PointGuard

Re: Tom “Whatever It Takes” Bradbury Here's the final standings for the American Athletic Conference for the 2018-2019 season: As you can see, there were really 3 groupings: the top 4, the middle 4, and the bottom 2. Our big advantage was that we were able to win more frequently on the road than any of the other teams.

Annika Vandergard, Bret’s sister Game #26, Feb. 19, 2019: Wofford Terriers (12-13) at Missouri State Bears (16-9)—Bracket Breaker Game Tomorrow is a day off from school for Tommy, so I brought him to the game tonight. He knows and idolizes most of the players plus he thinks he brings good luck to his Uncle Bret. Bret got us some good seats not far behind the Bears bench. This is a Bracket Buster game for the Bears. Bret says that even though the Terriers big men are scoring more that their perimeter players, that SF Charles Jones and SG Ike Wilson are hitting a high percentage of their shots, so they will try to keep them from igniting. The Bears starting PG Bart McCain is sitting out another game due to his injury. The Bears scored the first 10 points of the game. Tommy was cheering wildly. But Wofford stormed back and cut the lead to 20-17 with 11 minutes left in the half. The Bears recovered, though, and left the court at the half with a 48-36 advantage. Top scorers were PF Ricky Lee and C Marquis Hollins who both had 7 points. Bret’s team expanded their lead to 18 points in the 2nd half, only to see Wofford come within a single point with 2-1/2 minutes to play. The Bears got two straight steals followed by driving layups to pull ahead 70-65 with 55 seconds on the clock. The only points scored after that were two free throws by the Bears. The biggest difference in team stats was that Wofford turned the ball over 19 times to Missouri State’s 12 turnovers. Final Score: Missouri State (17-9)—72, Wofford—65. Leading players for Missouri State: SG Brent Gregory-14 pts, 4 reb, 1 steal; PG Terrance Simmons-11 pts, 2 assists; C Joey Jones-8 pts, 1 assist, 7 reb, 2 steals, 1 block; C Marquis Hollins-8 pts, 6 reb, 1 steal. Player of the Game: SG Brent Gregory-14 pts, 4 reb, 1 steal.

Season 5, Games 29 & 30 Game #29, Feb. 20, 2018, Tulsa (12-13, 9-7): We have a hard time getting untracked and fall behind by 5 points, but then scored 15 unanswered points to take a double digit lead midway through the first half. At the half we lead 38-27. Our lead ballooned to 20 with 13-1/2 minutes left in the game. We stomp Tulsa 71-46 in our second straight strong defensive game. PF Angelo Craft scored 15 points, PG Jared Keady knocked down 14 points, and SF John Jones finished with 12 points. Centers Kelvin Ross and Jules Grant both had 9 points. (25-4, 14-3, 1st place) Game #30, Feb. 23, 2018 @ Central Florida (11-15, 8-9): C Kelvin Ross twisted an ankle early in the game and sat out the rest of the game. We achieve a double digit lead after 8 minutes of play and then roll to a 54-28 halftime lead. We hit 61% of our shots and had a 12-3 turnover advantage. PF Angelo Craft scored 13 points in the half. Central Florida roared back in the 2nd half and cut our lead to 63-60 with 8-1/2 minutes to play. But we scored the next 7 points to give ourselves some breathing room with 5 minutes to go. We come away with a 72-63 win in our final road game. PF Angelo Craft led our scoring with 15 points. PG Jared Keady and SG Austin Hunter both scored 13 and SG Georgiy Zolkin came off the bench to add 9 points. (26-4, 15-3, 1st place; Ranked #3 in the polls; RPI: 3) Norton Award: SG Austin Hunter was named a finalist for the Norton Award.

