Game 2 - Missouri State Bears (0-1) vs.  Missouri Southern State Lions (0-1)
Date and Time	Monday, November 11, 2024 | 7:02 p.m. (Central)
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets	Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Great Southern Bank Arena Box Office
Promos & Specials	Veteran's Day $5 Ticket Special (Veterans, Active Military, First Responders) 2024-25 Promo Calendar
Fan Info	Digital Program | Gates Open at 6:00 p.m.
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Art Hains, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live | The Varsity Network App
Television	ESPN+ (Tom Ladd, Jay Spoonhour) | Watch
Series	Missouri State leads 2-0 | Last Meeting: MSU 73, MSSU 59 (11/30/78)
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State | Missouri Southern | MVC Weekly Release | MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #MSUBears | #BearsUnite
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	Up Next: Saturday (Nov. 16) vs. Tulsa (1:00 p.m.) | ESPN+ | TICKETS

Accessibility
Missouri State University is committed to providing an accessible and supportive environment for those with disabilities. To request reasonable disability accommodations, contact the Deputy Compliance Officer at (417) 836-6755 or DeputyComplianceOfficer@MissouriState.edu. 

The Ten Count

• Missouri State returns to Great Southern Bank Arena on Monday, Nov. 11 to host Missouri Southern in the 2024-25 home opener for the Bears (7 p.m., ESPN+) and the return of coach Cuonzo Martin in his first home outing since his return to Springfield on March 27. 
• Monday's game features a $5 Veteran's Day ticket special for all active military, veterans, and first responders.
• Since moving to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1982-83, the Bears are 39-3 in home openers, including wins in 17 of the last 19 home lid lifters, including two straight victories. 
• Jalen Hampton (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) went 5-for-6 from the field and scored 10 points in his Missouri State debut at Butler last Monday while snagging 6 rebounds. In the preseason, the transfer from South Plains (Texas) College secured a double-double with 10 points and a 10 rebounds in MSU's exhibition win over Southwest Baptist. 
• During his career, Cuonzo Martin's teams are a combined 156-39 (.800) when they score 70 or more points.
• In last Monday's season opener at Butler, Dez White (So., Jefferson City, Mo.) knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game with 2:06 to play to make it a three-point game and give the Bears a chance down the stretch at Hinkle Fieldhouse. However, MSU failed to score from there, missing its last 6 FG attempts, while the Bulldogs made 4 free throws in the last 25 seconds to clinch it. White scored a team-high 21 points in his debut.
• Michael Osei-Bonsu (Jr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) snagged 5 steals against Butler in his Missouri State debut, becoming the first Bear since Jonathan Mogbo (vs. Evansville, 1/4/23) to secure 5 steals. Osei-Bonsu's effort tied him for the 16th-best single-game steal total in club history.
• Monday's game marks the return of two former Missouri State basketball staffers to Great Southern Bank Arena. Missouri Southern's third-year head coach Sam McMahon spent four years on the MSU staff, including two years as the director of basketball operations under coach Paul Lusk. Likewise, Lions assistant coach Collin Dimitroff is a Missouri State (2018) alum who began his coaching journey as a student assistant with the Bears.
• Cuonzo Martin is 44-11 (.800) all-time at Great Southern Bank Arena, including a 35-3 ledger in his last two seasons in Springfield (2009-11). He is 3-0 in home openers as Bears head coach.
•  Freshman Zaxton King (Fr., Lawrence, Kan.) kicked off his collegiate career with a start at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse while contributing 12 points, 5 assists and 3 treys, including MSU's first triple of the new season.
• Missouri State's 13 steals at Butler in the season opener (Nov. 4) marked the most by the Bears since securing 14 takeaways against Southern Illinois on Feb. 29, 2020. 
•  Only four teams in Division I have more newcomers than Missouri State's 15 fresh faces this season.

The Series

• Missouri State leads the all-time series against Missouri Southern, 2-0, with the teams playing twice in the regular season in the 1970's, both in Springfield.
• The Bears won the inaugural meeting between the clubs, 83-67 at McDonald Arena on Dec. 8, 1973. Five years later, MoState won by a similar margin at Hammons Student Center, 73-59.
• In recent years, the clubs have played three exhibition games. Missouri State won a highly-publicized charity game in Joplin on Nov. 5, 2011 by an 84-48 score. Missouri State got 23 points from Kyle Weems and shot 57.4 percent from the field in the I-44 Challenge. The event was a fund-raising benefit with all proceeds from the game going directly to the Missouri Southern Foundation's Tornado Emergency Relief Fund.
• The Lions returned the game two years later at Great Southern Bank Arena on Oct. 29, 2013. Missouri State got a game-high 17 points from Marcus Marshall and 12 off the bench from sophomore classmate Gavin Thurman to turn back visiting Missouri Southern, 93-80. The Bears got 56 points from their bench players and out-rebounded MSSU by a 51-39 margin. A year later (Nov. 8, 2014), the Bears got a game-high 23 points from Marshall, including the game-winning running jumper with 2.9 seconds left, to lift MSU past the Lions, 68-66. The Bears overcame a 15-point deficit and a trailed 61-53 with just over six minutes remaining before staging the late comeback.

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 264-199 (.570) career record in 15 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 61-42 (.592) in his fourth season (and second stint) at Missouri State. He has never coached a regular-season game against Missouri Southern.
• 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).