PointGuard

All-Tournament Team PG: Mark Graham, Charlotte, 18.0 ppg SG: Tremaine Moore, Central Michigan, 18.0 ppg SF: Marlo Vickers, Nevada, 12.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg PF: Jerome Bowie, Bowling Green, 16.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg C: Marion Kurtz, Charlotte, 14.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg MVP: Jerome Bowie, Bowling Green

Top 1 Through 16 Tournament (Mid Majors) Placings: 1st: Massachusetts Minutemen 2nd: Central Michigan Chippewas 3rd: Nevada Wolfpack 4th: St. Josephs Hawks 5th: Southern Illinois Salukis 6th: Hawaii Warriors 7th: UNLV Runnin’ Rebels 8th: Valparaiso Crusaders 9th: Bowling Green Falcons 10th: Charlotte 49ers 11th: Kent State Golden Flashes 12th: BYU Cougars 13th: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 14th: St. Bonaventure Bonnies 15th: Ball State Cardinals 16th: Saint Louis Billikens

Top Round 4 Individual Player Performances: PF Paul Smith, Ball State: 28 pts, 3 assists, 8 Reb SF Dwayne Jackson, Ball State: 11 pts, 1 assist, 9 Reb SF Marco Coursey, Kent State: 11 pts, 4 assists, 7 Reb C Marlon Kurtz, Charlotte: 17 pts, 4 Reb SF Dwayne Cox, Charlotte: 19 pts, 1 assist, 2 Reb PF Jerome Bowie, Bowling Green: 17 pts, 3 assists, 10 Reb SG John Hopkins, BYU: 23 pts, 1 assist, 3 Reb PG Jevon Thomas, Valparaiso: 16 pts, 2 assists, 1 Reb PG Clyde Ruddock, UNLV: 20 pts, 4 assists, 1 Reb C Matt Jones, UNLV: 15 pts, 1 assist, 7 Reb SF Rick Watkins, UNLV: 13 pts, 2 assist, 8 Reb, 3 steals SF Mike Hutson, Alcorn State: 14 pts, 2 assists, 3 reb, 1 steal SG Rick Newman, Nevada: 17 pts, 1 assist, 5 Reb PF Hollis Booth, Nevada: 12 pts, 1 assist, 10 Reb SG Tremaine Moore, Central Michigan: 15 pts, 4 assists, 2 Reb PG Michael Crenshaw, Massachusetts: 15 pts, 5 assists, 3 Reb SG David Krimmel, Massachusetts: 16 pts, 9 assists, 4 Reb, 5 steals SF Teremun Williams, Massachusetts: 17 pts, 1 assist, 7 Reb PF Tony Logan, Massachusetts: 20 pts, 3 assists, 9 Reb, 5 steals

Round 4 Scores: Game #25: Ball State-71, Saint Louis-63 Game #26: Kent State-81, St. Bonaventure-43 Game #27: Charlotte-79, Western Kentucky-74 Game #28: Bowling Green-78, BYU-70 Game #29: Southern Illinois-56, Valparaiso-41 Game #30: St. Josephs-72, UNLV-68 Game #31: Nevada-71, Hawaii-49 Game #32: Massachusetts-77, Central Michigan-61

Game32: Central Michigan Chippewas--W8/W16/W24 at Massachusetts Minutemen--W3/W12/W20 These two teams playing in the championship game deserve to be here. Both have dominated their opponents in all games they’ve played in the tournament. Both have had quick starts in all their games and 3 straight overwhelming excellent first halves. In their first tournament game Central Michigan romped over Western Kentucky by hitting 63% of their shots (including 11 of 19 of their 3’s) and controlled the boards. In round 2, the Chippewas overwhelmed UNLV by hitting 57% of their FG’s (including 10 of 21 of their 3’s), and have a 5 turnover advantage. Then in round 3 Central Michigan stomped on Hawaii when they sunk 55% of their shots (7 of 19 from 3 point distance), and dominated the boards. Their guards have carried the offensive load with Chuck Livas averaging 16.0 ppg and Tremaine Moore averaging 19.0 ppg. Massachusetts ground up Southern Illinois in their first tournament game by hitting 52% of their FG’s (including 9 of 17 threes). They beat down BYU in round 2 by knocking down 55% of their shots (including 9 of 16 threes). Then in Round 3 the Minutemen let their large halftime lead get whittled down near the end of the game, but still beat Nevada handily, although they only hit 42% of their shots (with 5 for 15 three-point shooting), but they dominated the boards. The Minutemen have had more balanced scoring with Michael Crenshaw averaging 9.7 ppg, Mark Rogers 10.5 ppg, David Krimmel 12.7 ppg, Terumun Williams 13.0 ppg, Tony Logan 12.3 ppg, and Chris Kent 9.7 ppg. Starting lineups: Central Michigan: PG 6-4 Chuck Livas, SG 6-1 Tremaine Moore, SF 6-6 Jarvis Martin, PF 6-7 Joe Evans, C 6-10 Ramsey Millar Massachusetts: PG 6-5 Michael Crenshaw, SG 6-1 David Krimmel, , SF 6-6 Teremun Williams, PF 6-8 Tony Logan, C 6-9 Chris Kent Massachusetts took a small early lead but also got called for several early fouls. With 12-1/2 minutes to go in the first half, the Minutemen had opened a 16-6 lead. The Chippewas began hitting their shots but their comeback attempts were thwarted by numerous turnovers as well as fouls that sent Minutemen trooping to the free throw line. The half came to a conclusion with Massachusetts on top 44-25. Massachusetts outshot Central Michigan 58% to 44%, went to the line 18 more times and scored 12 more points on free throws, and had 3 turnovers to the Chippewas 14. SG Tremaine Moore scored 8 points to lead the Central Michigan scoring. SG David Krimmel and PF Tony Logan both dropped in 11 points for the Minutemen. Throughout most of the second half, both teams scored well but the point difference remained pretty constant. Only during the final several minutes did the Chippewas cut into the Minutemen’s lead a little. But Massachusetts was not to be denied the title as Champions. Final Score: Massachusetts—77, Central Michigan—61 (Massachusetts finishes in 1st place and Central Michigan finishes in 2nd place). Central Michigan: PG Chuck Livas-8/4/2, SG Tremaine Moore-15/4/3, SF Jarvis Martin-3/1/2, PF Joe Evans-10/0/6, C Ramsey Millar-4/0/4. Chippewas team stats: FG%-49%, 8 of 14 FT’s, 7 of 20 Threes, 26 Reb, 20 TO’s, 21 PF’s. Massachusetts: PG Michael Crenshaw-15/5/3, SG David Krimmel-16/9*/4 (+5 steals), SF Teremun Williams-17/1/7, PF Tony Logan20*/3/9* (+5 steals), C Chris Kent-9/1/4. Minutemen team stats: FG%-51%, 20 of 27 FT’s, 5 of 16 Threes, 27 Reb, 9 TO’s, 15 PF’s. Player of the Game: PF Tony Logan-20 pts, 3 assists, 9 reb, 5 steals, 1 block. [strange But True: The AI coach for the Massachusetts Minutemen played all 5 starters for the entire game. That’s right...no subs at all! They’re now called the “Five Fortyteers”...one for all and all for one.]

