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Missouri State

Cuonzo Martin

Men's Basketball Opens Season Monday at Butler

November 03, 2024

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 1 - Missouri State Bears (0-0) at Butler Bulldogs (0-0)
Date and Time Monday, November 4, 2024 | 5:45 p.m. (Central)
Location Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,100) | Indianapolis, Indiana
Tickets TicketMaster | (317) 940-DOGS
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live |
The Varsity Network App
Television FS1 (Opening Night Whip-Around) / FOX Sports App | Watch | Jason Ross Jr., Shelvin Mack
Series Butler leads 3-1 | Last Meeting: Butler 93, MSU 59 (11/19/15) | Box Score
Live Stats Live Stats
Game Notes Missouri State | Butler 
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #GoBears | #ItAllCounts
Bears Mobile App App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next Monday, Nov. 11 vs. Missouri Southern | 7 p.m. (ESPN+) | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State kicks off its 113th basketball season and 43rd season in Division I on Monday (5:45 p.m., CT) when the Bears travel to Big East foe Butler for an upscale opener in the Hoosier State. This is the fifth meeting between the clubs and third time the Bears and Bulldogs have played in a season opener (1973-74 and 1988-89). 
  • During its Division I era, Missouri State is 95-53 (.642) in Monday contests. The Bears are also 29-13 (.690) in season openers since 1982-83, including a 72-57 opening-night win at Butler on Nov. 14, 1998 under coach Steve Alford, which is still Butler's most recent defeat in a home opener.
  • Monday's opening-night matchup features two head coaches who are in their second stint with their respective schools. Missouri State's Cuonzo Martin was 61-41 (.598) in three seasons with the Bears from 2008-11, including a 2010 CIT championship and 2011 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and NIT appearance. He rejoined the MSU program on March 27. Butler's Thad Motta is in the third year of his second stint with the Bulldogs, rejoining his alma mater in April of 2022 after previously coaching there for one season (2000-01).
  • Vincent Brady II (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.) has deep roots in the Circle City as a former prep standout at Cathedral High School for coach Jason Delaney. He also spent two seasons at IU Indianapolis (formerly IUPUI) from 2022-24 where he made 63 appearances (starting 52), scoring 629 points and making 86 threes. Brady had 8 points in a starting role in his Missouri State debut in last Tuesday's exhibition against Southwest Baptist.
  • Jalen Hampton (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) is coming off a double-double in his MoState debut. The transfer from South Plains (Texas) College had 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in last Tuesday's exhibition victory.
  • Michael Onsei-Bonsu (Jr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) also stood out in last week's exhibition win, converting 8-of-10 field goals and his only free throw attempt to post a team-high 17 points and a respectable 7 rebounds vs. SBU. Osei-Bonsu also has an Indiana connection having played the past two seasons at Vincennes University.
  • The only Bear with previous experience against Butler is Purdue transfer Chase Martin (Sr., Columbia, Mo.) who played just over two minutes vs. the Bulldogs on 12/18/21 at the MBB Crossroad Classic in Indy, posting a career-high 3 FGA in the 77-48 Purdue win. Chase, the son of head coach Cuonzo Martin, sparked MSU's reserves with 11 points off the bench in the exhibition vs. Southwest Baptist.
  • Bears head coach Cuonzo Martin is 12-2 in his career in season openers. His only previous matchup against Butler came with Missouri's 63-52 loss to the Bulldogs on 11/26/19 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
  • During his career, Cuonzo Martin's teams are a combined 156-39 (.800) when they score 70 or more points.
  • Only four teams in Division I have more newcomers than Missouri State's 15 fresh faces this season.

The Series
  • The Bears and Bulldogs have met four previous times with Butler leading the all-time series, 3-1. This will be the third meeting between the squads in Hinkle Fieldhouse and the third season-opener in the series.
  • In the most-recent meeting between the clubs at Hinkle Fieldhouse, the Bears prevailed, 72-57 on 11/14/98 in the season opener of coach Steve Alford's memorable Bears NCAA Sweet 16 season. Danny Moore (18) and William Fontleroy (17) led MSU's scoring while Brandon Miller (New Castle, Ind.) scored 9 points. Miller later transferred to Butler where he played three seasons and ultimately served as head coach for one year (2013-14).
  • The 1998 win avenged the previous season's (1/9/98) 66-63 setback at Hammons Student Center in Springfield with Kevin Ault pouring in 23 points, and Fontleroy scoring 11. 
  • Likewise, in the only other meeting between the clubs in Indy (12/1/73), also a season opener, Butler squeaked past the Bears, 59-58, in a season in which Missouri State made a run to an NCAA Division II national runner-up finish. Dennis Hill (17), Daryel Garrison (12) and Andy Newton (11) led the Bears in scoring.
  • In the most-recent meeting between the teams (11/19/15), No. 22 ranked Butler used precision passing and 60-percent shooting from the field to dispatch MSU, 93-59, in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Bears were led by Dequon Miller who posted 15 points in 29 minutes with just one turnover. Freshman Jarred Dixon added 11 points off the bench for MSU. Kelan Martin and Andrew Chrabascz led three Butler players in double figures with 18 points apiece, while Kellen Dunham scored 11. Bulldog point guard Tyler Lewis dished out 10 assists with no turnovers, while Roosevelt Jones had a game-high 10 boards. | Box Score
  • See page 6 of game notes for complete series history.

Coach Cuonzo Martin
  • After an extensive national search, Missouri State University announced Cuonzo Martin as its men's basketball head coach on March 27, 2024. The man who orchestrated Missouri State's only MVC regular-season championship run during his first tenure in Springfield originally coached at Missouri State from 2008 to 2011.
  • Martin begins his second tenure at MoState with a 264-198 (.587) career record in 14 seasons as a Division I head coach with experience at MSU, Tennessee, California and Missouri. His teams have made nine postseason appearances in that span, including four trips to the NCAA Tournament, four appearances in the NIT, and a CIT title with the Bears in 2010. Martin also  boasts 56 college graduates during his head coaching career. He is 12-2 in season openers and 0-1 vs. Butler.
  • A native of East St. Louis, Ill., Martin was a star player at Purdue from 1991-95 for coach Gene Keady and then played four years professionally. He was on the coaching staff at Purdue for eight years under Keady and Matt Painter before accepting his first head coaching position at MSU on March 26, 2008.
  • In Martin's first stint in Springfield (2008-11), he was named Missouri State's 16th head coach in time for the program's 100th anniversary season and its inaugural campaign at Great Southern Bank Arena. In his second season (2009-10), Martin guided MoState to a 24-12 overall ledger, a 19-2 home record, and an impressive run to the CIT Postseason Tournament title.
  • His third season at MSU (2010-11) was one of the program's most memorable, as the Bears finished 26-9 overall on the way to the program's first-ever MVC regular-season title with a 15-3 league record. The Bears fell to Indiana State in the finals of the MVC Tournament in St. Louis and capped an unforgettable campaign by advancing to the second round of the NIT. Martin was named 2011 MVC Coach of the Year and recipient of the Ben Jobe Award as the nation's top minority head coach. Over Martin's last two years at MoState, the Bears were 35-3 at home and did not lose a non-conference home game.
  • Martin has made three head coaching stops since leaving Springfield with stints at Tennessee (2011-14), California (2014-17) and Missouri (2017-22).
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