Chance Moore was struggling. It was no secret. Everyone could see it.
The Missouri State junior guard is as talented as they come. It was only a matter of time before he emerged from his slump but game after game went by and shots just weren’t falling.
Bears head coach Dana Ford reminded him to stay aggressive in every part of his game. It’s what made him a great player before his slump and it was going to be the answer for when he came out of it.
So with the clock ticking down on Missouri State’s comeback attempt at Southern Illinois on Wednesday night, the junior found himself under the basket with the Bears down two. Alston Mason missed a good look before Moore came down with the rebound.
Moore stayed aggressive. He didn’t look anywhere else. He went back up and laid in the game-tying basket to force overtime before the Bears eventually won the game 76-75 while erasing a 12-point second-half deficit.
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“It feels good,” Moore said. “Coach told me to keep working, keep staying in the gym and I’m gonna find my way out eventually.”
Moore scored 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting with a pair of 3’s, including one in overtime. Without his play, the Bears wouldn’t be winners of their last three games as Missouri State continues to fight its way back after starting the month with a slump of its own.
Entering the game, Moore averaged 4.6 points per game and shot 21.6% from the field over the last seven games he played in. He was removed from the starting lineup and, at one point, was given a night off.
“I’m happy for Chance,” Ford said. “I love the kid. I’m happy for our team because in order for us to play our best basketball five or six weeks from now, he’s going to have to be a big part of that. It’s good for us.”
Moore was considered one of the Bears’ top two go-to scorers entering the season. Mason has emerged as Missouri State’s top scoring threat each night but Moore was still going to be needed.
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Before the start of the new year, Moore was who the Bears needed him to be as he averaged 13.8 points. When the Bears’ season hit a low point when they lost five of six games, the player everyone knew him to be couldn’t be found.
“It was tough for me,” Moore said. “Offense wasn’t going and I was just trying to focus really on defense, rebounding and just other ways to contribute to the game.”
Moore’s defense took a step forward in recent games. He was tasked, on occasion, with matching up with top scorers on opposing teams. He contributed to holding Drake superstar Tucker DeVries scoreless in the second half and overtime while leading the team in blocks in its comeback win over the Bulldogs.
He crashed the boards in the Bears’ win over Valparaiso, even when going 1 for 9 from the field in 17 minutes, but he put all of it behind him and helped the Bears come back to beat the Salukis.
“I just tried to stay positive,” Moore said. “I talked to my coaches, my teammates and my family. I just stayed in the lab and kept praying.”
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It all added up to Moore’s comeback story amid Missouri State’s resurgence after it would have been easy to count the whole team out. A third-straight win going into Saturday’s home game with Belmont featured maybe the Bears’ most complete game of the season.
Mason didn’t put up the numbers that made him last week’s Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week but others stood up. Donovan Clay scored 24 points which included the game-winning jumper with 4.8 seconds left in overtime. Mason still managed 13 points with Damien Mayo scoring 12 points and Cesare Edwards adding 12.
The defense came together and held the Salukis to just 6 for 23 shooting from the field in the second half. The Bears kept SIU from making a shot from the field after the Salukis took a 10-point lead with 5:08 remaining.
“I think we need to share the juice,” Ford said. “The more, the merrier. You know we’re capable. This is what we’re capable of. We have a deep team and once we get Matthew Lee playing to his capabilities, kind of like Chance did tonight, then we’ll continue to do this. But it was good to see us share the juice and get a lot of people involved.”
Moore’s breakout on Wednesday added to the comeback story that Missouri State is currently trying to write. At times, Moore had to feel like it was as bad as it gets. For Missouri State, there were times it appeared the team hit rock bottom.
But Moore didn’t quit. He listened to his teammates who encouraged him along the way. Clay, a senior leader, stayed in his ear and kept motivating him with a message that the entire team appeared to have taken to heart.
“He’s a great player and everybody knows he’s a great player,” Clay said. “I think he’s back and the main thing for Chance is moving on and that’s been the main thing for our team. I feel like he moved on tonight.”
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.