Brad Thompson, sports reporter for The Standard (Missouri State University newspaper) Bears Slump Raises Questions After starting the season with two thrilling overtime wins, the Bears basketball team’s season is rapidly disintegrating into yet another year of mediocrity. Their 4th straight loss last Friday gives reason to question whether they will be able to compete well when Missouri Valley Conference games begin late this month. With the possible exception of SG Brent Gregory, no players have shown a great deal of promise. The teams RPI is 188 and dropping like a stone. The athletic department brought in a new coach who was supposed to turn the basketball program around. But after their two slim wins, there have been four lopsided losses. The starting lineup continues to fluctuate making fans wonder if the coaches have a clue as to what they are doing. So the question of the day is: “Coach Vandergard, what have you done for us lately?” You may have come to Missouri State with a good reputation, but that rep isn’t producing wins.

Erick McGadney, 1st Assistant Coach After our loss to Eastern Washington, Joey Jones was yapping about Donte Hartfield being given favorable treatment by Coach V and that Coach V had started the wrong player at the 5 the past two games. I passed the incident along to Coach V. When we got back to Springfield, Coach V called Jones into his office and read him the riot act and told him that even though he’s a freshman, that was an immature attitude. Jones got defensive leading Coach V to give him a one-week suspension. Coach V later told him that there are too many young guys on this team to allow guys to get away with things. Then a day later, Hartfield’s starts were validated when the Missouri Valley Conference named Donte Hartfield the Freshman Player of the Week.

Jack Cooper, Barber Game #6, Dec. 1, 2017: Missouri State (2-3) at Eastern Washington Eagles (4-1) Bret Vandergard is such a great guy. He came by earlier today to get a haircut. It was so nice to see him again. He gave me a ticket to tonight’s game. Reese Court is packed tonight. The fans around here want to see the Eagles beat up on Bret’s Missouri State team. The crowd seems pretty revved up even before the game begins. Boy, I bet Coach V wishes he was back coaching the Eagles. After 4-1/2 minutes they were burying the Bears, 17-4 and had hit 4 of 5 from 3 point distance. With 8-1/2 minutes to go in the first half, EWU led 28-8. Missouri State turned the ball over 12 times in the first half. That plus the Eagles hitting 50% of their shots (including 5 of 9 threes) gave Eastern Washington a commanding 38-19 lead at the half. The only Bear that looked very good was their starting center, Donte Hartfield, who scored 6 points and hauled down 7 rebounds. Greg Fisher, their PG, also scored 6 points. For the Eagles, Anthony Alston and Tim Whitaker both scored 8 points. Coach V must have got on his players during the half, because they scored 9 points in less the 2 minutes of the first half, cutting the Eagles lead to 11 points. But that woke the Eagles up, and led by Anthony Alston’s scoring, they re-established a 20 point lead with 12 minutes left in the game. The Bears showed spark though and crept closer. Donte Hartfield hit 2 free throws with 4:38 left to pull the Bears to within 9 at 59-50. EWU took care of business from there on so never put the game in doubt. Coach V’s team, although out-gunned, played gutsy ball in the 2nd half to keep the score respectable. The only team stats that were dramatically different were turnovers (19 for the Bears, 14 for the Eagles), and free throws (9 more attempts and 10 more points for the Eagles than the Bears). Final Score; Eastern Washington—69, Missouri State (2-4)—53. Leading players for Missouri State: C Donte Hartfield-13 pts, 1 assist, 10 rebounds, 1 steal; SG Brent Gregory-9 pts, 2 assists, 2 reb, 1 steal; SG Rashad Thompson-8 pts, 1 assist, 3 reb, 1 steal. Player of the Game: Eastern Washington’s SG Anthony Alston-18 pts, 2 assists, 3 reb, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Others for Eastern Washington: PG Quintin Brown-13 pts, 3 assists, 2 reb, 1 steal; SF Tim Whitaker-11 pts, 1 assist, 1 reb.