Buzz Moriarity, Missouri State Athletic Director Game #25, Feb. 18, 2019: Southern Illinois Salukis (17-7, 13-2) at Missouri State Bears (15-9, 9-6) While he Salukis have locked up the conference championship, this remains a big game for us. We lost to Southern Illinois by 4 points on their home court earlier this season, but want to post a solid win tonight so that if we meet them in the conference tournament, we will have established a dominance. The Salukis have a 9 game win streak which started with their 73-69 win over us. Southern Illinois has very balanced scoring throughout their lineup. They employ a sound 1-3-1 zone defense. Not having PG Bart McCain available due to injury makes beating that defense even more daunting. Our guys cracked the Salukis’ vaunted defense, opened an early lead and held onto it throughout the half. We hit 57% of our shots and out-rebounded Southern Illinois 17-11 while building a 41-28 lead as the first half expired. SG Brent Gregory’s 9 points led our scoring. Brent Gregory picked up his 3rd foul on the first possession of the 2nd half. The Salukis took advantage by cutting our lead to 44-41 with 15:51 to play. But we answered their challenge by scoring the next 7 points to open a 10 point lead. Then we expanded our lead to 15 with 10:43 left in the game. With 5:41 remaining we led by 20. The efficiency that our team displayed was impressive…hitting 58% of our shots, knocking down 13 of 14 free throws, and dominating the boards 30-18. The only negative was that the Bears turned the ball over 21 times. Final Score: Missouri State (16-9, 10-6, 2nd place tie)—75, Southern Illinois—60. Leading players for Missouri State: SG Brent Gregory-14 pts, 4 assists, 3 reb, 1 steal; PF Ricky Lee-13 pts, 1 assist, 1 reb; C Joey Jones-10 pts, 1 assist, 5 reb; SF Aaron Wells-10 pts, 3 assists, 3 reb, 4 steals; SF Quintin Asbury-9 pts, 1 assist, 3 reb, 2 steals. Player of the Game: SG Brent Gregory-14 pts, 4 assists, 3 reb, 1 steal. For Southern Illinois: C Tyrone Taylor-19 pts.

Season 5, Games 27 & 28 Game #27, Feb. 13, 2018, SMU (10-13, 5-9): The key to this game is holding down the Mustangs’ brilliant SF Dan Cummings who is averaging 16.3 ppg. We score the first 9 points while forcing the Mustangs to make 6 turnovers in the first 4 minutes of play. Our defense remains stellar as we limit SMU to just 5 points 12 minutes into the game and take a 23-5 lead. In the entire first half SMU turns the ball over 16 times, but we play sloppily toward the end of the half and let them reduce our lead to 32-20 at the break. We continue to do the job defensively in the 2nd half and annihilate the Mustangs 74-42. We command the boards 29-19 and have a 28-12 turnover advantage. PG Jared Keady scores 12 and dishes out 6 assists, PF Angelo Craft also scores 12, while SG Austin Hunter tosses in 11, and C Kelvin Ross and PG Troy Cox each add 10. SF John Jones holds SMU’s Dan Cummings to just 8 points. (24-3, 13-2, 1st place) Game #28, Feb. 16, 2018 @ Temple (16-8, 11-4): We beat the 2nd place Owls by 16 earlier this year, but they have a 10-1 record at home. The game is tightly contested for the first 10 minutes but then Temple simply outplays us to build an 11 point lead. We rally late in the first half to cut their first half lead to 43-40. We can never overtake the Owls in the 2nd half and go down to a 77-65 defeat as we hit just 39% of our shots. With 2 games left in the regular season our conference lead is down to 1 game over Temple. PG Jared Keady is our leading scorer with 16 points while SF John Jones, C Jules Grant, and SG Georgiy Zolkin each score 10 points. (24-4, 13-3, 1st place, Ranked #3, RPI: 3) Injury: PF Adrian Bains strained his hamstring and likely will miss the last 2 games of our regular season, but should hopefully be ready to contribute i the conference tourney.

Rob Porter, Sports Writer, Springfield News-Leader Game #24, Feb. 15, 2019: Missouri State Bears (14-9, 8-6) at Wichita State Shockers (10-13, 5-9) Missouri State’s men’s basketball team journeyed to Wichita last night to take on the Shockers. The Bears employed a withering defense in the first half, allowing the Shockers to his just 21% of their shots and forcing Wichita State to turn the ball over 9 times. Meanwhile the Bears hit 57% of their shots and dominated the boards 18-9. The result was a 39-13 lead for the Bears at the end of the first half. SG Brent Gregory and PF Kenneth Grandison paced the Bears with 9 points apiece in the first half. The Bears maintained their distance through most of the 2nd half although the Shockers cut into their lead a little in the final minutes of the game. Missouri State soundly defeated Wichita State by outshooting and outrebounding the Shockers. Final Score: Missouri State (15-9, 9-6, 2nd place tie)—67, Wichita State—51. Leading players for Missouri State: SG Brent Gregory-20 pts, 1 assist, 4 reb; PG Terrence Simmons-11 pts, 4 assists, 1 reb; SF Aaron Wells-8 pts, 2 assists, 3 reb, 1 steal. Player of the Game: SG Brent Gregory-20 pts, 1 assist, 4 reb.

