Bears Set for Home Opener Wednesday

The Ten Count

• Missouri State kicks off its 109th basketball season Wednesday when the Bears entertain in-state foe William Jewell at 7 p.m. at JQH Arena. MSU is 36-2 in home openers during its Division I era. Last year’s one-point, opening-night loss to Little Rock snapped a 16-game win streak in home openers for MSU and pushed the Bears to 11-1 in home openers at JQH Arena.
• Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference selection Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) has scored in double figures in 13 straight games headed into the 2020-21 campaign. At 13.7 points per game, Prim led all Missouri Valley Conference newcomers in scoring last season to earn a spot on the MVC All-Newcomer Team and All-MVC third team.
• In his first season with the Bears, Prim scored 10 or more points in 25-of-28 appearances. Similarly, he scored 9 or more points in 27 games, and at least 8 points in all 28 contests.
• Isiaih Mosley (So., Columbia, Mo.) scored 267 points in his freshman campaign last season, which is the 10th-best scoring output ever by a Bears freshman. Likewise, Mosley became just the 18th MSU freshman to score 200 or more points in a rookie season and the most since Austin Ruder’s 285 points in 2013-14. Mosley, who averaged 10.4 points per game in league play in 2019-20 and reeled off 8 straight double-figure scoring games from Jan. 15 to Feb. 18, 2020.
• Mosley is the only one of the 6 returning squad members from last year who has changed his uniform number. After wearing No. 11 last season as a freshman for the Bears, Mosley will wear No. 1 this winter.
• Ja’Monta Black (So., Columbia, Mo.) started 20 games a year ago as a true freshman, the most of any returning Bears player. Black made 46.2 percent of his 3-pointers in Valley play (24-of-52) and ranked 6th in the MVC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0) for the season.
• Jared Ridder (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) is back after missing all but 6 minutes during the 2019-20 season after shoulder surgery. As a redshirt freshman in 2018-19, Ridder drained 26 threes in 23 games and averaged 5.1 points per game.
• The Bears matched or out-rebounded 24-of-33 opponents last season, including nine of their last 10 foes, to finish 25th nationally in rebound margin (6.2).
• In 2019-20, Missouri State posted its second-best free throw percentage (.749) of the program’s Division I era and had its highest scoring average in league games (71.6) in 10 years.
• The series between the Bears and Cardinals dates back to 1916, with Missouri State holding a 16-4 advantage. The teams met 14 times between 1916 and 1925 but just six times since then, including a 90-71 Bears win at McDonald Arena in the most-recent meeting on Dec. 3, 1963. Even though tonight’s game is the regular-season opener for Missouri State, Jewell is allowed by NCAA rules to count the game as an exhibition contest.
• William Jewell senior Eysan Wiley is one of four seniors on the Cardinals roster, and was a high school teammate of MSU standouts Isiaih Mosley and Ja’Monta Black at Columbia (Mo.) Rock Bridge High School.

Coach Dana Ford

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• Dana Ford (Illinois State, 2006) is 32-33 (.492) in his third season as Missouri State head coach, including a 22-8 ledger at JQH Arena, 8-19 record in away games, and 2-6 mark at neutral sites. He is now 89-98 (.476) in his seventh season as a head coach. Ford is 4-2 in season openers and 5-1 in home openers as a head coach.
• Last year, Ford engineered a solid season finish that saw the Bears go 9-9 in the MVC and upset third-seeded Indiana State in the Valley Tournament quarterfinals. MSU matched or out-rebounded 24-of-33 opponents, including nine of their last 10, to finish 25th nationally in rebound margin (6.2). The Bears also posted their second-best free throw percentage (.749) of the program’s Division I era and had their highest scoring average in league games (71.6) in 10 years. The Bears also boasted two All-MVC performers for the second year in a row with second team selection Keandre Cook and third-teamer Gaige Prim, who also was recognized on the MVC All-Newcomer Team.
• In his first season in Springfield in 2018-19, Ford led the Bears to a tie for third place (10-8) in The Valley with the program’s first winning conference record since 2011. He guided two players — Tulio Da Silva (first team) and Keandre Cook (third team) — to All-MVC honors in addition to three players on the MVC All-Newcomer Team, including Newcomer of the Year Da Silva.
• 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, Tennessee State also doubled its home attendance average and twice earned votes in the AP Top 25 poll in 2016-17.
• Ford, now 36, was awarded 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 (Rockets) and Fred Van Vleet (Raptors).

Series History

• The Bears are 16-4 all-time against William Jewell in a series that dates back to 1916.
• The teams faced each other 14 times between 1916 and 1925 and have played just six times since then, including the most-recent matchup at McDonald Arena on Dec. 3, 1963.
• Missouri State is 11-2 at home, 3-2 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites against Jewell.

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.

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