Game 2 - Missouri State Bears (1-0) vs.  Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers (0-0)
Date and Time	Saturday, Nov. 8, 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	Sign Madness | Promo Calendar
Fan Info	Flip Card | Gates Open at 6:00 p.m. | Digital Program
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (John Miller, Mike Keltner) | Listen Live | Bears Radio Network | Varsity Network App
Television	ESPN+ (Don West, Tom Mast) | Watch
Series	Missouri State leads 4-0 | Last Meeting: MSU 48, NWOSU 36 (12/11/46)
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State | Northwestern Okla. St. | 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. Arkansas State | Tuesday, Nov. 11 | 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 continues its three-game home stand Saturday evening when the Bears entertain Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. (ESPN+). It will mark the first meeting between the clubs since 1946.  
• Located in Alva, Okla., NWOSU is a member of the Great American Conference in the NCAA Division II ranks.
• Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) is coming off 10 offensive rebounds (and a career-high 14 total rebounds) in the season opener against Missouri Southern, the most by a Bears player since NBA veteran Alize Johnson logged 10 offensive caroms vs. Oral Roberts (12/14/16). 
• MSU head coach Cuonzo Martin is 52-19 (.729) all-time at Great Southern Bank Arena.
• MoState's 31 three-point attempts against Missouri Southern on Tuesday matched its season high from a year ago -- 31 at Bradley (1/4/25).
• Despite a roster overhaul with 11 new players this season, the Bears have an abundance of NCAA experience in place. This year's squad has combined for 444 NCAA games and 4,285 points. Likewise, MSU's veterans have a combined 214 double-figure scoring games in their careers.
• During his head coaching career, Missouri State's Cuonzo Martin's is a combined 164-44 (.788) when his clubs score 70 or more points.
• Senior transfer Keith Palek III (F, Woodbine, N.J.) had 21 points in his Missouri State debut on Tuesday. Combined with Osei-Bonsu's game-high 22 points, it marked the first time two Bears had scored 20 points in a game since Zaxton King (23) and Vincent Brady (24) did so at Southern Illinois on 1/11/25.
• Missouri State's 52 points in the paint against Missouri Southern in the season opener matched the second-most in club history. The last time the Bears tallied 52 points in the paint was at Illinois State (2/28/24), just two shy of the overall club record of 54, also set vs. Illinois State on 2/5/20. 
• Dating back to his time at Truman State, Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) has now hit a 3-pointer in 15 straight games, including 3 against Missouri Southern in the season opener on Tuesday. He was 7-for-12 from 3-point range in MSU's exhibition win over Maryville (10/31/25) as part of a 30-point effort in his unofficial debut.
• In its Division I era (since the 1982-83 season), Missouri State is 109-58 in November contests. 
• Freshman point guard Trey Williams Jr. (Centralia, Ill.) quietly put together an impressive debut in MSU's season opener, collecting 10 points and 5 rebounds in a team-high 33 minutes on the floor.
• The Bears' top scorer off the bench against Missouri Southern was Georgia Tech transfer Darrion Sutton (So., St. Charles, Mo.) who had career highs with 9 points and 8 rebounds in a 13-minute assignment.

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 274-221 (.554) 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 71-64 (.526) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 52-19 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 Northwestern Oklahoma State, 4-0, with the teams playing at neutral sites three times in the 1930's and playing once at McDonald Arena in 1946.
• The Bears defeated NWOSU at the Winfield Tournament in Oklahoma in both 1934-35 (28-18) and 1935-36 (28-22) before topping the Rangers in 1937-38 (27-24) i Oklahoma City.
• Missouri State then defeated the Rangers, 48-36, at McDonald Arena on 12/11/46 in the only previous on-campus meeting between the clubs. Gene Ruble led the Bears with 16 points.