Cedric Hastings, owner of the Missourian Diner Game #23, Feb. 11, 2019: Evansville Purple Aces (9-13, 5-8) at Missouri State Bears (13-9, 7-6) The Bears have been playing inconsistently during conference play. Tonight they take on a team that has had alternating wins and losses in their last 8 games. So, I guess the question for both teams is which team will show up tonight? The Bears came out of the blocks on fire and quickly built a 29-14 lead. By the end of the half, Missouri State was on top by an astounding 60-39 score. The Bears had hit 60% of their shots, owned a 15-10 rebounding advantage, had turned the ball over just 1 time (while forcing the Purple Aces to make 7 turnovers). And the lead would have been even larger had the refs not called 17 fouls against the Bears, putting Evansville on the line 27 times where they scored 23 of their 39 points. PG Bart McCain tossed in 15 points. The Bears held Evansville at arms distance throughout the 2nd half and cruised to an easy victory. The Bears looked like a different team than the one that has shown up for their recent games. Final Score: Missouri State (14-9, 8-6, 2nd place tie)—92, Evansville—76. Leading players for Missouri State: PG Bart McCain-17 pts, 5 assists, 1 reb, 1 steal; C Marquis Hollins-14 pts, 3 assists, 3 reb, 2 steals; SF Aaron Wells-14 pts, 2 assists, 5 reb; SG Brent Gregory-11 pts, 3 assists, 1 reb, 2 steals; PF Kenneth Grandison-10 pts, 1 assist, 1 reb. Player of the Game: PG Bart McCain-17 pts, 5 assists, 1 reb, 1 steal. For Evansville: PF Jonathan Robinson-20 pts, 9 reb. Award: C Marquis Hollins was named the Missouri Valley Conference Freshman Player of the Week. Injury: PG Bart McCain strained his calf in practice and may miss the next 3 or 4 games.

Season 5, Games 25 & 26 Game #25, Feb. 6, 2018, Cincinnati (5-16, 2-10): We barely edged the Bearcats 65-62 when we played then earlier this season in Cincinnati. We held a solid lead throughout most of the 1st half and went to the locker room with a 36-28 advantage. PG Jared Keady scored 9 points. We played uninspired ball, but came away with a 67-52 win. PG Jared Keady tossed in 18 points and SG Austin Hunter contributed 17. PF Angelo Craft scored 13. SF John Jones added 8. C Jules Grant scored only 4 points but had 3 assists, 9 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. (23-2, 12-1, 1st place) Game #26, Feb. 9, 2018 @ Tulane (15-7, 9-4): Even though we beat the Green Wave by 12 points, that was a home game for us. Tulane has won 11 of 12 of their home games. They have good scoring across their entire starting team. We maintain a small lead throughout the entire first half. But each time it looks like we might pull away, Tulane strikes to keep our lead within reach. At the half we’re on top 43-36. PG Jared Keady (16 points) and SG Austin Hunter (12 points) are the leaders of our attack. We continued to lead throughout the 2nd half, but with a minute to go, Tulane hit a 3 that tied the game at 69-69. We failed to score then after the Green Wave missed a shot, they pulled down an offensive rebound and worked the ball around until they popped in a 12 foot jumper to put them ahead 71-69. We called a time out with 7 seconds to play to draw up a play. Our intended play fizzled but Keady got the ball in low to Kelvin Ross and he put up a contested 5 footer than found the bottom of the net and sent us to overtime. Trailing by 4 with a minute to go in the OT, Angelo Craft dropped in a 3 to cut Tulane’s lead to 80-79. We got called for a questionable foul with 27 seconds to go. The Green Wave hit both shots to put them up by 3. We had 2 shots but couldn’t put down either of them and that’s all she wrote as we went down to an 82-79 defeat in OT. Both PG Jared Keady and SG Austin Hunter scored 20 points, but C Kelvin Ross scored 15 plus pulled down 14 rebounds. (23-3, 12-2, 1st place; Ranke #3, RPI: 3) Norton Award: SG Austin Hunter was named a semi-finalist for the Norton Award.

p Paris George, 3rd Assistant Coach During the subsequent day’s practice, the players initially displayed antagonistic attitudes toward one another as a residue of the previous day’s encounter. Then Coach V and I began riding the players hard, really hard. Soon the players banded together as a means of countering what Coach V and I were doing to them. Bret and I turned aside and smiled at each other. We’ll see if the renewed chemistry and effort results in better play in our upcoming game

Paris George, 3rd Assistant Coach After last night’s loss, Coach V was upset not only how the team folded in overtime, but how they took the loss so lightly. Today he reviewed film of the game with the team pointing out weaknesses, mistakes, and lack of effort of individual players. Soon some of the players began rationalizing or providing excuses and then players began to cut down the lack of effort of their teammates and got on other players cases about their play. By the end of the review, all the players were upset and arguing. To say there was a lot of tension in the room is a gross understatement. After the players left, I asked Coach V what that was all about. He said, the team was flat and lacking a killer instinct and they needed a spark to awake them.

