SIU looks to move to 3-0 on the road in the Missouri Valley.
Missouri State started the season with a horrendous loss at home vs SEMO and also have a bad loss at Illinois State but they also have good wins vs Drake and South Dakota State. The Bears are coming off a home loss by 1 to Northern Iowa.
Meet the Bears:
The Bears brought back almost all of their key players from last year and added Donovan Clay from Valpo onto that. They're 83rd in the country in minutes continuity from last year to this year (61.9%). The Bears are 117th in the country in experience as well (2.14 years). Despite being a great offensive team, the Bears tend to play at a slower pace. They're 289th in the country in average possession length (18.3 seconds per possession). Teams tend to speed it up on the offensive side against Missouri State as opponents are averaging 16.7 seconds per possession (51st in the country).
Missouri State has been a very impressive offensive team this season. The Bears are 16th in the country in effective field goal % (55.5%), 24th in the country in 3 point % (38%) and 44th in the country in 2 point % (54.5%). 35.7% of the Bears total points come from 3 pointers, 76th in the country. The Bears also do a good job at taking care of the ball as they're 35th in the country in turnover % on the offensive end (16.1%) and 54th in the country in steal % on the offensive end (8.1%). If the game comes down to free throws, the Bears have also been impressive at the line shooting 77.4%, 26th in the country. One thing the Bears struggle at a bit is getting to the free line throw line (302nd in the country in free throw attempts per field goal attempts).
On the defensive end, the Bears have struggled a bit at creating turnovers. Missouri State is 244th in the country in turnover % on the defensive end (17.7%) and 252nd in the country in steal % on the defensive end (8.3%). The Bears have been a good rebounding team as they are 82nd in the country in defensive rebounding % (25.6%).
The Bears leading scorer is 6'5 Junior Isiaih Mosley averaging 18.5 points per game. Mosley was a 3 star recruit out of Columbia, MO and chose Missouri State over offers from Missouri, Mississippi State, SMU, and Bradley. Mosley improved greatly in his 2nd season last year and was named to the All-MVC first team and finished third in the Larry Bird Valley Player of the Year voting. This season, he's arguably the frontrunner for the award as he's been tremendous. Mosley gets the majority of the possessions and shots on this Bears team. He's 42nd in the country in % of possessions when he's on the floor (30.6%) and 28th in the country in % of shots when he's on the floor (32.6%). Mosley has been an excellent shooter this year as he's 169th in the country in 3 point shooting % (33-78, 42.3%), 280th in the country in effective field goal % (55.7%) and 262nd in the country in true shooting % (59%). And when the game is close, he's able to knock down his free throws as he's 58th in the country in free throw % (40-45, 88.9%). Mosley is currently ranked 1st in Missouri Valley's all-KenPom team.
Ranking 2nd on that all-kenpom.com list is 6'9 5th year Senior Gaige Prim. Prim started his collegiate career at DII West Texas A&M where he averaged 10 points per game and 7 rebounds per game. In his 2nd season, he was at JUCO South Plains Community College in Lubbock, Texas and was named NJCAA Division 1 First Team All-American and averaged 20 points per game and 11 rebounds per game. He then transferred to Missouri State and was named to the MVC All-Newcomer team and MVC All-Third Team in his first season. In his Senior season last year, Prim was named to the MVC All-First team. This year, Prim leads the Missouri Valley in rebounds per game with 8.2 rebounds per game and is 2nd on the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game. Prim is 56th in the country in offensive rebounding % (13.6%) and 100th in the country in defensive rebounding % (23.4%). Prim is 249th in the country in 2 point % (87-145, 60%), 141st in the country in effective field goal % (59.2%) and 108th in the country in true shooting % (62.8%). Prim has been able to draw fouls and get to the line too as he's 124th in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (5.5) and 183rd in the country in free throw rate (45.4%). He's also been impressive at blocking shots as he averaged 1.3 blocks per game and is 163rd in the country in block % (5.2%).
Another key player for the Bears has been 6'1 5th year Senior Jaylen Minnett. Minnett spent his first four years of his collegiate career at IUPUI where he turned into one of the best scorers in the Horizon League. He finished his four year career at IUPUI as the school's all-time leader in three point attempts and 9th in all-time scoring (1,403 points). He also finished as the school's all-time single season (115) and career leader (285) in 3's made. This season, Minnett is 3rd on the Bears in scoring with 11.1 points per game. Minnett has carried over his 3 point shooting from IUPUI as he's 126th in the country in 3 point % (38-87, 43.7%). Minnett is also 261st in the country in steal % (3.1%) and 85th in the country in turnover rate (9.1%).
