OPINION|
ST. LOUIS — Missouri State’s basketball season — which could well have been Dana Ford’s final one as head coach of the Bears — will be remembered for what could have been.
With an interesting array of returning individual talent, Missouri State was picked fourth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll. At the time, it was thought that seemed about right, or possibly a little low considering Donovan Clay, Alston Mason and Chance Moore formed a terrific trio to build around for the season ahead.
Matthew Lee was ready for a full season as the missing piece at point guard after tearing an ACL in his knee in the second game of the 2022-23 season. Point guard had been a position that always seemed to plague the Bears under Ford with either injuries or ineffective play at the position.
The Bears bowed out on Friday with a 75-59 loss to No. 1 seed Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals. To say they underachieved would be on-target, finishing ninth in the Valley at 8-12 during the regular season and winding up 17-16 overall.
When at their best, the Bears were terrific. There was a home victory over league runner-up Drake. Missouri State won at St. Mary’s, perhaps the best team on its schedule, to wrap up non-conference play in December. An opening-round defensive gem on Thursday at Arch Madness over Murray State, a team that throttled them twice during the regular season, showed the team hadn’t quit.
For a half in the finale on Friday, March 8, Missouri State hung with regular-season champ and top seed Indiana State. The Bears couldn’t get over the hump, though, and that has been a defining element of the Ford era and his predecessors at Missouri State.
Two years ago, Missouri State lost to Drake in a semifinal heart breaker in the MVC Tournament, when Tucker Devries made two free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining after a controversial blocking call on the Bears’ Isaiah Mosley. One stop was all the Bears needed to get to the title game and a possible NCAA Tournament return.
The thin, thin line between glory and defeat
It didn’t happen. They couldn’t get over the hump. So close, but yet so far. The fine line separating success and failure in college basketball is thin.
Missouri State’s basketball program has been on the wrong side of that fine line since the last NCAA Tournament berth, in 1999. Ford is the fourth coach in the last quarter-century who has tried to solve that puzzle in Springfield.
Close losses plagued the Bears this season, as they lost five games by three or fewer points. They were 8-3 in non-conference and should have been 10-1 after letting close outcomes slip away on the road at Middle Tennessee State in overtime and in Tulsa, when a missed free throw led to a buzzer-beater and a free throw for the win by the Golden Hurricane's P.J. Haggerty.
With a split of two pre-Christmas conference games included, Missouri State was 9-4 at the holiday break and should have been 11-2. Even so, after winning at St. Mary’s on Dec. 23, the Bears were positioned to make a run in the new year.
Instead, the Bears stumbled with a two-point home-court loss to Northern Iowa, a chronic conference nemesis. That kicked off a stretch of five losses in six games. After recovering to win four in a row, a trip to Northern Iowa produced another loss to the Panthers and another slump - this time six losses over the next seven games.
If Ford is let go, that February stretch sealed his fate. So will his record against Northern Iowa, just 2-10 with no wins over the Panthers at home.
There were two more excruciating close losses this season, by two at home against eventual league champion Indiana State and a one-pointer in the final road game when Illinois State scored with a half-second remaining.
Before his team departed for the Valley Tournament in St. Louis, Ford lamented the close defeats.
“If you win those, it’s a whole different world if you’re 20-10 today, compared to 15-15,” he said prior to the home finale with Illinois-Chicago. “You’ve got to be able to win those close games. The good teams, what good teams are really good at, is winning in different ways.
“You’re not gonna win 20 games the same way all year. Indiana State has had to win in different ways. That’s where we have kind of dropped the ball.”
Ford refused to blame injuries, but the Bears had enough to affect their journey this season. Nick Kramer suffered a season-ending knee injury just a few games after moving into the starting lineup. Kramer hit a game-tying jumper to send the home game against Drake into overtime and the Bears eventually won.
Damien Mayo Jr. hasn’t missed extended stretches of games, but has been hampered throughout with foot and knee issues, plus missing two games while in concussion protocol. It was fitting that he was unable to play the second half against Indiana State after re-aggravating his knee.
There have been other assorted bumps and bruises — common for all teams — plus flu-like symptoms which ran through the team throughout February.
“Those things start to shake your group a little bit and you have to kind of recreate yourself, fast,” Ford said. “With injuries you have to be prepared to win in different ways.
“But every team has to deal with injuries. You won’t hear me using injuries as an excuse.”
The bottom line: Close wasn’t good enough. It’s all about winning and the Bears came up short. The NCAA Tournament drought will extend to 26 seasons when the 2024-25 season comes around.
Will Ford, 106-82 in six seasons at Missouri State, be around to make another run? The guy has been a total pro in how he’s handled the uncertainty. Sometimes fresh starts are better for both parties.
Ford’s overall record isn’t bad, but more was expected. A decision on his future should be made soon. No one benefits from the process dragging out.
After the season-ending loss to Indiana State, Ford was asked about coaching in the changing landscape of college athletics with the transfer portal, NIL and other elements. He said he felt blessed by the opportunity, no matter the challenges.
“It’s an honor. It’s a blessing,” Ford said. “There are not many of these opportunities. I think there are like 362. When you are fortunate to have one of those positions, no wonder what the landscape is, it’s an honor and privilege because you are impacting lives every day. You get the opportunity to experience the ups and downs of sports.
“No matter what those outside factors are, it’s still an honor and privilege to be able to do that.”