Kent Benedictus, Missouri State alumnus Game #22, Feb. 8, 2019: Missouri State Bears (13-8, 7-5) at Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (11-10, 5-7) I graduated from Missouri State 10 years ago and moved to Chicago where I’m now a Buyer at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. I’ve been following the Bears since graduating, but even more so since Coach Vandergard took over the reins and brought hope for some success that has long eluded Missouri State in basketball. I’ve always liked basketball, even though I could never play it well. I’m particularly interested to see how Marquis Hollins, the big 7-1 freshman that Vandergard recruited, plays and ultimately develops for the Bears. My job doesn’t allow me much free time so I can only see the Bears play when they come to Chicago each year. Watching the pregame warmup, Hollins looks even bigger than his 7-1, 275 pounds. Loyola-Chicago has a 6-11 center, Brian Burroughs, so I can’t wait to see how Hollins matches up against him. Hollins comes off the bench after the first 5 minutes with the score tied at 10-10. While he doesn’t do anything offensively, defensively he’s intimidating inside. The Bears take an 18-15 lead in the 5 minutes he’s on the court. Hollins comes back into the game with about 4 minutes to play in the half and scores 5 points to help the Bears rally from a 5 points deficit to take a 42-39 halftime advantage. SF Quintin Asbury leads the Bears offensively with 11 points. The refs begin to work over the Bears in the 2nd half. But the Bears are able to maintain a very small lead until late in the game when the Ramblers and their 6th men (the refs) break through to take a small lead. Missouri State battle back though and retakes a 70-69 lead with 3:35 remaining. With 40 seconds left, Aaron Wells is fouled and knocks down both shots to put the Bears on top 78-76. The Bears apply great defense, preventing the Ramblers from shooting until 17 seconds remain and then forcing a miss. After the Bears rebound, the Ramblers are forced to foul Joey Jones with 14 seconds on the clock. Jones makes the first but misses the 2nd shot and then Loyola-Chicago hits a 3 to tie the game. Vandergard calls a time out to set a play. Even though he gets a good screen, Bart McCain 12 footer rattles out at the buzzer. In overtime, a combination of stone-cold shooting and repeated turnovers by the Bears together with frequently whistled fouls by the refs to put the Ramblers on the line spells disaster. Coach Vandergard is increasingly apoplectic on the sidelines during the OT. As a fan, I'm depressed by the loss. Final Score: Loyola-Chicago-89, Missouri State (13-9, 7-6, 2nd place tie)—81 (OT). Leading players for Missouri State: C Joey Jones-12 pts, 1 assist, 7 reb, 1 steal; SF Quintin Asbury-13 pts, 1 steal; SG Brent Gregory-11 pts, 3 assists, 5 reb, 2 steals; SF Aaron Wells-10 pts, 1 assist, 4 reb, 1 steal; C Marquis Hollins-9 pts, 2 assists, 2 reb, 3 steals; PF Ricky Lee-9 pts, 2 assists, 4 reb, 1 steal. Player of the Game: Loyola-Chicago’s SF Ricardo Canty-22 pts, 2 assists, 3 reb, 1 steal.

Season 5, Games 23 & 24 Game #23, Jan. 30, 2018, Houston (9-12, 5-5): Although we beat the Cougars by 15 points in their gym, we’ve been working hard to not let our players take them lightly. SF Travann McCuthison is their top scorer (13.0 ppg) and SG Terrence Jones has a sweet shot from anywhere on the court, although he passes up shots and feeds the ball to others. We hold Houston scoreless for the first 8-3/4 minutes of the game, as we built a 13-0 lead. We hit just 41% of our shots in the half, but allowed Houston to connect on just 21% of their FG attempts. We also held a 10-1 turnover advantage. So our 37-17 lead at the break was what should have been expected. PF Angelo Craft topped our scoring with 9 points. We played our bench extensively in the 2nd half and still came away with a 72-52 beatdown of the Cougars. SG Austin Hunter scored 14, PG Jared Keady had 13, C Kelvin Ross also scored 13 (plus had 8 rebounds), and PF Angelo Craft finished with 9 points. (21-2, 10-1, 1st place) Game #24, Feb. 2, 2018 @ South Florida (5-16, 1-10): We played poorly in the first half, including hitting just 33% of our shots plus 3 of our best players were in foul trouble. We left the court trailing 33-25 at the end of the first half. Our leading scorer was PF Angelo Craft with 6 points. Offensively we continued to struggle, but we defensively stopped the Bulls and finally took a 44-42 lead with 7:50 to play. We began hitting out shots then and increased our lead to 10 points in the next 2-1/2 minutes. We then pulled away for a decisive 70-50 win. PF Angelo Craft poured in 17 points and C Kelvin Ross and PG Jared Keady added 11 points each. SG Austin Hunter scored just 8 points, but dished out 5 assists, pulled down 10 rebounds, and had 2 steals. (22-2, 11-1, 1st place; Ranked #2 in the polls; RPI: 2)