Flash Borden, sports reporter for KSMO radio in Springfield, MO FB: Hi Coach. How’s things back in Cheney, Washington? BV: Fortunately they’re having unseasonably good weather right now. So it’s very pleasant, Flash. It’s going to feel strange tonight going into the visitors’ locker room though. FB: Are your guys ready to take on your old team tonight? BV: As ready as we’ll ever be! The Eagles are having a good season and playing as well as I would have expected. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us, but we need a few of those to help us gauge how well we can play. We’re going to have to turn things up a notch to be able to compete. FB: What players for Eastern Washington are you most concerned about? BV: The Eagles are getting good scoring from 8 or 9 of their squad, so you can’t focus on your attention on 1 or 2 players. When one of their players gets hot, we’ll then shift our emphasis their way to try to interrupt their success. Their best scorer thus far has been SF Tim Whitaker. He’s a streaky shooter. Anthony Alston and Will Davis have been playing the 2 for them and both are shooting extremely well. Quintin Brown is a freshman we recruited hard last year and he’s been gaining confidence at the point game after game this season. Inside they have 4 guys (Adam Stevenson, Donte Robinson, Thomas McTyer, and Nate Dye) who are all strong players and nearly interchangeable. FB: Coach, you’ve been changing things up each game as far as your interior starters go. Fans wonder why you haven’t yet settled on a set starting lineup. BV: Each one of our big guys thus far have had hot and cold games. So, we’re still seeing who will be most consistent. But overall I’m pleased with our inside play. Due to their play in our last game, Jimmy Woni and Donte Hartfield will be starting tonight, but I expect Ricky Lee and Joey Jones to get more playing time tonight that they did earlier this week. On the outside, our guards have been playing well, although they did have a let-down against Alcorn State. So we’ll stick with starting Greg Fisher at point, Brent Gregory at the 2 and Aaron Wells at the 3. FB: Time for a word from our sponsor. But good luck tonight, Coach. BV: Thanks Flash. We’re going to need it.

Buzz Moriarity, Missouri State Athletic Director Bret Vandergard flew to Spokane, Washington a day earlier than the team. Rumor has it that he has a hottie there and wanted to spend some time with her. But he just told me he had some things to check up on and needed the extra day there.

Game #31: Hawaii Warriors (W5, W15, L24) at Nevada Wolfpack (W2, W11, L20) Hawaii won a thriller in the 1st round with PG David Hamilton and reserve C Gerrick Williams combining for 37 points. Then in the 2nd round, the Warriors put together a very strong 2nd half to win with ease as their bench players led by Gerrick Williams scored 32 of the team’s 66 points. In round 3, Hawaii’s defense failed them and they lost by 22 points. Nevada score 58 points in the 2nd half to win by 23 points in round one as SG Rick Newman and SF Marlow Vickers combined for 44 points. In round 2, the Wolfpack applied a staunch defense to win by 17. Like Hawaii, Nevada’s defense fell apart in round 3 to create a 21 point deficit in the first half and while they rallied in the 2nd half, they still lost by 9 even though SG Rick Newman scored 19 points. Starting lineups: Hawaii: PG 6-5 David Hamilton, SG 6-3 Shannon Sykes, SF 6-8 David Howard, PF 6-7 Darius Allison, C 6-8 Todd Brown Nevada: PG 5-6 Brett Boston, SG 6-2 Rick Newman, SF 6-8 Marlo Vickers, PF 6-8 Hollis Booth, C 6-9 Donald Thornton Both teams were tight for about 8 minutes at the start of the game with frequent turnovers and poor shooting. The refs were continually calling fouls against Nevada, allowing Hawaii to at least score some points even though their shooting was horrible. At that point though, Nevada put on a run that carried them to a 19-7 lead with 8:42 remaining in the first half. Late in the half, Hawaii finally got their offense untracked and put some points up on the board. But they weren’t able to trim the margin much and left the court trailing 33-24. Both teams shot poorly with Hawaii hitting only 36% of their shots and Nevada only able to get 33% of the FG’s to drop. But Hawaii has small advantages in rebounding and turnovers, shot better at the foul line and hit 5 of 12 threes while Hawaii scored no points on 3’s. C Todd Brown and reserve SG Jason Oliver both scored 8 points for Hawaii. As usual SG Rick Newman was high point man for Nevada with 8 points. Hawaii again started slowly in the 2nd half and fell behind by 19 just 4 minutes into the final stanza. Midway through the half, Nevada increased their lead to 59-35. From that point on the lead fluctuated between 20-25 points so the outcome was never in doubt. Final Score: Nevada—71, Hawaii—49. (Nevada finished in 3rd place and Hawaii finishes in 6th place. Hawaii: PG David Hamilton-6/3/2, SG Shannon Sykes-3/2/6, SF David Howard-5/1/2, PF Darius Allison-3/0/5, C Todd Brown-10/1/4; Bench Player: Jason Oliver-8/2/2. Warriors team stats: FG%-38%, 18 of 30 FT’s, 1 of 9 Threes, 28 Rebs, 17 TO’s, 20 PF’s. Nevada: PG Brett Boston-7/6*/2, SG Rick Newman-17*/1/5, SF Marlo Vickers-11/2/3, PF Hollis Booth-12/1/10*, C Donald Thornton-9/1/4; Bench player: Jermaine Cockle-6/0/4. Wolfpack team stats: FG%-41%, 25 of 31 FT’s, 8 of 23 Threes, 34 Rebs, 13 TO’s, 23 PF’s. Player of the Game: Nevada SG Rick Newman-17 pts, 1 assist, 5 reb, 1 steal, 1 block.

