Game 24 - Missouri State Bears (8-15, 1-11 MVC) vs. Northern Iowa Panthers (14-9, 8-4 MVC)
Date and Time	Wednesday, February 5, 2025 | 6:06 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	Promo Calendar
Fan Info	Digital Program | Gates Open at 5:00 p.m.
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Art Hains, Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | MSU Radio Network | Listen Live | The Varsity Network App
Television	MVC-TV Network (John Rooney, Adam Emmenecker) | ME-TV Ozarks, ESPN+ | Watch
Series	Missouri State leads 46-43 | Last Meeting:  UNI 79, MSU 68 (1/21/25) | Box Score
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State | Northern Iowa | MVC Weekly Notebook | MSU Media Guide
Follow	Facebook | Athletics Twitter | Basketball Twitter | Instagram | #GoBears | #ItAllCounts
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	Next Game: Saturday, Feb. 8 at Belmont, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+) Next Home Game: Wednesday, Feb. 12 vs. Evansville, 7:00 p.m.(RED PANDA) | Tickets

Accessibility
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The Ten Count

• Missouri State wraps up a two-game home stand Wednesday when the Bears entertain Valley stalwart Northern Iowa at 6 p.m. (MVC-TV Network) at Great Southern Bank Arena. MoState is coming off a 21-point win over Murray State to open the home stand and pick up its first Valley win of the season.
• Zaxton King (Fr., Lawrence, Kan.) has 46 threes this season which ranks 4th all-time among Missouri State freshman shooters, while his 233 points ranks 14th among MSU freshmen. King is coming off a game-high 19 points in Saturday's win over Murray State after going 7-for-8 (.875) from the field and 5-for-6 (.833) from distance. 
• Missouri State ranks 52nd nationally (5th in MVC) in 3-point FG percentage (.370), converting 47-of-105 (.448) from beyond the arc over the last 5 games. Likewise, the Bears are averaging 9.4 threes per game in that span, including a season-high 12 triples in Saturday's win over Murray State. 
• All three MSU starting guards -- Zaxton King (19), Dez White (16) and Vincent Brady II (14) -- scored in double figures in MSU's win over Murray State. The Bears are 4-1 when their backcourt trio all score 10 or more points, a feat that had not happened since Dec. 14 (at Washington State).
• Jalen Hampton (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) needs 8 points for 500 in his career (55 games). 
• Chase Martin (Sr., Columbia, Mo.) has scored in double figures the past two games and is coming off a 12-point effort against Murray State. Over the last week, he is averaging 11.5 points and is shooting 8-of-15 (.533) from the field and 3-of-5 (.600) from three. The Bears are 6-1 when Martin scores 10 or more points. 
• At 15.2 points per game, Dez White is on pace to rank among MSU's top 10 per-game scorers over the last 25 seasons. He currently ranks 2nd in the MVC in 3-point percentage (.394), 3rd in 3-pointers per game (2.77), 4th in FT percentage (.850) and 5th in scoring average. 
• Missouri State has forced 13.43 turnovers per game this season which ranks 2nd in the MVC. The Bears have recorded 10 or more takeaways in 20-of-23 games this winter (two games in a row).
• Vincent Brady II (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.) scored 14 pts. in the win over Murray, including 5-of-7 FG's and 2 threes.
• Saturday's win over Murray State not only snapped MSU's 10-game losing streak but also marked the 50th home win for coach Cuonzo Martin who improved to 50-16 (.758) all-time at Great Southern Bank Arena.
• Michael Osei-Bonsu (Jr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) leads the MVC in offensive rebounding (3.13) and total rebounds (170), while ranking 2nd in the conference in total rebounds per game (7.4) and double-doubles (4).
• Over the past week, MSU's team FG percentage (.545) and effective FG percentage (.629) rank 16th and 17th, respectively, in that span among the nation's 355 eligible Division I programs. 
   

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 begins his second tenure at MoState with a 272-213 (.561) career record in 15 seasons as a Division I head coach with experience at MSU, Tennessee, California and Missouri. His teams have made nine postseason appearances in that span, including four trips to the NCAA Tournament, four appearances in the NIT, and a CIT title with the Bears in 2010. 
• Coach Martin is also 69-56 (.552) in his fourth season (and second stint) at Missouri State University. Martin is 1-6 vs. Northern Iowa in his career (all at MSU).
• Martin also boasts 56 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 the program's 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.

The Series

• The Bears are 46-43 all-time against UNI in a series that dates back to 1983 when the clubs were charter members of the Mid-Continent Conference. MSU is also 23-18 in Springfield (3-12 at Great Southern Bank Arena), 21-23 all-time in Cedar Falls, and 2-2 at neutral sites.
• Two weeks ago in Cedar Falls (1/21/25) Missouri State held UNI well below its season field goal percentage while posting its best road shooting effort since early December. But the home-standing Panthers capitalized on their ample free throw chances to slip past the Bears, 79-68. The Bears  drew within four after a shot-clock beating bucket off the glass from Chase Martin with 5:53 to play. But the visitors would go the next four minutes without a field goal while UNI closed things out at the line, primarily turning to Tytan Anderson who finished with 21 points, including 11-for-14 at the line. Zaxton King led MSU with 17 points and a season-best five threes, while Michael Ose-Bonsu scored 11. Box Score
• Last season in Springfield (1/3/24), Missouri State got a career-high 25 points from Cesare Edwards as part of a season-best 38 bench points, but Bowen Born's corner three-pointer with 96 seconds left in the game proved to be the difference maker and put the visitors ahead 63-59. MoState responded with a 3-pointer of its own from Alston Mason with 34.6 seconds left to make it a 63-62 game. The Bears then fouled Nate Heise with 12.9 ticks remaining. Heise made the front end, but missed the second, to make it a two-point game. After a key rebound from Donovan Clay, the Bears pushed the ball up to Nick Kramer whose three rimmed out. Kramer finished with 10 points.