Steve Praholm, KMSU, campus radio sports reporter Hey Bears fans! This is Steve Praholm. After practice this afternoon, I caught up with Brent Gregory, who leads the Bears in scoring this season. Here’s a replay of my interview: SP: Hey Brent, congratulations on your selected as the conference player of the week! Your play led the Bears to a couple crucial wins. BG: Thanks. But the entire team picked up their level of play. We weren’t happy at all with how we had been playing. SP: Well, you’ve climbed up the conference standings. Are you going to be able to catch up with Southern Illinois? BG: The Salukis have been playing solid ball and don’t seem about to let up. So all we can do is give it our best each and every game and let the chips fall where they may. The main thing is to continue to improve our record and then win the conference tournament to ensure we make it to the Big Dance. The main thing is for us to play with more intensity in our road games. We’re 2-and-4 thus far on the road in conference play and that sucks! SP: You also were recently selected as a quarterfinalist for the Norton Award. That puts you in some pretty impressive company and is a big honor for Missouri State also since we’ve never had anyone in the running before. BG: Yes, I’m truly honored to be considered for that award. There are some big name players who are the favorites to win it though, but I’m happy to have gotten this far.

Annika Vandergard, Bret’s sister Things are going well with us here in Springfield. Bret has been great with Tommy. He’s spent far more time with Tommy than I expected. Tommy revels in the attention, and I think Bret really enjoys doing things with Tommy. They often just play, but have also gone bowling, to miniature golf, and laser tag as well as practicing basketball. Tommy still doesn’t like school but Bret has also been helping Tommy with his homework so maybe that will change. What Tommy really loves is when Bret takes him to practice sessions with the Bears. The players treat Tommy like a little king so what child wouldn’t love that. And Tommy is getting pretty good handling and shooting the basketball. Bret wants Tommy to participate in a youth league next year. Meaghan Kriley has also spent time with Tommy, although she’s not over here as much as I’d expected. Last week she took Tommy to the TV station where he got a great tour and even got to aim the cameras and push some buttons in the control room before one of the programs. But the job Tommy said he really wants is the guy who goes out to get food and drinks for the TV personalities. Meaghan says that guy is part of Craft Services and is a “Runner” for the station and is the lowest paid person on the staff. My son has really high goals, huh!

Season 5, Games 21 & 22 Game #21, Jan. 23, 2018: Central Florida (7-10, 4-4): We hold a small lead in the early going, but then pull away in the latter part of the 1st half to enjoy a 42-22 halftime advantage. PG Jared Keady topped our scoring with 10 points. We cruise through the 2nd half to an easy 80-54 win. SG Austin Hunter scored 16 plus had 4 assists and 8 rebounds. PG Jared Keady added 15. SF/SG Bryan Smith had his 4th straight game coming off the bench to score in double digits, this time with 10 points. SF John Jones scored 9, dished out 2 assists, pulled down 8 rebounds, and had 2 steals. (19-2, 8-1, 1st place) Game #22, Jan. 26, 2018 @ #17 Connecticut (13-6, 6-3): UCONN is exceptionally tough at home. It’s tough to know who to focus upon with SG Bobby Harris averaging 16.5 ppg, SF Byron Thompson 13.9 ppg, and PG John Younger 12.9 ppg. We jumped out to a 9-1 lead. But midway through the first half, Connecticut came back to take their first lead of the game at 17-16 as their crowd went wild. We then roared back to forge a 44-34 halftime lead. PF Angelo Craft’s 20 point phenomenal performance led us in the first half. In the 2nd half we expanded our lead to 20 points with 14-1/2 minutes to play. We finished with a satisfying 85-69 road win againt a very tough team. PF Angelo Craft had the best game of his career with 26 points, 2 assists, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals. PG Jared Kennedy dropped in 13 points, SG Austin Hunter and C Jules Grant both scored 12 points, while SF John Jones and C Kelvin Ross both had 8 points. (20-2, 9-1, 1st place; Ranked #4 in the polls; RPI: 2) Norton Award: SG Austin Hunter was named a quarter-finalist for the Norton Award.