Paris George, 3rd Assistant Coach Game #5, Nov. 29, 2017: Missouri State Bears (2-2) at Alcorn State Braves (0-4) Alcorn State may have lost all 4 of their games, but all have been close while playing on the road, including a 6 point loss to #16 Missouri. So playing them on their home court isn’t going to be a picnic. C Gregory Bond has been their top scorer, but freshman SF Gerrick King has started two games and scored in double figures both times. Gerrick King started and we decided to double team him early to try to keep him in check. We turned the ball over on our first 2 possessions resulting in 4 quick points for the Braves. Gerrick King scored 8 of Alcorn State’s first 10 points. We switched to playing strictly man-to-man at that point to control him better. With 8-1/2 minutes remaining in the first half Brent Gregory sunk a 15-footer and was fouled and hit his free throw, giving us our first lead of the night at 22-20. The game remained extremely close until late in the half when the Braves recovered and hit some key shots. When the half ended we trailed 40-32. Alcorn State outshot us 64% to 44%, but we had 3 fewer turnovers and scored 6 more points at the free throw line. C Donte Hartfield led our scoring with 11 points while SF Gerrick King was top scorer for the Braves with 10. Alcorn State came out with guns a-blazing in the 2nd half. We fought back, led by the scoring of Jimmy Woni, who worked the interior beautifully drawing foul after foul. The lead flip-flopped throughout the middle 10 minutes of the 2nd half. But in the final 4 minutes Alcorn State’s great shooting allowed them to slowly draw away. They finished the game by outshooting us 61% to 49%. Our guys played tough, but while we got a very small lead several times, we could never pull away while Alcorn State put together solid final minutes in both halves that ultimately were the difference. For the entire game there were 18 lead changes and 12 ties. Final Score: Alcorn State—76, Missouri State (2-3)—69. Leading players for Missouri State: PF Jimmy Woni-16 pts, 1 assist, 4 reb, 1 steal; C Donte Hartfield-13 pts, 2 assists, 6 reb, 2 steals, 1 block; PF Aaron Wells-8 pts, 2 assists, 7 reb, 2 steals. Player of the Game: Alcorn State’s PG Bobby Wiatre-19 pts, 1 assist, 5 reb, 2 steals, 1 block. Other Braves: SF Gerrick King-17 pts; SG Lee Whiteman-13 pts, 3 assists, 6 reb.

Game #30: UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (W7, L16, W23) at St. Josephs Hawks (W1, L11, W19) St. Josephs’ wins in the tournament have come when their bench has been extremely productive. UNLV’s wins in this tournament have come when PG Clyde Ruddock and PF Geoff Ahern have both had big games offensively. Starting lineups: UNLV: PG 6-0 Clyde Ruddock, SG 6-3 George Finley, SF 6-5 Rick Watkins, PF 6-8 Geoff Ahern, C 6-9 Simon Ellis St. Josephs: PG 6-5 Gregg Hoyer, SG 6-5 Chris Kelly, SF 6-6 Mike Hutson, PF 6-6 Dan Deverage, C 6-9 Petrick Watkins UNLV broke out to a 20-9 lead midway through the half and held on to go to intermission with a 39-33 lead. The Runnin’ Rebels knocked down 44% of their shots while the Hawks hit 50% of theirs. But UNLV won the battle of the boards 16-11 and enjoyed an 8-6 turnover advantage, and scored 12 more points at the line. PG Clyde Ruddock scored 10 points for UNLV. SF Mike Hutson led the Hawks with 6 points. UNLV held their lead until St. Josephs hit a 3 with 4-1/2 minutes to go to tie at 63-63. UNLV regained a small lead but then with 40 seconds left, the Hawks hit another three-pointer to put them ahead by 3. Following a miss on their next possession, UNLV fouled and St. Josephs hit both free throws to put them ahead by 5. UNLV dropped in a 3 with 14 seconds to go. Trailing by 2, UNLV had to foul and the Hawks sunk both shots. UNLV brought it up court quickly but missed and the Hawks rebounded. Ruddock and Ahern combined for 30 points for UNLV but the Hawks bench accounted for 35 points compared to UNLV’s bench that scored 20. Final Score: St. Josephs—72, UNLV—68 (St. Josephs finishes in 4th place and UNLV finishes in 7th place) UNLV: PG Clyde Ruddock-20/4/1, SG George Finley-3/1/1, SF Rick Watkins-13/2/8, PF Geoff Ahern-10/0/4, C Simon Ellis-2/0/3; Bench player-Matt Jones-15/1/7. Runnin’ Rebels team stats: FG%-46%, 22 of 27 FT’s, 8 of 18 Threes, 26 Rebs, 18 TO’s, 11 PF’s. St. Josephs: PG Gregg Hoyer-3/4/0, SG Chris Kelly-4/2/2, SF Mike Hutson-14/2/3, PF Dan Deverage-8/0/3, C Petrick Watkins-8/2/3; Bench players: Selwyn Capel-13/2/1; Tomas Well-11/1/2 Hawks team stats: FG%-47%, 8 of 13 FT’s, 12 of 31 Threes, 22 Rebs, 14 TO’s, 27 PF’s. Player of the Game: St. Josephs SF Mike Hutson- 14 pts, 2 assists, 3 rebounds.

Rob Porter, Sports Writer, Springfield News-Leader Game #4, Nov. 25, 2017; Missouri State Bears (2-1) at Seattle Redhawks (3-0) Bears Hibernate The Missouri State Bears travelled to Seattle to take on the Seattle University Redhawks last night. The Redhawks came into the game undefeated with 2 of their 3 wins achieved on the road. Seattle’s scoring had come from outside, led by PG Colin Miller’s 14.0 ppg. Missouri State played well offensively but a 15-10 turnover disadvantage and Seattle’s dominance of the boards (28-19) resulted in Missouri State losing their second straight game by a score of 76-59. The Bears hit 59% of their first half shots, but were outshone by Seattle’s 63% shooting, including their hitting 6 of 9 three-point shots. The Redhawks used that to move out to a 46-38 halftime advantage. C Joey Jones scored 11 and SG Brent Gregory added 9 to lead Missouri State’s offense in the first half. The Redhawks’ bench scored 22 of the teams points. Seattle continued to outplay the Bears in the 2nd half and pulled away to win with ease. Final Score: Seattle-76, Missouri State-59 (2-2) Leading players for Missouri State: C Joey Jones-18 pts, 4 assists, 5 reb, 1 steal; SG Brent Gregory-16 pts, 1 reb. Player of the Game: Seattle C Derrick Merfeld-19 pts, 1 assist, 7 reb, 1 steal.

