Bears Look to Ride Momentum into Mid-Week Game at SIU

The Ten Count

• Missouri State takes to the road Wednesday for round two against Southern Illinois on The Valley schedule. The 8 p.m. tipoff at Banterra Center in Carbondale will be televised regionally on Bally Sports and NBC Sports Chicago as part of the MVC-TV Network. The Bears have won four in a row and five of the last six in the series against the Salukis.
• Missouri State picked up its 16th win of the season in Saturday’s home win over Evansville, marking the first time since 2010-11 (17-5) the Bears have started February with at least 16 victories. Likewise, MSU is coming off a 7-2 month, the club’s top January performance since going 8-2 in 2010-11.
• 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, starting every game during his four-year career (1999-2002), earning Class A All-State first-team honors by the Associated Press and the IBCA.
• Isiaih Mosley (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) continues to lead the MVC in scoring (21.0 ppg), which ranks 11th nationally to start the week. His 483 points this season ranks 2nd — just behind Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas (486). Mosley also ranks 1st nationally in FG made (176), 5th in FG Attempts (344) and 11th in FT percentage (.908).
• The Bears start the week ranked 57th in the KenPom.com rankings and 68th in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
• Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) is coming off a game-high, 23-point outing in Saturday’s win over Evansville, his best offensive output since the BYU game (27 pts.) on Dec. 4. He has scored in double figures in 7 straight games and is averaging 14.1 points per game in that span. Prim is averaging 16.2 ppg in his career against the Salukis (5g).
• The Bears are 1-4 in their last five trips to Carbondale, but they have outscored the Salukis, 368-362, (73.6-72.4) in that span behind last year’s 68-53 win at Banterra Center (2/17/21). Since 2017, SIU has squeaked out a pair of one-point overtime home wins, a two-point win and a five-point victory against MSU.
• Four Missouri State players — Elijah Bridgers, Dawson Carper, Melvyn Ebonkoli, Isaac Haney — achieved a 3.0 GPA or better for the fall 2021 term, earning them accolades on the MSU Athletic Director’s Honor Roll. Missouri State’s 237 AD Honor Roll recipients will be recognized at halftime of the Feb. 15 game against Indiana State.
• MSU is on pace to shatter its single-season FT% record, currently firing at a 79.0-percent clip from the stripe, which is tops in the MVC and 8th nationally. The current program record is 76.8 percent by the 1984-85 squad.
• Missouri State is the only team in the nation with three players boasting 50 or more 3-pointers. Led by Ja’Monta Black (60), Isiaih Mosley (52), and Jaylen Minnett (50), the Bears rank 13th nationally in total threes (210), 42nd in 3-pointers per game (9.1) and 11th in 3-point FG percentage (.387). It is the first time in school history the Bears have three players with 50 triples.
• Ja’Monta Black (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) has made at least one 3-pointer in 15 straight games and leads the MVC with 60 triples on the season (31st nationally). He needs 1 more three to catch Ben Kandlbinder (1994-98) for 9th on Missouri State’s career list (142).
• Donovan Clay (Jr., Alton, Ill.) is coming off his second double-double at MSU with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists vs. Evansville. Over the last 4 games, Clay is averaging 11.3 points per game.

Coach Dana Ford

• Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 65-47 (.580) in his fourth season as Missouri State head coach, including a 40-15 ledger at JQH Arena, 20-24 record in away games, and 5-8 mark at neutral sites. He is now 122-112 (.521) in his eighth season as a head coach, including four seasons at Tennessee State. Ford is 5-4 all-time against Southern Illinois. CollegeInsider.com recently named Ford one of the dozen “Coaching Names to Remember” for the 2021-22 season.
• 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

• SIU leads the all-time series, 50-42, in a rivalry that dates back to 1957. MSU is 10-28 all-time in Carbondale, 26-15 at home (10-4 at JQH Arena), and 6-7 at three different neutral sites against the Salukis.
• The Bears have won four in a row and five of the last six meetings, including both games last season at Bantera Center.
• Earlier this season at JQH Arena (1/12/22), Missouri State got 33 points from Isiaih Mosley and made its final 18 free throw attempts of the night to seal an 81-76 win. Mosley, the week’s MVC Player of the Week, scored 25 points in the second half and converted 10-of-18 field goals, 10-of-11 free throws and dropped in three 3-pointers to pace Missouri State. Donovan Clay added 13 points, and Gaige Prim scored 12 for the Bears who won for the eighth time in 10 games. SIU was led by Marcus Domansk’s 20 points, while Steven Verplanken and Ben Coupet added 16 points apiece for the Salukis. MSU shot 52.8 percent from the field for the game, including 62 percent in the second half, to set a blistering offensive pace. The Bears seemed to have put things on ice after a dunk by Clay with 1:27 to go in the game gave the home club a 71-62 lead. But Coupet then drained a 3-pointer on SIU’s next possession to trim its deficit to six before Domansk put on a scoring exhibition with 11 points in the game’s final 57 seconds, including a pair of 3-pointers. The Bears secured the game at the line with Mosley, Prim and Isaac Haney combining to go 10-for-10 at the stripe in the final 70 seconds. | Stats

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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