Brad Thompson, sports reporter for The Standard, Missouri St Game #21, Feb. 4, 2019: Drake Bulldogs (15-7, 6-5) at Missouri State Bears (12-8, 6-5) The Missouri State Bears came into last night’s game wanting some revenge. Their opponents, the Drake Bulldogs had beaten the Bears earlier in the season by 5 points and now were tied with the Bears for 2nd place in the conference standings. Led by Brent Gregory’s 12 points, the Bears gradually pulled away to a 39-25 halftime lead. The Bears expanded their lead to 23 points after just 4 minutes of play in the 2nd half. They then held the Bulldogs off to score a big win at home. The Bears outshot Drake 52% to 33%, controlled the boards to the tune of 34-25, and held a 16-13 turnover advantage. Final Score: Missouri State (13-8, 7-5, 2nd place tie)—71, Drake—51. Leading players for Missouri State: SG Brent Gregory-22 pts, 3 assists, 4 reb, 2 steals; PG Bart McCain-11 pts, 6 reb, 1 steal; PF Ricky Lee-8 pts, 2 assists, 2 reb, 1 steal. Player of the Game: SG Brent Gregory-22 pts, 3 assists, 4 reb, 2 steals. Award: SG Brent Gregory was announced as the MVC Player of the Week.

Season 5, Games 19 & 20 Game #19, Jan. 16, 2018, Temple (10-5, 5-1): This is a matchup of the co-leaders in the American Athletic Conference. Temple has wins over #5 Maryland, #12 Connecticut, and Kansas plus has played very well in their AAC games. Poor shooting again kept us behind most of the 1st half, but we dominated the boards (19-8) and rallied toward the end of the half to take a 34-31 lead to the locker room. PG Jared Keady led our scoring with 8 points. We asserted control in the 2nd half as our shooting improved and we continued to control the boards. With 12:15 to play we led 55-40. Then we opened a 20 point lead with 8:15 remaining. We finished with a 79-63 victory giving us sole possession for 1st place. SF John Jones and SG Bryan Smith both scored 13 points, C Kelvin Ross and PG Austin Hunter each tossed in 12 points, PG Jared Keady scored 10 and PF Angelo Craft added 8. (17-2, 6-1, 1st place) Game #20, Jan. 19, 2018 @ Tulsa (7-9, 4-3): The first half was devoid of defense and we let the Golden Hurricanes hit 58% of their shots. We were fortunate to only trail 46-43 at the break. SG Austin Hunter scored 9 points. Our offense kicked into overdrive in the early part of the 2nd half pushing us to a 64-53 lead with 13 minutes to play. We continued to burn up the net and rolled to a 98-77 victory. We turned the ball over just 3 times the entire game and hit 53% of our shots. SG Austin Hunter tossed in 19 points while C Kelvin Ross and SF/SG Bryan Smith both scored 14. PG Jared Keady scored 12 and dished out 8 assists. PF Angelo Craft and PF Adrian Bains each scored 9. (18-2, 7-1, 1st place; Ranked #4 in the polls; RPI: 3)

Alexei Koramatsov, “entrepreneur” Game #20, Feb. 1, 2019: Illinois State Redbirds (8-11, 5-5) at Missouri State Bears (11-8, 5-5) After taking a bath on that Missouri State loss a couple weeks ago, I laid off betting on their games. But their inconsistent play has created a golden opportunity. Also Illinois State has won 4 of their last 5 games. Although the Bears are favorites to beat a team they lost to by 4 points earlier this year, that was an away game for the Bears and the book for this game has a very low spread, so low that I think a bet on the Bears is my chance to make up what I lost earlier. Also, when I took him out to lunch yesterday, I picked up from Bret Vandergard that Bart McCain has recuperated and will start at PG again tonight. That’s not news that others know yet. So I’m plunging in again and the Bears better deliver this time. Both teams come out slow, but the Bears put on a big run to pull out to a 15-4 lead with 12:25 on the clock in the half. Missouri State dominated all aspects of the game in the first half and stormed off to a 37-19 halftime advantage. SG Brent Gregory topped their scoring with 11 points. In the 2nd half, Missouri State quickly opened a 20 point lead then the lead oscillated between 15 and 20 points throughout most of the rest of the game. The Bears won with ease and I pocketed a wad of money. Final Score: Missouri State (12-8, 6-5, 2nd place tie)—74, Illinois State—61. Leading players for Missouri State: SG Brent Gregory-16 pts, 2 assists, 6 reb, 2 steals; SF Quinton Asbury-11 pts, 4 reb; PG Bart McCain-10 pts, 6 assists, 1 reb, 2 steals; PF Ricky Lee-10 pts, 1 assist, 1 reb, 1 steal. Player of the Game: SG Brent Gregory-16 pts, 2 assists, 6 reb, 2 steals. For Illinois State: PG John Gresham-26 pts.

Wayne23 wrote:Ya can't miss with a name like Cleveland Brown! Winner, winner, chicken dinner! This hasn't been officially confirmed but sources say that Cleveland Brown has had a bit of a falling out with his family and is considering legally changing his name to Baltimore Raven.