Game #29: Valparaiso Crusaders (L8, W 14, W22) at Southern Illinois Salukis (L3, W10, W18) These two teams seem pretty equal so if the game were on a neutral court it would be a coin-toss as to who would win. But playing on the Saluki’s home court gives the edge to Southern Illinois. Starting lineups: Valparaiso: PG 6-0 Javon Thomas, SF 6-2 Jeremy Scott, SF 6-6 Jim Walker, PF 6-8 David Richardson, C 6-10 Brandon Diggs Southern Illinois: PG 6-0 Shannon Ress, SG 6-2 Brandon Penders, SF 6-8 Tim Montross, PF 6-6 Adam Lilly, C 6-8 Mike Young Five minutes into the game, Southern Illinois had forged a 12-3 lead aided by 8 turnovers by Valparaiso. The Crusaders turnovers continued as they piled up 11 in the first 9 minutes of play which lead to a 19-6 lead by the Salukis. After 12 minutes of plays, the Crusaders had made 15 turnovers, and Southern Illinois expanded their lead to 26-6. The lead by Southern Illinois increased to 39-10 at the half. Valparaiso played an abominable first half, making 23 turnovers and hitting just 30% of their shots. Southern Illinois had just 6 turnovers and hit 50% of their FG attempts (including 5 of 9 of their 3’s). SG Brandon Penders led the Salukis in scoring with 8 points. Just 3 players scored any points for Valparaiso and SG Jeremy Scott scored 4 points to top their scoring. Southern Illinois went ice cold in the 2nd half, but the lead was too great for the Crusaders to overtake the Salukis. Final Score: Southern Illinois—56, Valparaiso—41 (Southern Illinois finished in 5th place; Valparaiso finishes in 8th place). Valparaiso: PG Javon Thomas-16*/2/1, SF Jeremy Scott-10/2/6, SF Jim Walker-6/2/8*, PF David Richardson-0/2/5, C Brandon Diggs-5/0/4. Crusaders team stats: FG%-40%, 5 of 6 FT’s, 8 of 18 Threes, 24 Rebs, 28 TO’s, 16 PF’s. Southern Illinois: PG Shannon Ress-10/4*/2, SG Brandon Penders-13/2/1, SF Tim Montross-5/2/4, PF Adam Lilly-8/1/3, C Mike Young-2/1/4; Bench player: Jamie Mueller-8/0/0. Salukis team stats: FG%-40%, 15 of 19 FT’s, 7 of 14 Threes, 19 Rebs, 11 TO’s, 12 PF’s. Player of the Game: SG Brandon Penders-13 pts, 2 assists, 1 reb, 1 steal.

Don and Teri Kriley, Meaghan Kriley’s parents TK: Don, I’m worried about Meaghan. DK: Why, Teri? TK: Haven’t you noticed? She’s so much quieter, doesn’t smile or kid as much, is spending all her time either working or at her apartment. Stacey [Meaghan’s sister] has talked with me several times about it. DK: Maybe this new job of hers is just taking more time. You know it’s a more demanding job. TK: Don, come on. She’s had this job for quite a while now, and she wasn’t like this 6 months ago. I think it’s due to Bret moving to Missouri without considering her. I’m sure she was really hurt by that. I’m pretty ticked off at Bret. He seemed like such a nice guy but to just pick up and move leaving Meaghan in the lurch is so disrespectful. DK: How about us doing something special that will cheer Meaghan up? TK: Get out of your Mr. Fixup mode, Don! You always just think you can storm in and FIX things. Mr. Fixup waving his magic wand and saying "presto chango". Some things aren’t that easily resolved. (Don heads outside muttering to himself.)

Game #28: Bowling Green Falcons (L7.W15,L23) at BYU Cougars (L4,W12,L19) Starting Lineups: Bowling Green: PG 6-4 Shammell Smith, SG 6-3 Michael Maybin, SF 6-7 Greg Miller, PF 6-6 Jerome Bowie, C 6-7 Chris Gentry BYU: PG 5-7 Ben Smith, SG 6-2 John Hopkins, SF 6-8 John Angeli, PF 6-10 Coupe Fuhs, C 6-9 Matt Babul The Cougars gradually pulled away and took a 10 point lead with 9 minutes remaining in the first half. But the Falcons then scored 7 straight quick points. BYU held onto a 2-12 point lead during the remaining minutes of the first half and finished with a 48-38 advantage. The Falcons dropped in 50% of their FG attempts which in most games would result in them coming away with a lead. But their shooing was trumped by the Cougars hitting a phenomenal 73% of their shots. John Hopkins scorched the net for 13 points for BYU. Chris Gentry was Bowling Green’s top scorer with 7 points. The refs called fouls evenly but they whistled the two teams for a total of 27 fouls. BYU held an 8-12 point lead in the 2nd half, but Bowling Green came back to go ahead 66-65 with 4 minutes to play. As BYU crashed and burned, the Falcons took a 72-65 lead with 2:43 to go. The Falcons continued their thrashing of the Cougars taking a 13 point with 40 seconds remaining in the game. Final Score: Bowling Green-78, BYU-70. Bowling Green finishes in 9th place; BYU finishes in 12th place. Bowling Green: PG Shammell Smith10/2/1, SG Michael Maybin-6/0/2, SF Greg Miller-8/2/3, PF Jerome Bowie-17/3*/10*, C Chris Gentry-10/2/3; Bench players: Tomas O’Conner-10/2/5, Jason Smallwood-8/0/0. Falcons Team Stats: FG%-54%; 30 of 40 FT’s; 2 of 10 Threes; 27 Rebs; 10 TO’s; 20 PF’s. BYU: PG Ben Smith-2/3*/1, SG John Hopkins-23*/1/3, SF John Angeli-6/3/5, PF Coupe Fuhs-8/0/2, C Matt Babul-5/0/0; Bench player: Heath Cliff-12/2/3. Cougars Team Stats: FG%-535; 14 of 17 FT’s; 6 of 18 Threes; 20 Rebs; 15 TO’s; 29 PF’s Player of the Game: Bowling Green PF Jerome Bowlie-17 pts, 3 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 steals.

