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Missouri State

Zaxton King vs Tulsa

Men's Basketball Faces Key Road Test Saturday at Tulsa

December 04, 2025

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 8 - Missouri State Bears (4-3) at Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-1)
Date and Time Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025  | 2:02 p.m. (Central)
Location Donald W. Reynolds Center (8,355) | Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tickets TulsaHurricane.com | (918) 631-4688
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | Listen Live | Bears Radio Network | Varsity Network App
Television ESPN+ (Chad McKee, Pooh Williamson) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 22-21 | Last Meeting: MSU 111, TU 106 (3ot, 11/16/24) | Box Score
Live Stats StatBroadcast
Game Notes Missouri State | Tulsa | CUSA Weekly Notebook | MSU Meda Guide
Follow Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #WeAreMoState | #ItAllCounts
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Up Next Friday, Dec. 12 at Xavier (6:00 p.m.)
Tuesday, Dec. 16 vs. Oral Roberts (7:00 p.m.) | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State begins a key road swing on Saturday afternoon when the Bears travel to long-time regional rival Tulsa for a 2 p.m. tipoff at the Reynolds Center. The series between the Bears and Golden Hurricane dates back to 1932 with Missouri State owning a narrow 22-21 lead in the rivalry.
  • In last year's triple-overtime game against Tulsa in Springfield (11/16/24), several Great Southern Bank Arena records tumbled, including Missouri State setting arena marks for most total points (111) and free throw attempts (51); and Tulsa breaking records for field goal attempts (89), steals (14) and fouls (34).  
  • KenPom ranks the Bears No. 7 in Division I in FTRate (52.8), a "Four Factor" metric that represents a team's ability to get to the line (=FTA/FGA). MSU is shooting 68.6 percent at the stripe this season and has recorded more free throw attempts than its opponents in all 7 games. The team is also getting 21.6% of its scoring from the FT line, which ranks 14th nationally and tops in CUSA, while its 25.0 free throw attempts per game ranks 67th among all Division I squads (3rd in Conference USA).
  • Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J.) ranks 6th in CUSA in scoring (17.0) and 2nd in defensive rebounding (5.86). He has also attempted 24.0 percent of Missouri State's free throws, which ranks 3rd in CUSA and 104th nationally.
  • The Bears have posted double-figure offensive rebounds in 6-of-7 games this season, including 4 in a row. MoState is averaging 13.0 offensive caroms per game which is 87th nationally and has helped MSU average  13.7 second-chance points per game.
  • Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) ranks 1st in Conference USA in free throw percentage (.871) and 4th in the league in minutes per game (32:48). He has also made 28.9 percent of Missouri State's threes this season (13 of 45), which ranks 5th in CUSA.
  • Kobi Williams knocked down 5 threes last Sunday vs. Northeastern State, marking the first time a Bear has hit that milestone since 2/1/25 (Zaxton King, 5 vs. Murray State).
  • The Bears rank 76th in DI in fewest turnovers per game (10.7) and 80th in turnover margin (+2.6).
  • Despite playing just 37 total minutes this season, Cameron Boone (Jr., East St. Louis, Ill.) ranks 5th in Conference USA in total blocks (8).
  • Bears head coach Cuonzo Martin is approaching his 75th win at Missouri State. In two stints with the Bears, Martin's teams are a combined 74-67 (.525) with MSU. He is 2-2 all-time against Tulsa.
  • Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) ranks 8th nationally and 1st in Conference USA in field goal percentage (.684). Likewise, he ranks 29th nationally and 3rd in CUSA in offensive rebounding (3.43)
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 277-224 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 74-67 in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 53-20 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.
  • He coached his 500th career game on Nov. 24, 2025 at Great Southern Bank Arena vs. Long Island.
The Series
  • Missouri State leads the all-time series vs. Tulsa, 22-21
  • The Bears are 14-7 at home, 6-14 at Tulsa and 2-0 at neutral sites against the former Valley foe.
  • MoState won a battle for the ages last season in Springfield, 111-106, in triple overtime. Game Recap | Box Score
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