Paris George, 3rd Assistant Coach Coach V and I are hopeful that last night was a break out game for Cleveland Brown. He hadn’t produced as we had hoped in earlier games, but his shooting and overall play were top-flight against Northern Iowa. We need him coming off the bench to give us a lift and his play last night should have boosted his confidence.

Season 5, Games 17 & 18 Game #17, Jan. 9, 2018, Tulane (9-4, 3-1): Tulane tore apart our defense throughout the entire first half, hitting 64% of their shots. They also out-rebounded us 18-7. We left the court at the half trailing 44-31. PG Jared Keady led our scoring with 9 points. We cut their lead to 45-41 in the first 2 minutes of the 2nd half. We cut their led to a single point with 14-1/2 minutes to play. The Green Wave quickly re-opened an 8 point lead, but we again drew within a point with 9 minutes remaining. Then at the 6-1/2 mark, John Jones got free for a 3 that dropped giving us our first lead of the game at 63-61. 30 seconds later Adrian Bains pulled down an offensive rebound and muscled back up a short that put us up by 4 points. We increased our lead to 7 with 4 minutes to go. With 1:14 left Austin Hunter sank a pair of free throws to make it 76-66. Following such a lackluster 1st half, our 2nd half turn-around was complete, 47-24 in points and 26-11 in rebounds and holding Tulane’s shooting to 25%. We ended up with a 78-66 victory. PF Angelo Craft scored 20 and pulled down 7 rebounds. PG Jared Keady knocked down 18 points. C Kelvin Ross had 10 points and 7 rebounds, SF John Jones scored 9 and grabbed 7 rebounds along with 4 assists, and SG Austin Hunter added 9 rebounds while dishing out 7 assists. (15-2, 4-1, 1st place tie) Game #18, Jan. 12, 2018 @ SMU (6-8, 1-4): We fell behind 28-14 but then scored the next 10 points, mostly on free throws. Even with poor shooting (33% by us compared to 64% by SMU), we only trailed 30-26 at the half. Austin Hunter was our top scorer with 8 points. Our shooting was even worse in the first 9 minutes of the 2nd half, but we take our first lead at 37-36, as the Mustangs suffered with repeated turnovers. SMU recaptured the lead and with 1:22 the Mustangs were on top 60-58. We called a time out to set up a play to try to tie the game, but the pick and roll failed as Jared Keady missed the shot. Austin Hunter grabbed the rebound outside and fired it up, but it rimmed out. Jules Grant rebounded though and his put-back went down to forge a 60-60 tie. SMU threw the ball away with 50 seconds on the clock. From there on it was a series of turnovers by SMU and missed shots by us, thereby taking us to overtime still knotted at 60-60. We scored 5 points in the first 45 seconds of OT, but SMU crawled back within a point with 2:13 remaining. We called a time out and were able to clear Austin Hunter for an uncontested 3 that dropped cleanly through the net to put us ahead 68-64. After Angelo Craft hit one of two free throws, SMU dropped in a 3 to make it 69-67 with a half minute to play. Austin Hunter was fouled with 26 seconds to play. With the SMU fans roaring, Hunter was able to sink both free throws. From there we were able to hold off the Mustangs for an exciting 74-69 overtime win on the road. Outshot 58% to 42%, we won on the basis of a 30-23 rebounding advantage and forcing the Mustangs to make 26 turnovers (compared to 13 by us). SG Austin Hunter scored 28 points and had 3 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. C Jules Grant scored 10 plus pulled down 9 rebounds. Bryan Smith came off the bench to lead our comeback in the 2nd half, scoring 11 points during his 11 minutes on the floor. (16-2, 5-1, 1st place tie; Ranked #4 in the polls; RPI: 2)