Brad Thompson, sports reporter for The Standard, Missouri State University newspaper Bears Players Win Awards Following the first week of Division I basketball play, the Missouri State Bears not only have two overtime wins, but two of their players won MVC awards. Sophomore guard Brent Gregory averaged 20 ppg and 5.5 rpg in the Bears first two contests. On the basis of that play, he won the Missouri Valley Conference’s Player of the Week award. Power forward Ricky Lee averaged 8.0 ppg and 3.5 rpg and won the MVC’s Freshman Player of the Week award. Coach Bret Vandergard said, “Brent made it possible for us to pull out two close wins. Not only did he score and rebound well for us, but he played excellent defense as well.” With regard to freshman Ricky Lee, Vandergard added, “Ricky played like a much more seasoned player. It’s not easy to make the step up from high school to college ball, but Ricky had a great first week. And as with Brent, Ricky played tough defensively.”

Quote: Originally Posted by Wayne23 "Hey Big Boy, Dial 1-800-OBRENDA for a REAL good time. Know what I mean?" When Brenda gets done with you, it will be YOU who will be saying "Ohhhhhh, Brenda!!!!"

Quote: Originally Posted by Wayne23 Do you have Brenda's phone number? LOL...I've heard via the grapevine that her phone is pretty busy.

Gm #27: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (L8, W14, L22) at Charlotte 49ers (L2, W9, L18) Western Kentucky has had two close losses and pulled away in the 2nd half in their lone win in the tournament. Charlotte lost big and won big in the first two round and then played a good game in round 3 only to lose. Starting lineups: Western Kentucky: PG 5-7 Mario Jones, SG 6-1 Aaron Taflinger, SF 6-8 Scott Reed, PF 6-10 Julius Dickel, C 6-10 Ray Melson Charlotte: PG 5-7 Mark Graham, SG 6-4 Craig Poole, SF 6-8 Dwayne Cox, PF 6-8 Greg Brumm, C 6-9 Marlon Kurtz The game was close in the first half, but Charlotte opened a 9 point lead 8 minutes before the intermission. But the Hilltoppers fought back and retook the lead with 4 minutes remaining in the half. When the claxon sounded, the score was 40-37 in favor of Western Kentucky. Both teams hit over 50% of their FG attempts, but the Hilltoppers made 13 of 15 FT’s while the 49ers sank just 8 of 15 from the charity stripe. Julius Dickel, Starzee Brown, Ronald Ballinger, and Josh Hankins each scored 6 points for Western Kentucky. Marlon Kurtz dropped in 9 points to lead Charlotte offensively. The score remained close with numerous lead changes in the 2nd half. Western Kentucky opened a 7 point lead with 4 minutes to go in the game. But as had been the case throughout this game, no lead was safe and Charlotte tied the game at 72-72 with 2 minutes left. Dwayne Cox hit a 3 for Charlotte with 53 seconds remaining to make it 75-72. Western Kentucky’s Julius Dickel knocked down a 10 foot baseline jumper with 26 seconds to go to make it 75-74. A Hilltopper foul and two successful free throws by Mark Graham gave the 49er’s a 77-74 lead with 22 seconds on the clock. Western Kentucky missed a 3 pointer and fouled with 7 seconds left. Craig Poole iced the game by sinking both free throw shots. Final Score: Charlotte—79, Western Kentucky—74. (Charlotte finishes in 10th place and Western Kentucky finishes in 13th place. Western Kentucky: PG Mario Jones-7/4*/2, SG Aaron Taflinger-4/1/5, SF Scott Reed-6/4/2, PF Julius Dickel-13/2/2, C Ray Melson-9/1/1; Bench players: Starzee Brown-9/1/2, Ronald Ballinger-9/1/1, Josh Hankins-8/0/1. Hilltoppers Team Stats: FG%-48%; 22 of 25 FT’s; 6 of 16 Threes; 26 Rebs; 13 TO’s; 23 PF’s. Charlotte: PG Mark Graham-12/3/1, SG Craig Poole-12/3/6*, SF Dwayne Cox-19*/1/2, PF Greg Brumm-2/0/5, C Marlon Kurtz-17/0/4; Bench player: Marc Gunn-9/2/0. 49ers Player Stats: FG%-57%; 23 of 36 FT’s, 6 of 17 Threes, 25 Rebs, 12 TO’s, 19 PF’s. Player of the Game: Charlotte’s Marlon Kurtz-17 pts, 4 reb, 2 steal, 2 blocks.

