Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for Missouri State’s basketball team, it did with Saturday’s 69-60 home-court loss to struggling Illinois State.
The Redbirds snapped a six-game losing streak by dominating the Bears 12-1 over the final 6 minutes, 17 seconds. The battle of teams tied for eighth place in the Missouri Valley Conference saw Missouri State continue to slide with its fifth loss in six January games.
“It’s tough right now,” Bears junior guard Raphe Ayres said of the sinking mood inside the locker room. “We’re a competitive group, ready for wins, trying to play our best every night. We came up short.
“I give credit to (Illinois State). They played a good game and hit some tough shots. We didn’t do enough to win and that’s on us. They got to their spots, hit shots and got to 50-50 balls.”
Missouri State coach Dana Ford offered up no excuses after his team fell to 10-9 overall and 2-6 in the league. Things don’t get any easier with co-leader Drake coming to town next.
“We have to do a better job of executing offensively and getting people the ball in the right spots,” Ford said of the final six minutes. “Defensively, with the game on the line, we have to be more assignment correct. We’ve got to have the edge that you need to get big stops and big rebounds.
“Ultimately, I have to do a better job of getting the results that are needed in those situations whether it’s a great look at the rim, whether it’s a big-time stop. Just not a very well-executed finish by our group.”
Bears offense frozen solid at crucial time
Illinois State, the league’s worst offensive team, led 42-33 at halftime after Darius Burford’s 3-pointer just ahead of the horn. Other than Donovan Clay and Alston Mason, the Bears struggled offensively in the first half and the defense, while energized briefly by a press, was struggling.
Ayres’ 3-pointer with 13:30 to go put the Bears in front 51-47 with a Clay layup following to complete an 18-5 run over eight minutes. The Redbirds (9-10, 3-5) were reverting to more of their usual offense by missing nine of their first 13 second-half shots.
But the Bears then reverted to their form of late and didn’t score over the next four minutes, with Illinois State taking advantage to regain the lead at 55-51.
Nick Kramer’s 3-pointer ended the Bears’ drought and Mason’s 3-pointer put Missouri State back on top at 59-57 with 6:17 remaining.
Stunningly, Missouri State only scored one point the rest of the way — a Mason free throw with 1:55 left leaving it trailing 61-60. Then the Bears’ defense burst like water pipes all over the Ozarks in this week’s sub-freezing temperatures.
How did it unravel in crunch time?
First, Myles Foster drove the lane for an uncontested dunk to give the Redbirds a three-point lead. After Mason missed a 3-pointer, Burford nailed an open three on the other end and it was 66-60 with 48 seconds remaining.
The Bears missed five shots and turned it over twice the rest of the way. An announced gathering of 2,103 fans headed for the arctic freeze.
“I’d like to think that the effort was there,” Ayres said. “We can always give more. I think they executed well down the stretch. We didn’t execute enough and that’s part of the issue. We have to do better at making second and third efforts and limit their opportunities and increase ours.
“It’s on the players and the whole organization. We just have to do better.”
Clay led the Bears with 19 points and Mason had 18. But neither were stellar overall as Clay had six turnovers, a key as Illinois State outscored the Bears 24-10 in points off turnovers. And Mason was 5-for-21 from the field, including 3-of-14 from 3-point range.
The Bears shot 36.4 percent from the field and missed 20 of 26 3-pointers to continue a recent trend. They’ve shot above 45 percent from the field once since Dec. 19 and 3-point shooting continues to be an issue.
Coach Ford: ‘I have to do a better job'
Chance Moore and Matthew Lee, two standouts early in the season, have struggled mightily. Moore, 9-of-34 from the field over the previous five games, did not play on Saturday and Lee, 4-of-26 in that period, logged nine minutes with no points or assists and two turnovers.
“We definitely need to throw the basketball inside more and play through the post,” Ford said. “I think that would help some of our offensive deficiencies at the moment. We didn’t play a few of our better offensive players tonight.
“We should have thrown the ball inside a little bit more and take some pressure off the perimeter, take some pressure off Alston and try to get Donny in some more isolated post-ups in whatever match-up he might have.
“I have to do a better job. That’s the bottom line.”
As for Moore and Lee, when asked about how to get them back to their pre-Christmas outputs, Ford said if he had that answer, this wouldn’t be an issue.
“It’s ultimately my job to have that answer, so I’ll continue to search for it, but I do feel like those guys are talented players and that I do need to get them playing better.”
Overall, Ford said he sees the effort as being there over the last three games following a home-court blowout loss to Murray State on Jan. 10.
“We played hard, we just didn’t compete and there’s a big difference,” Ford said. “This level of basketball is about competing and unfortunately I don’t have my team competing right now. That’s what you have to get done.”
Bears on a 1-5 downhill skid
Ford said it’s frustrating for everyone, especially when reviewing good results during a 9-4 record that preceded this woeful stretch.
“Unfortunately for us, we just haven’t played good basketball and what makes it harder, having seen this team play good basketball before,” Ford said. “Some teams that lose or go on streaks, they haven’t played good ball all year, but you have a group in ours that has shown they can play good ball.
“Again, I’ve got to get them playing good ball.”
As for what he leans on to rejuvenate that quality of play, Ford said it comes down to continuing the grind.
“I have faith, No. 1, and No. 2, I have a lot of faith in the players,” he said. “We have to continue to work hard and keep the faith and ultimately, things will turn in our favor. But like I’ve told the guys, it’s a shared responsibility.
“It’s not just coaching and preparation and adjustments and motivation and inspiration from myself and the staff. It’s some competing and some execution and play-making on their behalf, too. There are a lot of things that go into it, but I have a strong faith and I don't doubt that we work hard.”
‘We need a win now'
Next up is Drake, at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Great Southern Bank Arena, then a two-game road trip. There’s little time for teams void of confidence to feel sorry for themselves in the Valley.
“We need a win. And we need a win now,” Ayres said. “At the end of the day, it’s not about who we’re playing, it’s about us. We’ve beaten some of the best teams in the country and played others close. We’ve also been on the other side of blowouts that never should have happened.
“It’s about our execution and our teamwork and how well we play on that day. The players have to perform. If we’re not making shots and not defending, we’re gonna continue to come up short.”
