Bills vs. Bears

The undefeated Missouri State Bears pay a call to the Chaifetz Arena for a 7 p.m. regional showdown with the Billikids.
Second-year coach Cuonzo Martin, a former star player at East St. Louis Lincoln, has the Bears off and running with a 9-0 record this season.
The Bears are hoping to make some noise in the Missouri Valley Conference this season after sinking into the second division in 2009. They have good size up front, some very athletic players on the wing and a more experienced backcourt.
MSU's backcourt has been bolstered by the play of 6'1" junior Adam Leonard, a transfer from Eastern Kentucky. Leonard is a tough kid, who can make 3-point shots and give you a basket when your team needs it. He led EKU to the NCAA Tournament as a freshman, so the kid can play. He's averaging 13 points a game while shooting 49 percent from the 3-point line.
Mo. State's top player is 6'6" sophomore Kyle Weems, an All-Valley Freshman team member in 2009. He has stepped up his play even more as a sophomore, averaging a team-high 14.8 points and 5.7 rebounds a game. He shoots 51 percent from the field and 44 percent from long distance. At 230 pounds, he will pose a matchup problem for whoever is guarding him.
The Bears have some other impressive athletes on the wing, especially 6'4" freshman swingman Jermaine Mallett, who averages 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and a few highlight-reel dunks along the way. Show-Me State products Keith Pickens, 6'4" (Oakville) a prodigious leaper and 6'5" Michael Porter (Sikeston), bring activity to the swing positions up front. Pickens has been a starter in most of the games.
Helping Leonard in the backcourt at 6'1" junior Nafis Ricks and 6'0" Cardell Patterson and senior guard Justin Fuehrmeyer, a graduate of Francis Howell Central.
The Bears also have a little size up front as well with 6'11" sophomore Caleb Patterson, who averages 7.4 points and a modest two rebounds a game. Junior Will Creekmore, a 260-pounder checks in at about six points a game. Another local player in the mix is 6'6" freshman Jerome Jones, who played a Miller Career Academy.
The Bears have good balance and will play solid defense, which is the personality of Martin, who was one of the high school and college game's great competitors during his days at Lincoln High and Purdue, where he became quite familiar with winning championships. He led Lincoln to state titles in '88 and '89 and was a key player in three Big Ten Conference titles during his career.
It will be a big challenge for the Billikens, which got even bigger with the news that sophomore guard Kwamain Mitchell will sit out the game with the eye injury suffered near the end of last Wednesday night's victory over Belmot.
Without Mitchell, the Billikens will be without their lead dog, their floor general, who can also create offense with things break down.
Sophomore Kyle Cassity will return to the starting lineup in Kwamain's place. Kwamain's absence will definitely hurt us, but at the same time, it is a great opportunity for one of our young perimeter players to earn is college bonafides tonight.
Either Cassity, Christian Salecich, Femi John or Justin Jordan will have to give us a big individual performance. Or even better, all four of them step up their level of play. Don't try to do too much because Kwamain's not there, but do your job and be a little more aggressive offensively, especially Kyle, who started looking to shoot more against Belmont.
Although MSU will provide a stiff challenge to our young wings, being a home and not having suffered a loss in the comfy confines of Chaifetz will hopefully provide a source of comfort and confidence for these young men to rise up and give us a solid performance in the absence of their leader.
Getting into our offense will also be a big key as well. Last year, when Kwamain missed the Richmond game, we had a devil of a time getting some offensive flow and we lost a key conference home game. And that was with Tommie and Kevin.
At least the guys have had some experience playing without Kwamain for long stretches. He missed all but two minutes of the first half against Iowa State in Chicago and we trailed by only three at halftime.
It goes without saying that we need Willie Reed and Brian Conklin to give us similar performances like they did Wednesday night when they combined for 29 points and 18 rebounds. Another solid effort by Corey Remekun off the bench will also help.
With only eight healthy scholarship players, foul trouble must be avoided as well. Another foul-fest like we had on Wednesday night against Belmont and we may end up having to suit up former Billiken greats Harry Rogers and Jimmy "Bowhead" Irving, who are being honored at halftime with the rest of the 1971 Billikens team that won the MVC. Could we see a little zone or combo defense tonight? Who knows. I doubt it, but I would not be surprised.
We really have to be very resourceful to pull this one out tonight. I think the home crowd must bring their A-Game tonight as well. If you are coming to the game tonight, be prepared to have no voice left when you leave the arena. Tonight is not the night to just sit on your hands and observe the game as if you are in the movie theatre. I'd love to hear constant noise from start to finish.
This is going to be a struggle. Your Billikids are facing a little adversity tonight with an undefeated regional rival in your house and your team leader not in the lineup tonight. You can help make up some of the difference with your "presence." Yes, you can have a big impact on tonight's game from start to finish. For all of my friends on the Billiken Board who read this blog regularly. It's time to really, really bring it tonight. If you're bringing a friend to the game, tell them it's time to bring it as well. You don't have to wait for Willie's first dunk to bring the noise. Make it happen before the opening tip.
The Chaifetz Arena is your home court as well and you have to fight like hell to protect it tonight as much as the eight young men who will be wearing the white uniforms tonight.
It will be another fun atmosphere tonight as the Bears are another nice regional rivalry to have on the schedule, much like Southern Illinois.
There will be a lot of Bears fans in the house, either local alums or folks from the East Side in support of Cuonzo, which should add to the festivities.
Look forward to seeing you all there. And if not, you can always catch the action on 101-ESPN with yours truly and SLU Hall of Fame play-by-play man Bob Ramsey on the call.
Go Bills!