Brenda Blankenship, Go Bears Fan Club member Game #2, Nov. 17, 2017: Missouri State Bears (1-0) at Delaware State Hornets (0-2) I attended college at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware. It’s a small, private liberal arts college that’s now nearly 150 years old. So it’s even older than I am. I moved to Springfield, Missouri over 30 years ago with my husband and we became big Bears fans. Stan passed away two years ago, but I’ve kept my season tickets and have remained active in the Go Bears Fan Club. When I heard that the team was playing a game at Delaware State in Dover, I decided it was a great chance to go back and get together with some of my girlfriends from college for a long weekend. They’re a hoot. I convinced them to come to the game with me, even though most of them don’t know all that much about basketball. They’ll be gabbing about all sorts of things throughout the game, but I’ll just pass along some of the comments that apply to tonight’s game. ***Yes, Dorothy, Delaware State hasn’t won a game yet this season, but both of their games have been on the road where wins are tough to get. They came close against Southern California and then they played Eastern Washington and got drubbed, but Eastern Washington did very well in last year’s NCAA Tournament so they’ve probably got a very good team. That’s the team where our new coach came from. ***OK girls, even though we all went to college in Delaware, you have to promise me you’re going to root for Missouri State. We may be the Bears only fans here tonight. ***Yes, our fan club has mostly males in it. And no, I’m not dating any of them. ***Most colleges recently have gone to colorful and artistic court designs. It wasn’t long ago that courts had little writing or design work on them. I like the Hornet design but it’s not as good as Missouri State’s floor. ***Oh no, turnovers on our first 3 possessions! No, we aren’t that bad. I think our guys are just a little nervous. ***Well Barbara, nowadays they have all these TV timeouts. This is the first one of the game. Even though it’s only 9-7, at least the Bears are ahead. ***Come on refs! You can’t call ALL the fouls against just one team!!!! ***Whoo hoo! Our guys are really shooting well. That basket forced the Hornets coach to call a time out. A 21-14 lead with 8 minutes to go in the first half is great! I hope the Bears can keep it going. ***Oh Janet, it’s high school and professional basketball where they play 4 quarters. College teams play two halves. ***Ref, you stink! That’s 9 fouls against MSU and just 2 against Delaware State! You’re nothing but a homer! ***That was an exciting half, Madge. The Bears would be ahead by more than 33-30 if the refs hadn’t put the Hornets on the line so much. Yes, Brent Gregory seems to be our best scorer. His 7 points is high for us so far. Unfortunately that big power forward of Delaware State, Allen Menser, has decimated us with 13 points. The Bears need to contain him in the 2nd half. ***Yes, I agree Janet. The Delaware State dance team is very good. I liked that halftime show also. ***Well, Delaware State had to eventually score. But the Bears held them scoreless in the 2nd half for over 6 minutes! I just wish MSU had scored more than 4 points during that same amount of time. But a 7 point lead is good. ***Ugghhh! Yet another foul. That field goal along with the successful foul shot put the Hornets into a tie with 5 minutes left. The refs have only called 3 fouls against Delaware State the entire 2nd half. ***OK, that’s the last TV timeout. But with the score tied at 50-50, I’m sure both coaches will be calling some time outs in the final few minutes. OK, girls, we’re going to have to yell really loudly to help the Bears pull this game out. ***YES! Finally!! That was a beautiful 3 by Brent Gregory to give us a 53-50 lead with just over a minute to go. DEEEE-FENSE! DEEE-FENSE!!! ***Confound it! That 3 by the Hornets tied it up with 47 seconds to go. ***Yes, we don’t shoot free throws well at all. At least Aaron Wells made one of two, so we’re ahead by a point. But the Hornets will set up a play during the time out they called and with 31 seconds left there is plenty of time for them to score. ***Oh my god, another foul! Well, the Hornets could only hit one of two shots too. So now the Bears have 21 seconds to score. ***Good call by Coach Vandergard. Taking the clock down to 8 seconds and then calling a time out to set up a good play to score. Let’s just hope it works, Anne. I get SO nervous in these situations. ***Darn. Greg Fisher got the shot off, but was too strong with it. That means overtime. The Bears have played two games and both have gone to O.T. ***Joey Jones made both of those free throws. That puts us ahead by 6 points with 3 minutes remaining in the overtime period. ***Way to go Bears!!! 10 points ahead with a minute twenty seconds left in the overtime. Fantastic steal by Joey Jones and an even better upcourt pass to Brent Gregory for the driving layup. ***Ohoh! Our lead is down to 5 points now and still 42 seconds remaining. ***Brent Gregory sinking both of those free throws with 11 seconds to go puts us up by 6 again. That SHOULD do it. ***My heart can’t take too many more of these kind of games. But the Bears seem to be good at pulling things out in overtime. For the entire game they shot just a little better than the Hornets, 52% to 47% and had 5 fewer turnovers. That was enough to make the difference, I guess. ***OK girls. Let’s go get that drink Barbara said she’d buy for us if the Bears won! Final Score: Missouri State (2-0)—72, Delaware State—66 (OT). Leading players for Missouri State: SG Brent Gregory-23 pts, 1 assist, 6 reb, 2 steals; PG Greg Fisher-14 pts, 5 assists, 2 reb, 2 steals; PF Ricky Lee-9 pts, 4 reb, 2 steals. Player of the Game: SG Brent Gregory-23 pts, 1 assist, 6 reb, 2 steals. For Delaware State: SF Chris Thomas-15 pts; PF Allen Menser-13 pts, 8 reb, 4 steals.

Paris George, 3rd Assistant Coach Mike Martin is on the road scouting, but Coach V got together with me and Erick to review game film, analyze our first game, and discuss how our players performed. Brent Gregory had a very strong game at the 2. He definitely will be starting again. Rudy Gage and Rashad Thompson, who split on court time while Brent was resting, played pretty well, though. We’ll see which of them is more consistent. At point, both Greg Fisher and Terrence Simmons were a mix of good and bad. The bad for both had mainly to do with turnovers and the good was that both effectively distributed the ball to their teammates. Greg will start again, but his poor foul shooting is a liability. Aaron Wells will continue to start at the 3, not because he played well, but because we have no one yet that can do any better. David Earl, his primary replacement, provided no offense but did mix it up on the boards. Coach V had a couple of our guards at the 3 for a few minutes each during the game. On our interior, the jury is still out. But we decided to test a new combination to start our next game, so Joey Jones will start at the 5 and Ricky Lee will start at the 4. Both Donte Hartfield and Jimmy Woni, the starters for our first game, will still get a lot of playing time, though. During practice I’ll be working with the team on ball control, but I think we’re going to continue to have turnover problems until more of our players become familiar with running our sets. We did a satisfactory job defensively in our first game. There’s room for improvement, but we didn’t experience any significant problems and were steady throughout the game. I’m hopeful our strong effort on the boards continues, but Coach V and I will keep drubbing into our guys heads to get good position, box out, and fight for rebounds.

