Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Missouri State

Kobi Williams - 224

Men's Basketball Begins CUSA Play at Delaware

December 26, 2025

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 12 - Missouri State Bears (6-5) at Delaware Blue Hens (4-7)
Date and Time Monday, Dec. 29, 2025  | 1:02 p.m. (Central)
Location Bob Carpenter Center (5,000) | Newark, Delaware
Tickets Tickets | (302) 831-2257 
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs) | Listen Live | Bears Radio Network | Varsity Network App
Television ESPN+ (Scott Klatzkin, Bill Harman) | Watch
Series First Meeting
Live Stats StatBroadcast
Game Notes Missouri State | Delaware | 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 Friday, Jan. 2 vs. UTEP | 7:00 p.m. | Tickets
Future Bears Kids Club Day | New Year's Ticket Special
    
The Ten Count
  • Fresh off back-to-back home victories, Missouri State kicks off its inaugural Conference USA ledger on Monday, Dec. 29 when the Bears travel to fellow CUSA newcomer Delaware for a 1 p.m. (CT) start. The Bears were 22-13 in MVC lid lifters from 1990 to 2024, including a 2-2 record under head coach Cuonzo Martin.
  • The Bears, who are 3-1 in day games this season, are in search of their first road victory of the campaign. This will also be the first-ever meeting between Missouri State and Delaware.
  • Missouri State ranks 90th nationally (3rd in CUSA) in fewest turnovers per game (11.0).
  • KenPom ranks the Bears No. 34 in Division I in FTRate (44.4), a "Four Factor" metric that represents a team's ability to get to the line (=FTA/FGA). MSU's 253 FT attempts this season is 4th in CUSA. The Bears have recorded more free throw attempts than their opponents in 8-of-11 games. 
  • Missouri State forward Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J.) ranks 4th in CUSA in scoring (18.0), 7th in rebounds (7.4) and tied for 10th in assists (3.3) -- the only player in the league in the top 10 of all three major categories. He also ranks 41st nationally in defensive rebounds per game (6.09), 3rd in CUSA. His 159 FGA also leads CUSA.
  • Monday's game will be Palek's 100th career contest. He has 1,334 pts., 639 rebounds and 223 assists.
  • Missouri State is getting 23.6 percent of its points this season from the free throw line, which ranks 50th in the Division I ranks. Conversely, the Bears are committing just 16.6 fouls per contest, which is 4th-best in CUSA.
  • Logan Epes (Sr., Garland, Texas) will be playing in his 50th career game (and 35th at MSU). He has accumulated 95 career points and 45 rebounds.
  • Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) is averaging 15.4 points over last 5 contests. He ranks 3rd in CUSA in minutes per game (33:07) and 5th in FT% (.830) and. He has scored in double figures 6 times in the last 7 contests.
  • Cameron Boone (Jr., East St. Louis, Ill.) ranks 6th in CUSA in total blocks (14) and has accounted for 34.1 percent of the team's swats -- the top individual percentage in CUSA. 
  • Missouri State is 5-0 this season (and 67-10 under Cuonzo Martin) when leading with 5:00 remaining.
  • After missing 3 games with an injury, Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) racked up 19 points and 6 rebounds in his return to the lineup for Tuesday's home win over Lindenwood, going 8-for-12 from the field and 3-for-3 at the line. Osei-Bonsu, who turns 22 on Monday, ranks 13th nationally in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (8.1).
  • Zaxton King (So., Lawrence, Kan.) has played in 88.4 percent of possible minutes this season, a durability standard that ranks 25th nationally. He also ranks 4th in CUSA in minutes per game (33:03). 
  • Under Cuonzo Martin, the Bears are 55-13 (5-2 this season) when shooting a higher FG% than their opponents.
Series
  • First Meeting
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 279-226 (.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 76-69 (.524) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 57-21 at home, 14-42 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.
Print Friendly Version

Sponsors