Men's Basketball Preps for Road Challenge at LA Tech

Game 28 - Missouri State (13-14, 7-9 CUSA) at Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (15-12, 8-8 CUSA)
Date and Time	Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026 \| 6:30 p.m. (Central)
Location	Thomas Assembly Center (8,000) \| Ruston, La.
Tickets	Tickets \| (318) 257-3631
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) \| Listen Live \| Bears Radio Network \| Varsity Network App
Television	ESPN+ (Malcolm Butler, Teddy Allen) \| Watch
Series	Missouri State leads 2-1 \| Last Meeting: LTU 79, MSU 78 2ot (2/12/26) \| Box Score \| Highlights
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State \| LA Tech \| CUSA 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	Saturday, Feb. 28 \| at Sam Houston \| 4:30 p.m.

The Ten Count

Missouri State embarks on a key two-game road trip this weekend, starting Thursday evening with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff at Louisiana Tech. The Bears and Bulldogs squared off in Springfield less than two weeks ago, resulting in a memorable 79-78, double-overtime thriller.
In two games last week, Trey Williams Jr. (Fr., Centralia, Ill.) led all CUSA freshman players in scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game, including a career-high 19 points vs. Kennesaw State. He was 8-for-14 (.571) from 3-point range on the week, matching the most triples by any CUSA player in that span and the second-most nationally by any DI freshman. He had a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio for the week and was 5-for-5 at the FT line.
Trey Williams Jr ranks 15th on MSU's freshman scoring list with 234 points (8.7 ppg), while his 49 three-pointers sits 5th on MSU's freshman chart. He is 50 points from breaking into Missouri State's freshman scoring top 10 and has scored in double figures in 3 straight games, averaging 14.7 points and 3.3 assists per game in that span.
The Bears are the only Conference USA squad to boast three players in the top 10 in the league in scoring, including No. 4 Keith Palek III (17.6 ppg), No. 9 Kobi Williams (15.2) and No. 10 Michael Osei-Bonsu (14.3).
Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) has made at least one 3-pointer in 22 consecutive games, dating back to Nov. 22. He ranks 4th in CUSA in 3-point FG percentage (.369) and in threes per game (2.8) with at least one triple in 24-of-26 appearances this season and multiple threes in 20 ball games. He has been Missouri State's top scorer during its five-game losing streak (19.6 ppg) with three 20-point efforts in the last four contests.
Keith Palek III (Sr., Woodbine, N.J.) needs just 25 points to reach 500 for the season. He would become the 32nd Missouri State player to reach that single-season scoring milestone. He also reached 100 assists for the season in Saturday's game at FIU, making him the first Bear taller than 6-foot-8 to reach 100 helpers.
The Bears averaged 16.5 assists per game last week, which was 59th nationally in that span (2nd in CUSA).
Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) needs 4 points to reach 700 for his MSU career (56 games) and would become the 82nd Bear to reach that scoring milestone. On MSU's career scoring list, he is closing in on No. 82 Mert Bancroft (697), No. 81 Randy Stange (706), No. 80 Austin Ruder (707) and No's 78 Bobby Howard and Chris Hendrix (716). He remains CUSA's leader in FG percentage (.573) and offensive rebounding (3.25).
MSU's scoring margin during its current five-game losing streak is -4.0 with four one-possession losses.
The Bears have eclipsed 200 threes for the 9th time in 10 years and for the 5th straight season. MSU's 207 3-pointers on the season is just 45 shy of the club's all-time high under Cuonzo Martin of 252 set in 2009-10.
Zaxton King (So., Lawrence, Kan.) needs 13 points to reach the 500 milestone for his career (59 games).

Series

Missouri State leads 2-1
Last Meeting: LTU 79, MSU 78 2ot (2/12/26)
Box Score | Highlights

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 286-235 (.549) 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 83-78 (.516) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 61-25 at home, 17-47 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.