Game 11 - Missouri State Bears (5-5) vs.  Lindenwood Lions (8-4)
Date and Time	Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025  | 2:02 p.m.
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets	Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Great Southern Bank Arena Box Office
Promos & Specials	$7 Bleacher Tickets | Promo Calendar
Fan Info	Flip Card | Digital Program | Gates open at 1:00 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, Tom Mast) | Watch
Series	Missouri State leads 1-0 | MSU 79, LU 57 (12/19/23) | Box Score
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State | Lindenwood | 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	Monday, Dec. 29 at Delaware | 1:00 p.m. (Central) Friday, Jan. 2 vs. UTEP | 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 concludes a brief, two-game home stretch on Tuesday afternoon when the Bears entertain in-state foe Lindenwood at 2 p.m. at Great Southern Bank Arena. The Bears (5-5) are concluding the non-conference portion of their schedule and looking to continue their recent momentum in advance of the start of conference play before the end of the calendar year. There is a $7 Bleacher Seat Special for Tuesday's game.
• The Bears are 5-2 at Great Southern Bank Arena this season and averaging 81.3 points per game with a +11.4 scoring margin, +4.4 rebound margin and +3.3 turnover margin.
• KenPom ranks the Bears No. 27 in Division I in FTRate (45.7), a "Four Factor" metric that represents a team's ability to get to the line (=FTA/FGA). MSU is shooting .687 at the foul line which ranks 6th in Conference USA. The Bears have recorded more free throw attempts than their opponents in 8-of-10 games. 
• Missouri State forward Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J.) ranks 3rd in CUSA in scoring (18.4), 7th in rebounding (7.3) and 6th in assists (3.6) and is the only player in the league who ranks in the top 10 in all three categories. He ranks 44th nationally in defensive rebounds per game (6.00) and 70th in DI in scoring average (18.4).
• Zaxton King (So., Lawrence, Kan.) has played in 88.2 percent of possible minutes this season, a durability standard that ranks 31st nationally. He also ranks 3rd in CUSA in minutes per game (32.9). 
• Missouri State is getting 24.6 percent of its points this season from the free throw line, which ranks 30th in the Division I ranks. Conversely, the Bears are committing just 16.1 fouls per contest, which is 73rd-best in DI.
• Antwan Burnett (Sr., Montgomery, Ala.) made his MSU debut against Oral Roberts (12/16/25) with 5 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in a 23-minute assignment. He has scored 582 points and grabbed 332 rebounds in 65 previous DI games at Troy and Grambling.
• Despite playing less than 100 minutes this season (92:29), Cameron Boone (Jr., East St. Louis, Ill.) is averaging 1.9 blocks per game (7 appearances) which would lead Conference USA if he qualified with enough games. Boone has started MSU's last 3 contests (3.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg).
• Over the last 4 games, Kobi Williams is shooting .550 from 3-point range (11-for-20) and is averaging 16.3 points per game in that span. He has scored in double figures 5 times in the last 6 contests.
• Keith Palek's next double-figure scoring game will be the 70th of his career (98g) and 10th at MSU (10g). Likewise, his next 20-point game will be the 20th of his career. He has scored in double figures in 9-of-10 games this season with six 20-point efforts (two in a row) and two double-doubles.
• Missouri State is 4-0 this season (and 66-10 under Cuonzo Martin) when leading with 5:00 left.

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 278-226 (.552) 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 75-69 (.521) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 54-21 at home, 14-40 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.