THE GAME:

   Missouri State returns to JQH Arena Sunday at 2 p.m. to battle Bradley in a pivotal home game for the Bears who have reeled off a pair of road wins in the last week.
Paul Lusk’s squad begins a three-game week after winning three of its last four games overall. The Bears have maintained a share of third place in the MVC standings after recent victories on the road over Drake (57-39) and Southern Illinois (56-54) have pushed the Bears’ ledger to 15-11 overall and 8-6 in the MVC which is tied with Illinois State for the league’s third-best mark.
At Southern Illinois on Wednesday, Caleb Patterson (Sr., C, Ames, Okla.) returned to the MSU rotation after missing three games with an ankle injury. He responded with a game-high 18 points off the bench behind a 5-for-7 shooting effort and 7-for-8 performance at the free throw line to help the Bears score a two-point win at SIU Arena. The defending MVC Player of the Year Kyle Weems (Sr., F, Topeka, Kan.) added 14 points and 8 rebounds to the effort, while Keith Pickens (So., G, St. Louis, Mo.) tacked on a career-high 9 rebounds and 9 points.  MSU overcame 17 turnovers by firing at a 51.2-percent clip from the field to pick up their second win in a row at SIU Arena and sixth straight victory over the Salukis.

COACH Paul Lusk:

Paul Lusk (Southern Illinois, 1995) is 15-11 in his first season at MSU and 17-34 in two years overall.  He is 8-6 in MVC play (3-4 at home, 5-2 on the road), 7-5 at JQH Arena, 8-4 on the road, and 0-2 at neutral sites. He is 1-0 against Bradley (0-0 in Springfield) and is also 1-1 against Top 25 opponents.
Lusk took the reigns as MSU’s 17th head coach on April 1, 2011. He came to Springfield after seven seasons at Purdue (2004-11), including the last three as associate head coach.  Now in his 14th season in the coaching profession, Lusk has previous assistant coaching stops at Southwestern Illinois (1996-97), Missouri Southern (1999-2002) and Southern Illinois (2003-04) in addition to a one-year head coaching stint at (Div. III) Dubuque (2002-03). Lusk has coached in six of the last eight NCAA Tournaments after playing in three NCAA Tourneys as a player at SIU.

THE TEN COUNT:

• The Bears are looking to reel off three straight wins for the first time since Dec. 19.  MSU has not won three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference games since ending last season with six straight Valley wins and extending that run to eight in a row with victories in its first two league games this season.
• Today’s game is basketball broadcast No. 950 for long-time MSU announcer Art Hains.  The native of Marshall, Mo., began calling Missouri State hoops in 1977 and is in his second stint behind the microphone (1977-81 and 1985-present).
• In Missouri Valley Conference games, Missouri State leads the league in scoring defense, surrendering just 62.7 points per game in league contests. MSU opponents are also shooting just 41.8 percent from the field in Valley play, which ranks third in the conference.
• The Bears have led 9 of their last 11 games at halftime and came from behind to win the two games they trailed at the intermission during that span. Missouri State is 12-6 overall this season when taking a lead into the intermission, 3-4 when trailing at the break this season and 0-1 when tied.
• Kyle Weems (Sr., F, Topeka, Kan.) needs just 11 points to reach 1,800 in his career and become the 26th player in MVC history to reach that scoring milestone. However, he would be just the fourth player in the last 10 years to do so — along with Kent Williams (SIU, 2,012 points, 1999-2003), Osiris Eldridge (ILSU, 1,838, 2006-10) and Kyle Korver (CU, 1,801, 1999-2003). Weems eclipsed 800 career rebounds in Wednesday’s game at SIU, a feat achieved by just four other Bears — Curtis Perry (1,424), Danny Bolden (1,133), William Doolittle (1,042), and Don Carlson (844). No Bear had reached 800 since Doolittle did so in 1974.  Weems is also 11 assists shy of 200 for his career. He is likely to become MSU’s first player ever to record 800 rebounds and 200 assists and is just the third player, along with Bolden and Perry, to post 1,000 career points and 800 rebounds.
• Weems’ current run of 25 consecutive double-figure scoring games is the longest stretch of his career and is tied for the 9th-longest active streak in the Division I ranks.
• In Monday’s NCAA statistics release, the Bears rank No. 5 in the nation in turnovers per game (10.48), the best in the MVC.  MSU trails only Wisconsin (8.8), Purdue (9.1), Weber State (10.2), and Northwestern (10.3).  Last season, MSU finished 7th among 336 Division I teams in fewest turnovers (10.3).
• Michael Bizoukas (Sr., G, Munster, Ind.), entered the week ranked No. 4 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (+3.19) and 23rd in assists (5.9). He leads the MVC in both categories.
• The Bears have drawn 53 charges this season (2.0 per game), including a team-high 21 by Keith Pickens (So., G, St. Louis, Mo.). Pickens has drawn 13 charges over the last 12 ball games.
• Kyle Weems (Sr., F, Topeka, Kan.) currently sits in fourth place on MSU’s career scoring list with 1,789 points. He trails only Daryel Garrison (1,975 – 186 points ahead of Weems), Curtis Perry (1,835 – 46) and Johnny Murdock (1,834 – 45) among the Bears’ all-time great scorers. He also has 948 career points in 68 MVC games and 949 points in 67 career games at JQH Arena.
• The Bears’ 56-54 win at Southern Illinois on Feb. 8 improved the team’s road record to 8-4 on the season and matched a club high-water mark for away wins in a season. MSU has won 8 road games eight previous times — 1927-28, 1948-49, 1951-52, 1968-69, 1985-86, 1989-90, 2005-06, and 2006-07. Paul Lusk’s club has two more opportunities to break the club’s all-time standard with games at Wichita State (Feb. 15) and Evansville (Feb. 25).
• Only three Division I teams — Old Dominion, Rhode Island and West Virginia — have played more overtime games than Missouri State has this season.  The aforementioned trio have each played 5 overtime games in 2011-12, while Missouri State and six other teams (including MVC foe Evansville) have played 4 

THE OPPONENT:

Bradley snapped a six-game skid on Wednesday night with an impressive 68-60 home victory over Indiana State.  The Braves got 26 points off the bench from Walt Lemon, Jr. (So., G, Chicago, Ill.), who made 15-of-16 free throws, and 11 points from Jordan Prosser (Fr., C, Goodfield, Ill.) who also had 9 rebounds.

Bradley’s new sideline boss Geno Ford is getting 15.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game from all-conference contender Taylor Brown (Sr., F, Atlanta, Ga.) who scored 17 on the Bears in Peoria on Jan. 21.

Bradley returns three starters and nine lettermen from a 12-20 team that was 4-14 (tied for 9th) in the MVC last winter.