Men's Basketball January 20, 2026 MSU Athletics Communications

Bears Continue CUSA Road Swing at NM State and UTEP

Game 19 - Missouri State Bears (10-8, 4-2 CUSA) at New Mexico State Aggies (10-7, 3-4 CUSA) Game 20 - Missouri State Bears at UTEP Miners (6-12, 2-5 CUSA)
Date and Time	NM State - Thursday, January 22, 2026 \| 9:00 p.m. (Central) UTEP - Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026 \| 3:00 p.m. (Central)
Location	NM State - Pan American Center (12,482) \| Las Cruces, N.M. UTEP - Don Haskins Center (11,892) \| El Paso, Texas
Tickets	NM State Game Tickets \| UTEP Game Tickets
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) \| Listen Live \| Bears Radio Network \| Game 1 V arsity Network App \| Game 2 Varsity Netowork App
Television	NM State Game - CBS Sports (Jacob Schrantz, Tre Demps) \| Watch UTEP Game - ESPN+ \| Watch
Series	Bears lead New Mexico State, 2-1 \| Last Meeting: MSU 89, NMSU 82, 1/4/26 \| Box Score Bears lead UTEP, 3-2 \| Last Meeting: MSU 79, UTEP 55, 1/2/26 \| Box Score
Live Stats	NM State Game Stats \| UTEP Game Stats
Game Notes	Missouri State \| NM State \| UTEP \| 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	Wed., Jan. 28 vs. Sam Houston \| 7:00 p.m. \| Tickets \| Steve Max Master of Simon Sez Faith & Family Night

The Ten Count

Missouri State concludes a four-game Conference USA road swing this Thursday and Saturday with games at New Mexico State (8 p.m. CT) and UTEP (3 p.m. CT), respectively. The Bears enter the series tied for third place in the 12-team league with CUSA victories over both the Aggies (89-82) and Miners (79-55) earlier this month in Springfield.
Forward Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J.) has scored in double figures in 17-of-18 games this season is the only player to rank in the top 10 in Conference USA in scoring (3rd, 18.0), rebounding (9th, 7.1) and assists (5th, 3.8). He has scored 20 or more points in 3 straight games (22.0 ppg) and eclipsed 20 points 9 times this season.
Since moving to a reserve role over the last 3 games, Zaxton King's (So., Lawrence, Kan.) has recorded two double-figure scoring games, averaging 10.0 points off the bench in that span while converting 6-of-15 (.400) from 3-point range. He racked up 11 points behind 3 triples in last Saturday's double-OT loss at MTSU.
KenPom ranks the Bears No. 8 nationally in FTRate (46.3), a "Four Factor" metric that represents a team's ability to get to the line (=FTA/FGA). The Bears also rank 42nd nationally (4th in CUSA) in FT attempts per game (24.7) and have attempted more free throws than their opponents in 13-of-18 games.
Keith Palek III (Sr., Woodbine, N.J.) is averaging 22.0 points and 5.7 assists over the last 3 games. Palek's 255 FG attempts this season leads CUSA (54th nationally) while his 127 FT attempts (127) is 2nd in CUSA. He needs just 40 points to reach the 1,500-point scoring milestone. He also has 685 rebounds and 255 assists in his 106 career ball games.
Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) ranks 37th nationally (2nd in CUSA) in FG percentage (.594). He is also one of the nation's top offensive rebounders with 5.61 per game which ranks 52nd in DI and 4th in CUSA.
The Bears' ongoing four-game CUSA road trip is the club's first four-game conference swing since the 1984-85 season (Mid-Continent). MoState is looking for
Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) ranks 47th nationally (4th in CUSA) in minutes per game (34:50). Likewise, his .843 FT percentage ranks 3rd in Conference USA. He is averaging 16.1 points per game in league play. He scored a career-high 32 points in the last meeting between the Bears and Aggies on Jan. 4.
Trey Williams Jr. (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) is 8-for-19 (.421) from long range and averaging 3.0 assists over the last 3 games. His 31 three-pointers this season ranks 10th on MSU's freshman single-season list.
In Conference USA games, the Bears rank 2nd in CUSA games in scoring average (78.1), assists (15.14), steals (8.14) and rank third in scoring margin (+4.1).

Series

Bears lead New Mexico State, 2-1 | Last Meeting: MSU 89, NMSU 82, 1/4/26 | Box Score
Bears lead UTEP, 3-2 | Last Meeting: MSU 79, UTEP 55, 1/2/26 | Box Score

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 283-229 (.553) 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 80-72 (.526) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 60-21 at home, 15-46 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.