Missouri State basketball, Isiaih Mosley grabbing national attention with recent stretch
Missouri State men's basketball is heating up and the national landscape is starting to take notice.
The Bears (15-6, 6-2) are winners of four-straight after earning their first victory over a ranked team since 2011 on Saturday afternoon against then-No. 22 Loyola in Chicago.
MSU is now alone in second place in the Missouri Valley Conference and is only behind Loyola. The Ramblers are scheduled to visit JQH Arena on Feb. 6.
Overall team success and the outstanding play from junior guard Isiaih Mosley have landed the program in national conversations in recent days.
Mosley was showered in national player of the week honors for his play last week by multiple outlets — including ESPN, The Athletic and NCAA.com — on Monday morning.
More: Missouri State establishes itself as MVC contender with signature win over No. 22 Loyola Chicago
He scored 24 points in the Bears' win over Illinois State on Wednesday before scoring 40 against Loyola. He's the first player to score 40 points against a Top 25 team since Cade Cunningham (the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft) did it last season. The previous week saw Mosley score 43 in a loss to Northern Iowa before scoring 33 and 32 in victories over Southern Illinois and Valparaiso.
Mosley has averaged 34.4 points per game while shooting 62.5 percent from the field and 46.9 percent from 3 over the last five games. Even dating back six games ago, Mosley nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Bradley.
Although the Bears didn't receive any votes in either of the major polls released Monday morning, they did crack national college basketball reporter Andy Katz's Power 36 rankings for the first time this season.
Missouri State isn't thought of yet as an NCAA Tournament bubble team and it's going to be difficult for the Bears to climb into consideration due to early-season non-conference losses, but it's not impossible with continued success.
The Bears have fared well all season in the eyes of different computer rankings that are taken under consideration when the field is set in March. They were ranked 60th in the NET and No. 50 by KenPom on data through Sunday's games.
Computer metrics won't matter if the Bears don't keep winning — starting Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Indiana State. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ as the Sycamores look to snap a four-game losing streak.
Missouri State hosts Evansville on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Purple Aces play Northern Iowa on Wednesday before traveling to Springfield. The Aces just snapped a six-game losing streak and won their first game in more than seven weeks.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Isiaih Mosley's recent play pushes Missouri State into prominence
