Game 1 - Missouri State Bears (0-0) vs.  Missouri Southern Lions (0-0)
Date and Time	Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 | 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	Home Opener 4-Pack Special: 4 tickets for $48 - LINK Free hot dog for first 10 students | Promo Calendar
Fan Info	Digital Program | Gates Open at 6:00 p.m.
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | Listen Live | Bears Radio Network | Varsity Network App
Television	ESPN+ (Tom Ladd, Jim Middleton) | Watch
Series	Missouri State leads 3-0 | Last Meeting: MSU 90, MSSU 61 (11/11/24) | Box Score
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State | Missouri Southern | CUSA Weekly Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #WeAreMoState | #ItAllCounts
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	vs. Northwestern Oklahoma State | Saturday, Nov. 8 | 7:00 p.m. | 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 kicks off its 114th basketball season, 44th season in Division I, and first season in Conference USA on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when the Bears host in-state foe Missouri Southern at Great Southern Bank Arena. 
• Since moving to the NCAA Division I ranks in 1982-83, the Bears are 40-3 in home openers, including wins in 18 of their last 20 lid lifters and three straight.
• Last season, Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) led the Missouri Valley Conference in offensive rebounds per game (3.13) and was 2nd in the MVC in total rebounds (238). He started all 32 games for the Bears and also ranked 3rd in The Valley in total rebounds per game (7.4) and double-doubles (5). His offensive rebounding average ranked 36th among all Division I players. 
• In its Division I era, Missouri State is 108-58 in November contests. The Bears are also 29-14 (.674) in season openers since joining the DI ranks in 1982-83. 
• Missouri Southern's fourth-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. 
• MSU coach Cuonzo Martin is 51-19 (.729) all-time at Great Southern Bank Arena and 4-0 in home openers.
• Zaxton King (So., Lawrence, Kan.) was a model of consistency as a freshman last season, racking up 284 points (8.9 ppg) and 57 three-pointers in his freshman season while starting all 32 games. His scoring total ranked 10th all-time among MSU freshman, while his 3-point total ranked third. 
• In his unofficial Bears' debut, Truman State transfer Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) stole the show in Friday's exhibition win over Maryville University. Williams scored a game-high 30 points, including 7-of-12 from 3-point range and 9-of-15 overall from the field in the 92-67 win. 
• During his career, Cuonzo Martin's teams are a combined 163-44 (.800) when they score 70 or more points.
• Sophomore Tyrique Brooks (G, Springfield, Mo.) spent his freshman season at Missouri Southern, averaging 13.1 points and 4.2 rebounds while knocking down a team-high 59 threes. He played in all 28 games for the Lions, making 26 starts. He scored 21 points against the Bears at GSB Arena in last year's home opener.  
• Senior transfer Keith Palek III (F, Woodbine, N.J.), a transfer from California Univ. (Pa.), posted 13 points and shared a team-high 6 rebounds vs. Maryville.
• The Bears logged 23 assists on 31 made field goals (74.2%) against Maryville on Friday with the starting five accounting for 20 combined assists (game-high 6 by Michael Osei-Bonsu).
• Entering the season, Kobi Williams has hit a 3-pointer in 14 straight games; Zaxton King in 8 straight games. 

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 has a 273-221 (.553) career record in his 16th seasons as a Division I head coach with experience at MSU, Tennessee, California and Missouri. His teams have made 9 postseason appearances in that span, including 4 trips to the NCAA Tournament, 4 appearances in the NIT, and a CIT title with the Bears in 2010. 
• Coach Martin is 70-64 (.522) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 51-19 at home, 14-39 on the road and 5-6 at neutral sites.
• Martin also  boasts 59 college graduates during his career with stints at MoState, Tennessee (2011-14), California (2014-17) and Missouri (2017-22).
• 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 its 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's return to MoState in 2024-25 featured a roster packed with 15 newcomers for the Bears' final season in the Missouri Valley. MSU's 9-23 overall record was not a fair representation of the club's season performance which included 14 single-digit losses -- which was tied for the fourth-most in the nation.

The Series

• Missouri State leads the all-time series against Missouri Southern, 3-0, with the teams playing twice in the regular season in the 1970's, both in Springfield, before last season's 90-61 MSU win in its home opener vs. the Lions.
• The Bears won the inaugural meeting between the clubs, 83-67 at McDonald Arena (12/8/73). Five years later, MoState won by a similar margin at Hammons Student Center, 73-59 on 11/30/78.
• Last year in Springfield (11/11/24), Vincent Brady II led four Missouri State players in double figures with 21 points as the Bears defeated the Lions, 90-61 in the home opener. Dez White added 16 points for coach Cuonzo Martin's squad, while Zaxton King poured in 14 and Chase Martin added 12. Michael Osei-Bonsu also contributed 13 rebounds. The Bears shot 58.6 percent and scored 46 points in the paint to lead to an efficient offensive performance. Defensively, MSU forced 18 turnovers, including 14 from steals, and held MSSU to 34 percent shooting. | Box Score
• In recent years, the clubs have played three exhibition games. Missouri State won a highly-publicized charity game in Joplin on 11/5/11 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 exhibition game two years later at Great Southern Bank Arena on 10/29/13. Missouri State got a game-high 17 points from Marcus Marshall and 12 off the bench from sophomore classmate Gavin Thurman to turn back 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 (11/8/14), 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.