Day 4, Game 26: St. Bonaventure Bonnies (L5, L13, W21) at Kent St. Golden Flashes (L1, L9, W17) St. Bonaventure had two close losses in the first two rounds but then shot the lights out for a big win in the 3rd’ round. Kent State lost by a single point in the 1st round, got drubbed in the 2nd round, and then came back for a strong double-digit win in the 3rd round. Starting Lineups: St. Bonaventure: PG 6-3 Bryan Majerus, SG 6-1 Tavaras Linney, SF 6-7 LeDarion Peterson, PF 6-11 Nick Dunn, C 6-9 Sam Chouest Kent State: PG 5-8 Michael Deren, SG 6-3 Willie Baker, SF 6-7 Marco Coursey, PF 6-7 Maurice Bruton, C 6-9 Tony Dupree Kent State gradually pulled away and opened an 11 point lead with 11 minutes to go in the first half as the Golden Flashes shot well and rebounded strongly and the Bonnies didn’t. 4 minutes later, Kent State doubled their lead. By the end of the half the game was virtually no contest as Kent State led 41-17. Kent State hit 67% of their shots whereas St. Bonaventure only knocked down 28% of their FG attempts. The Golden Flashes dominated the boards 19-7. C Tony Dupree scored 10 points and pulled down 5 rebounds for Kent State. His counterpart, C Sam Clouest led the Bonnies with 6 points. Kent State hit 4 straight 3’s to open the 2nd half and scored the first 14 points to lead 55-17. The lead ballooned to 77-29 with 7 minutes to play. The Golden Flashes totally annihilated the Bonnies. Final Score: Kent State-81, St. Bonaventures-43. Kent State finished in 11th place and St. Bonaventure finished in 14th place. St. Bonaventure: PG Bryan Majerus-3/2/1, SG Tavaras Linney-3/3/2, SF LeDarion Peterson-3/1/1, PF Nick Dunn-6/0/1, C Sam Chouest-10/0/4; Bench player: Saul Smith-6/0/0. Bonnies Team Stats: FG%-36%, 0 of 2 FT’s, 7 of 27 Threes, 16 Rebs, 9 TO’s, 8 PF’s. Kent State: PG Michael Deren-9/1/1, SG Willie Baker-8/0/2, SF Marco Coursey-11/4*/7*, PF Maurice Bruton-10/1/4, C Tony Dupree-12*/4*/5; Bench player: Duez Wyatt-6/0/1, Corey Campbell-6/1/4. Golden Flashes Team Stats: FG%-65%, 5 of 5 FT’s, 14 of 23 Threes, 29 Rebs, 8 TO’s, 7 PF’s. Player of the Game: Kent State C Tony Dupree-12 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks.

Flash Borden, sports reporter for KSMO radio in Springfield, MO FB: Hey Springfield sports fans, we have the new Missouri State head basketball coach with us today to give us a rundown on how the Bears played in their first game this season. Welcome, Coach Vandergard…and congratulations on the win last night. BV: Thanks Flash. It’s always a pleasure to put a “W” up on the board. We’re playing most of our pre-conference games on the road, so winning our home games is vitally important. FB: Did the team play up to your expectations, Coach? BV: Actually I had no expectations. My staff and I have just been trying to get to know the players and how they complement each other on court. As such we came into this game with open minds on how the team would do. But overall, the guys did a good job. I was impressed by their aggressiveness on the boards, but we have a lot of things to work on to get to the point where we are going to compete well within the Missouri Valley Conference later this season. No coach likes to see his team turning the ball over. Our 12 turnovers in the first half was alarming, but we talked about it during halftime and the guys did a much better job the rest of the game. FB: Some folks are saying your pre-conference schedule is a cakewalk and that you’re just playing a bunch of patsies. What do you have to say about that? BV: Well…let’s look at this objectively. The team last season had a mediocre record. All the coaches this year are new to Missouri State University. We’re only suiting up 11 players. Of those, only one is a senior and only two have ever started for the Bears. In addition, 5 of the 11 players are freshmen and all 5 of our big men are freshmen. Now given all that, would YOU schedule Duke, Kansas, UCLA, and Michigan State? Of course not. The guys need to get experience, play some close games, and win a few games to gain confidence. But you can also look at our schedule and say that because we’re playing 2/3 of our games on the road, that we’ve set up a rather challenging schedule for ourselves. FB: I note that you’re playing your old team, Eastern Washington in a few weeks. Do you think they’re going to be trying to prove something to their old coach? BV: I know most of those guys very well, and they’re trying to prove something every time they take the court. So it will be nothing different that their normal approach to a game. But playing the Eagles in Cheney is a huge hurdle. They’re a strong team wherever they play, but when they’re on Reese Court with the fans urging them on, they’re tough as nails. Our challenge will be to be like the hammer that pounds down those nails. We have a long way to go to be up to that task. But I look forward to seeing the Eagles’ players again and am excited to see how those who played for me have developed and how those I recruited last year perform. FB: A final question for you, Coach. Any changes for your next game at Delaware State? BV: Later this morning I’ll get together with my assistant coaches and break down what we did in the game against Portland. That will determine what we need to work on and if there will be any personnel changes.