'I don't have my team competing': Missouri State basketball's free-fall continues in loss
The clock ticked away on yet another cringey home loss for Missouri State while the few fans who showed up and hoped for better made their dash for the exits. It's starting to become all too regular at Bears games.
A 69-60 loss to a rebuilding Illinois State team that came in on a six-game losing streak turned out to be a new low.
The Bears have had plenty of them as they've fallen in five of their last six games.
It wasn't for a lack of effort on the Bears' end, which became a point of conversation after their blowout home loss to Murray State which resulted in MSU Athletics Director Kyle Moats releasing a statement following the game. That side of the game has been better over the last three games.
The fact of the matter right now is that Missouri State doesn't have a competitive basketball team.
"We played hard but we just didn't compete," sixth-year MSU head coach Dana Ford said. "This level of basketball is about competing and unfortunately, I don't have my team competing."
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In a game between two teams at the bottom of the conference, the Bears looked the part. They allowed the Missouri Valley Conference's worst offense to make 50% of its shots in the first half. Illinois State, nearly a week removed from a loss to Valparaiso, got what it wanted then and in the final minutes of the game.
Down the stretch, after the Bears came back to tie the game at 59, they scored only one point in the final 5:15 and lost by nine.
Ford tried several different tactics throughout the afternoon by throwing different looks on defense and by playing with his rotations. It gave the look of a desperate team throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.
"We just haven't played good basketball," Ford said. "What makes it even harder is having seen these guys play good basketball before. Some teams that lose or go on streaks haven't played good ball all year. You have a group in ours that showed they can play good ball and ultimately, that's what makes it hard. I've got to get them playing good ball."
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The Bears started the season 6-1 and exited non-conference play with a 9-4 overall record and a win over Saint Mary's, perhaps the best win of Ford's career, before heading into the new year. Since then, the Bears have fallen to near the bottom of the league and will be in a tie for second-to-last by the end of the weekend.
There were glimpses of hope during the early-season stretch although the non-conference schedule doesn't look as good now as it did back then. Outside of the Bears' win over Saint Mary's, none of their non-conference victories came against a team that has a NET ranking higher than any of the top nine teams in the Valley.
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Missouri State has also undergone regression in the play from typical starters in Matthew Lee and Chance Moore. Neither started Saturday with Lee only playing 10 minutes with Moore not seeing the floor. Both need to be contributors if the Bears are going to have any kind of success for the remainder of the year.
Moore's gone from a starter who averaged 13.8 points per outing through non-conference play to one who's averaged 5.4 in his last five appearances.
Lee went from averaging 12.2 points, five assists and 4.9 turnovers through his first nine games until sitting out with a wrist injury. Since his return, Lee's averaging less than three points per game, around four assists and nearly two turnovers.
It's left the Bears searching for how to replace their production while also trying to get them playing at the level they've shown they're capable of.
"If I had that answer, I would have did it Jan. 1," Ford said. "It's ultimately my job to have that answer and we'll continue to search for it. I do feel like those guys are talented players and I need to get them playing better. I really do."
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Missouri State will go from playing one of the worst teams in the league to playing one of the two best. A 7 p.m. Wednesday matchup with first-place Drake awaits — which already has a 74-57 win over the Bears from Dec. 2, back when the Bears were playing well.
The temperature under Ford's chair was probably turned up a few more degrees after falling short against his alma mater. Moats snuck through the back door of the media room before Ford's press conference began and quickly left once it concluded. As of 4:20 p.m. on Saturday, Moats had yet to press send on another possible angry statement following the Bears' third-straight home loss.
Knowing things aren't good with his men's basketball program right now, Ford said he continues to believe that things can get turned around.
"I have a lot of faith," Ford said. "I have a lot of faith in the players. We have to continue to work hard and keep the faith. Ultimately, things will turn in our favor.
"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 execution and playmaking on their behalf too.
"There are a lot of things that go into it but I have a strong faith and I don't have a doubt that we work hard. We just need those things to create some type of shift."
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 X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State basketball coach Dana Ford searching for answers
