the last Bear to record three consecutive 30-point scoring games (Feb. 18-25, 1978).
• Minnett (Sr., Terre Haute, Ind.) ranks 13th nationally in 3-point FG percentage (.460), which is 2nd in the MVC.

Coach Dana Ford

• Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 61-46 (.570) in his fourth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 38-15 ledger at JQH Arena, 18-23 record in away games, and 5-8 mark at neutral sites. He is now 118-111 (.515) in his eighth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is 5-3 all-time against Valparaiso.
• Ford picked up his 100th career victory on Feb. 7, 2021 at Illinois State (72-62). The Dec. 15, 2021 win over South Dakota State was Ford’s 100th as Bears head coach.
• Last season, Ford was named to ESPN’s College Basketball 40 Under 40 list at No. 35 and was on the list of national finalists for both the Skip Prosser Award and Ben Jobe Award. The Bears completed the 2020-21 campaign with a 17-7 overall record and 12-6 ledger in the Missouri Valley Conference (third) before advancing to the MVC Tournament semifinals. Missouri State was 7-2 in road conference games to match a program high-water mark, while Isiaih Mosley and Gaige Prim earned All-MVC first team honors, and Demarcus Sharp earned a spot on the MVC All-Newcomer Team.
• 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, 37, earned the Ben Jobe Award in 2016 as the nation’s top Division I minority coach. 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, swaying Tennessee State 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 (Trail Blazers) and Fred Van Vleet (Raptors).

Series History

• Missouri State leads the all-time series with Valpo, 22-10, including an 11-4 record on the road, 8-5 mark at home and 3-1 ledger at neutral sites. Last season, the Bears won all three meetings vs. the Beacons, for the Bears’ first season sweep since 2017-18.
• In the first meeting (1/9/21), Isiaih Mosley matched a (then) career high with 29 points, and Gaige Prim scored 17 points with a career-high 16 rebounds to help Missouri State to an 81-68 win at the ARC. Mosley finished 11-of-18 from the field with 8 rebounds and a team-high 5 assists. He became the first Bear since Winston Garland (Feb. 4-21, 1987) to record six straight 20-point scoring games. Valpo got 21 points apiece from Donovan Clay and Ben Krikke. | Stats
• The next day (1/10/21), Missouri State shot 54 percent from the field and led Valparaiso for the final 31 minutes en route to a 78-68 road victory. Mosley matched his career high, scoring 29 points for the third game in a row, including 26 in the second half, which led all players. Prim posted 16 points and snagged 10 rebounds for his third double-double in four games, and Ja’Monta Black pitched in 14 points behind three triples for the Bears. Valparaiso got 13 points apiece from Evon Gordon and Jacob Ognacevic to pace the home side. | Stats
• In the quarterfinals of Arch Madness in St. Louis (3/5/21), MSU advanced with a 66-55 win. Mosley scored 29 points (again!) to lead the Bears with a career-high 12 rebounds. MSU also got 11 points from Prim in the victory, with Jared Ridder posting 9 points. In the first half, the Bears held Valpo nearly 11 minutes without a field goal with 16 consecutive misses to lead by as many as 20 and 31-13 at the break. | Stats (PDF)

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 will be Sunday, Feb. 6 vs. Loyola.
• Pledge to assist the Rebound Challenge today!  Pledge Link

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