When Missouri State plays host to Loyola tonight, it would be easy for the Bears to solely focus on exacting revenge for a 32-point beating the Ramblers handed them on Jan. 5.
But for Bears coach Paul Lusk, the mindset for his team should be even more targeted ? and heartfelt.
?It?s about the seniors. That?s what it has to be about,? Lusk said of the quartet making its final basketball appearance in JQH Arena.
Keith Pickens, Nathan Scheer, Jarmar Gulley and Emmanuel Addo will be recognized about 20 minutes before the 7:05 p.m. tipoff. Missouri State, part of a four-way tie for third in the Missouri Valley Conference with two games left, can assure itself no worse than a No. 6 seed for the upcoming league tourney with a win.
Pickens, the elder statements of the four, said it?ll be all about business once the ball is tipped. But in pre-game?
?I?ll definitely be emotional,? Pickens said. ?Sometimes when I practice in the ?Q? I?ll catch myself looking around. That place is amazing and it?ll definitely be emotional leaving that behind.?
The seniors are a diverse group. Pickens has been in the program five years, battling multiple injuries along the way, even retiring at the end of last season. This is actually his second senior night.
Scheer is among the school leaders in career games played. Gulley is a three-year veteran with his career interrupted in the middle by a knee injury. Addo came as a one-year post-graduate transfer.
They seem to have built a special bond.
?I tell Nate I wouldn?t want to spend my senior season with anybody else,? Pickens said. ?I love that guy. And Jarmar Gulley, I?m so happy that I came back and got to play with him. Meeting Emmanuel was awesome. Just a great guy.?
Addo, a Canadian transplant, smiled about the back-and-forth he shared with the others over the Olympic hockey outcome. Then he turned serious.
?I feel like I?m gonna be able to call them in 10 years and we?ll be able to go out and have a drink or something,? Addo said. ?They?re life-long brothers to me.?
But for Bears coach Paul Lusk, the mindset for his team should be even more targeted ? and heartfelt.
?It?s about the seniors. That?s what it has to be about,? Lusk said of the quartet making its final basketball appearance in JQH Arena.
Keith Pickens, Nathan Scheer, Jarmar Gulley and Emmanuel Addo will be recognized about 20 minutes before the 7:05 p.m. tipoff. Missouri State, part of a four-way tie for third in the Missouri Valley Conference with two games left, can assure itself no worse than a No. 6 seed for the upcoming league tourney with a win.
Pickens, the elder statements of the four, said it?ll be all about business once the ball is tipped. But in pre-game?
?I?ll definitely be emotional,? Pickens said. ?Sometimes when I practice in the ?Q? I?ll catch myself looking around. That place is amazing and it?ll definitely be emotional leaving that behind.?
The seniors are a diverse group. Pickens has been in the program five years, battling multiple injuries along the way, even retiring at the end of last season. This is actually his second senior night.
Scheer is among the school leaders in career games played. Gulley is a three-year veteran with his career interrupted in the middle by a knee injury. Addo came as a one-year post-graduate transfer.
They seem to have built a special bond.
?I tell Nate I wouldn?t want to spend my senior season with anybody else,? Pickens said. ?I love that guy. And Jarmar Gulley, I?m so happy that I came back and got to play with him. Meeting Emmanuel was awesome. Just a great guy.?
Addo, a Canadian transplant, smiled about the back-and-forth he shared with the others over the Olympic hockey outcome. Then he turned serious.
?I feel like I?m gonna be able to call them in 10 years and we?ll be able to go out and have a drink or something,? Addo said. ?They?re life-long brothers to me.?
