Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Super Bowl
The Missouri State Bears and Evansville Purple Aces will play Sunday at the Ford Center. Tip-off from Evansville, IN, is at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Missouri State, 13-12 SU and 11-12-1 ATS, beat Belmont on Wednesday. The Bears are 3-2 in their past five and 9-6 in Missouri Valley Conference competition.
Evansville, 5-21 SU and 8-16-2 ATS, beat Northern Iowa on Wednesday. The Purple Aces are 1-4 in their past five and 1-14 in MVC play.
Missouri State beat Evansville 85-62 earlier this season. The Purple Aces were thoroughly outrebounded (41-24), which led to 18 more shot attempts for the Bears. Both teams shot roughly 49 percent from the field, but MSU led for the entire game. The Bears lead the series 38-28.
13-12 overall, Missouri State is clinging to its winning record. With five games left, the Bears need to finish strong to stay above .500.
Missouri State picked up a two-point win over Belmont in its last game, shooting 43.1 percent from the field and winning the rebounding battle 39-30 with 12 offensive rebounds. The Bears also assisted on 17 of their 25 made field goals. Senior guard Donovan Clay paced MSU with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
MOGBO COMING IN CLUTCH. pic.twitter.com/l7Kje2CELD
— Missouri State Basketball (@MSUBearsHoops) February 9, 2023
The Bears score 65.5 points per game (326th) and shoot 43.6 percent (244th), including 33.3 percent from long range (234th). They hit 62.1 percent of their foul shots (357th) and average 32.1 rebounds (167th) with a +3.5 rebounding margin. Missouri State is 190th in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency and 202nd in effective field goal percentage (50.2%).
Clay leads the Bears in scoring this season. He's averaging 11.1 points on 47.6 percent shooting, along with 5.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists. Other players to watch are sophomore guard Chance Moore (11.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG), sophomore guard Alston Mason (9.0 PPG), and junior forward Jonathan Mogbo (8.5 PPG and 7.3 RPG).
Missouri State surrenders 63.4 points per game on defense (33rd), and its opponents shoot 42.6 percent (122nd), including 32.1 percent from three-point range (96th). It's 143rd in adjusted defensive efficiency, 356th in adjusted tempo, and 254th in assist-per-turnover ratio (0.90).
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