6'4 Junior Ja'Monte Black has also been a big scorer for the Bears this year averaging 10.8 points per game. Black takes by far the most 3's on the Bears and makes them at a decent rate as he's 360th in the country in 3 point % (42-108, 38.9%). Black is also 187th in the country in effective field goal % (58%) and 270th in the country in true shooting % (58.8%). He's also one of the best players in the country in taking care of the ball as he's 35th in the country in turnover rate (7.3%).
6'8 Junior Donovan Clay is one of the rare players to transfer from one Missouri Valley school to another in one offseason. Clay, from Alton, Illinois, was one of Valpo's emerging players averaging 9.4 points per game in his Freshman year and was named to the All-MVC Freshman team. This season, Clay has taken a bit of a step back in scoring behind Mosley and Prim but he's still been a key contributor. Clay is 291st in the country in block % (3.8%).
Past SIU/Missouri State games on YouTube:
1999:
2/10 Southwest Missouri State 72 SIU 68 (Road)
2002:
3/3 SIU 84 Southwest Missouri State 63 (MVC Tournament Semifinals)
2003:
2/8 SIU 76 Southwest Missouri State 75 (Road)
3/9 SIU 64 Southwest Missouri State 55 (MVC Tournament Semifinals)
2005:
3/6 Southwest Missouri State 65 SIU 61 (MVC Tournament Semifinals)
2006:
2/7 SIU 66 Missouri State 64 (Home)
2007:
2/13 SIU 51 Missouri State 47 (Road)
2020:
2/8 SIU 68 Missouri State 66 (Marcus Domask Buzzer Beater) (Home)
Links:
Bryan Mullins MVC Media Teleconference 1/10
Mike Reis interview with Troy D'Amico
Bryan Mullins with Mike Reis pregame
Brendan Mullins pregame with Rodney Watson
Anyone know for sure what the status of Lance Jones may be, injury-wise?
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
Anyone know for sure what the status of Lance Jones may be, injury-wise?
Did something happen to him late in the game? He got hurt in the first half but came back in and looked good in the 2nd half.
Anyone know for sure what the status of Lance Jones may be, injury-wise?
I think he is fine to play, however, he has not looked fully healthy most of the season to me. We really need him to get his shot going to reach our potential as a team.
He has turf toe apparently, looked healthy and then it looked like he hit his toe again. Came back and looked good but definitely looked more limited again. Turf toe can take months to heal and is extremely painful.
Mike Reis interview with Troy D'Amico:
https://siusalukis.com/watch/?Archive=6027&type=Archive
@salukiworld Thanks for posting those YouTube videos. Went back and watched part of that big 2022 semifinal win in St. Louis. Brought back some good memories. Funny (and also sort of depressing, knowing what the future would hold) to see Hinson on the sidelines for MSU.
I hope Mullins can get us some athletes like that team had. Weber and Painter sure recruited well to Carbondale back then.
Missouri State favored by 8
Go Dawgs!
This would be a pretty stellar win and get us to 3-0 all of which would be road wins; tall order, but doable. Muila needs to stay out of foul trouble against Prim; I don't think Filewich or Anthony match up well against him.
@usmcsaluki This is a big challenge for SIU. We have really struggled with athletic teams. Hoping for the best. MSU has a ton of talent. Their coach struggles coaching it, which will give us a chance.
@usmcsaluki This is a big challenge for SIU. We have really struggled with athletic teams. Hoping for the best. MSU has a ton of talent. Their coach struggles coaching it, which will give us a chance.
Boy, isn't this the truth. I do think this years team has more ability to match up with athletes with Mulia, Coup and D'Amico.
And man are you right about Dana Ford. The things that some current and former valley coaches would do with the talent he has... He has shown a huge inability to get the most out of it though. I believe he has the most talented team in the valley and I don't think it is particularly close.
I would pick MSU at home, but playing against a Dana Ford coached team, if you do things the right way you have a chance.
SIU will have their fair share of open looks, so what this game will boil down to is if they can knock them down with consistency or not. MSU doesn't exactly D up with a ton of intensity. If shots are falling, SIU will have a chance. If not, SIU has a good chance of being run out of the gym.
Here's hoping we see the version of Missouri State tonight that got smoked by SEMO.
--Insert something witty here--
I agree with most of the sentiments above. MSU is a highly talented team that is under coached which has caused them to, once again, under achieve this season. They have the talent to beat a top 25 team but due to the circumstances could lose to just about anyone.
SIU, again as noted, will need to shoot well tonight if they want to win this game. It will be nice to have a full team for the first time all year.
We *have* to get on television more. I don’t mind it much since I’ve been an ESPN+ subscriber for a few years now, but there is still a whole generation of Saluki fans out there who have never even heard of ESPN+ and still refer to their cable package stations by channel number. My 82 year old grandfather and his buddies keep asking me, “Southern hasn’t been on TV yet, have they?”
