Contender or pretender? Missouri State had an opportunity vs. Southern Illinois and missed it
Depending on the way you looked at it heading into Saturday afternoon's showdown with Southern Illinois, you could have seen the glass half-full with Missouri State one game out of first place with a chance to be in a tie atop the league at the end of the day.
On the empty half, you could have seen the Bears as a team that has been about .500 for most of the season. An inconsistent team that was more of a pretender than a contender in a bunched-up Missouri Valley Conference.
For the few who left Great Southern Bank Arena, most of their glasses were empty as the Bears (10-10, 6-4) came out on the losing end of a 61-57 loss to the first-place Salukis (16-5, 8-2). With an opportunity to make a statement, the Bears didn't inspire much hope and could be in a tie for third by the end of the day.
"We just didn't have the toughness and aggression and those are things you need to win a game like that," fifth-year head coach Dana Ford said. "I think it was the same thing when we played Bradley. In our league (home) games, we've just been out-toughed both times."
The level of toughness the Bears played with was on Ford's mind after the game. He felt like that's where his team lacked in a game in which it never led for a second.
Missouri State had the game within striking distance for most of the contest but could never get over the hump. Southern Illinois went on a game-defining 8-0 run which put it up by 11 with under six minutes remaining and it was too much for the Bears to come back from.
They at least tried with a last-ditch effort in the final two minutes when they went on a 7-0 run that was capped off by Kendle Moore's 3 with 42.1 seconds remaining to get it within two. On the Salukis' next trip down the floor, Xavier Johnson hit a dagger fadeaway jumper.
"Our guys compete and they never fold but we shouldn't have been down by 11," Ford said. "That's probably what's got me pretty upset."
The loss dropped the Bears to 6-3 at Great Southern Bank Arena this season with a pair of the wins coming against teams ranked 303rd or lower in the latest KenPom rankings and another against Division II Missouri S&T. They have not been two games above .500 since the third game of the season.
Unless there's a drastic change, the Bears' inconsistencies this season will likely cost them a chance at their first MVC regular-season title since 2011. The conversation over the next several weeks will likely turn into whether they can be persistent enough to finish in the top four of the league and earn a first-round bye with the Valley's new postseason format beginning this year.
"We're not going to flush this one out just yet," Ford said. "We're going to need to learn from this one and hopefully come out a little bit better on Tuesday (against Illinois Chicago) but we won't be flushing this one just yet."
Damien Mayo Jr. and Jonathan Mogbo said after the game that Ford was all over them for their lack of execution throughout the game. When asked about the lack of execution, Ford said there were "too many to name" while pointing to the number of defensive breakdowns. The Bears also turned the ball over seven times in the first eight minutes of the game which put them in an eight-point hole that they never quite recovered from.
But the theme continued to be how the Bears weren't tough enough. It's going to need to change if the Bears are going to rebound at home against Illinois Chicago on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and it's going to have to change if they're going to get back in the race for a championship.
"You can not execute and still win a game," Ford said. "The tougher team is going to win. They made a lot of execution mistakes and the game was taken from us from start to finish. It's very upsetting when something is taken from you."
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: Missouri State basketball falls to Southern Illinois in MVC showdown