Cyndi Rayburn, Missouri St. athletic dept. public relations Game #19, Jan. 28, 2019: Missouri State Bears (10-8, 4-5) at Northern Iowa Panthers (12-7, 5-4) Darn, another road game! And against a tougher team that the team we lost to early this week by nearly 30 points! I’m having a tough time coming up with positive things to put out about our team. I have relatives near Cedar Falls, Iowa so got to accompany the team for this game. I’m hoping I can find some good public interest slant during this trip so even if the Bears lose, I will have something good to put into a press release and onto our website and blog. The Bears stomped the Panthers by 32 points at the beginning of conference play, but while losing their first game of the season at home, Northern Iowa then has reeled off 7 straight home victories. Their SG Edwin Walton is averaging 15.9 ppg and hitting a high percentage of his shots. We held Northern Iowa scoreless for the first 3-1/2 minutes of the game, but the Bears could only score 4 points during the same period of time. Bart McCain twisted his knee a minute later and left the game. The Bears held onto a small lead but in the late going in the half, the lead switched back-and-forth. The half ended with the Bears on top 41-39. SG Cleveland Brown had a surprisingly good half, coming off the bench to score 10 points. But reserve guard Ronnie Towns torched the nets with 16 points for the Panthers. The Bears came out with renewed energy in the 2nd half and opened a bigger lead that they expanded to double digits with 7 minutes to play. Then in the last 5 minutes, the Bears quickly pulled further away with their bench (which scored 55 points) leading the way. The way the Bears shot at the free throw line (49%), it’s surprising they won. Yahoo! I’m going to have some good news to spread. Final Score: Missouri State (11-8, 5-5, 3rd place tie)—86, Northern Iowa—67. Leading players for Missouri State: SG Cleveland Brown-19 pts, 3 assists, 7 reb, 1 block; PG Terrance Simmons-15 pts, 2 assists, 2 reb, 2 steals; PF Ricky Lee-11 pts, 3 assists, 2 reb; C Marquis Hollins-8 pts, 2 assists, 5 reb. Player of the Game: SG Cleveland Brown-19 pts, 3 assists, 7 reb, 1 block. Injury report: The team doctor has advised the Bart McCain should not practice the next two days. The doctor will re-evaluate him at that point so his status for our next game is uncertain.

Season 5, Games 15 & 16 Game #15, Jan. 2, 2018, South Florida (5-7, 1-1): We scored the first 14 points of the game. We then extended our lead to 23-2 and 35-5. Our crowd was raucous adding to the Bulls troubles. The half ends with us ahead 49-23. SF John Jones was on fire with 15 points. In the second half we play everybody except for out athletic trainer and still win by a 74-56 score. SF John Jones nets 21 points, SG Austin Hunter scores 16 and grabs 6 rebounds, PF Angelo Craft is deadly from the field (7 of 8) and scores 15. PG Jared Keady tosses in 11 points and dishes out 6 assists. (13-2, 2-1, 2nd place tie) Game #16, Jan. 5, 2018 @ Cincinnati (3-9, 0-3): After 4 minutes of play we trail 12-5. We very slowly come back and with 4-1/2 minutes left in the first half take a 24-22 lead. Cincinnati walks to the locker room with a 33-31 lead though. SF John Jones’ 8 points tops our scoring. In the 2nd half, we score the first 11 points. But Cincinnati doesn’t fold and they tie the game at 59-59 with 2:10 remaining in the game. Jared Keady is fouled with 1:21 to go and sinks both free throws to put us up by 2. Neither team can score forcing the Bearcats to foul Keady with 25 seconds on the clock. Keady drops in both shots and we lead by 4. Cincinnati hits a 3 with 10 seconds to go and Keady is again fouled with 7 seconds remaining. Again he calmly hits both ends of the 1-and-1. We put on a full court press that doesn’t allow them to get the ball out of the deep backcourt and escape with a 65-62 victory. The key to our win is a 19-8 turnover advantage. PG Jared Keady scores 16, SG Austin Hunter adds 11, C Kelvin Ross puts in 10 along with 8 rebounds, and SF John Jones scores 8. (14-2, 3-1, 1st place tie; Ranked #3, RPI: 2)

Meaghan Kriley, KSMO TV News Anchor I was seething while listening to Steve Piersall’s diatribe during the sports segment on tonight’s news. Before the camera came back to me, I had to make a conscious effort to reign in my anger so it wouldn’t show to our audience. My co-anchor kidded Steve on the air about never having opinions. I think I was expected to join in, but remained quiet since I knew any of my comments would be either icy or critical. The station expects our team to be “fun” and kid and joke around as we go from one segment to another. While sometimes it’s natural, I think it often is forced and fakey. I guess our audience likes it though, since we remain the #1 nightly local news program in our market. I'd like to take back the Christmas present I gave to Steve last month.

Steve Piersall, KSMO TV sports anchor Comments on the late night sports news: The Missouri State Bears basketball team was favored to be at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference this season. But the Bears have disappointed their fans with lackluster play which has them firmly entrenched in the lower half of the conference standings. Bret Vandergard was brought in to make Missouri State a force in the MVC, but he has failed thus far. The team is no better than before he arrived and is mired in the lower half of the conference standings. Vandergard brought in some reportedly good transfer players and recruits, but the team hasn’t coalesced. Vandergard doesn’t seem to have the answers on how to make the Bears highly competitive. What’s this guy done for us, anyway? He might have done well at Eastern Washington, but this is a bigger program in a tougher conference. It’s time to turn things around or hit the road, coach!