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Missouri State

Zaxton vs. Sam Houston

Final Road Game on Tap Saturday for Men's Hoops

February 27, 2026

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 29 - Missouri State (13-15, 7-10 CUSA) at Sam Houston Bearkats (20-8, 12-5 CUSA)
Date and Time Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 | 4:30 p.m. (Central)
Location Johnson Coliseum (6,100) | Huntsville, Texas
Tickets GoBearkats.com | (936) 294-1729
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | Listen Live | 
Bears Radio Network | Varsity Network App
Television ESPN+ (Jason Barfield, Austyn Iven) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 3-1 | Last Meeting: SHSU 80, MSU 71 (1/28/26) | Box Score | Highlights
Live Stats StatBroadcast
Game Notes Missouri State | Sam Houston | 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 Thursday, March 5 | vs. Western Kentucky | 7:00 p.m. | Beach Night / Shirt Giveaway | Tickets
Saturday, March 7 | vs. Middle Tennessee | 2:00 p.m. | Senior Night / Kids Club | Tickets

The Ten Count
  • Missouri State closes out the month of February this Saturday with its final road game of the campaign as the Bears take on Sam Houston at 4:30 p.m. in Huntsville, Texas.
  • Five of six losses during Missouri State's current losing streak have been by a single possession (4 points or less) with a scoring margin of just -3.7. Overall, 8 of MSU's 10 losses in Conference USA games have been by single figures, including 6 one-possession defeats.  
  • Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) has cracked MSU's season top 10 in both 3-pointers (74) and 3-point attempts (199) -- tied for 9th in both categories. He ranks 3rd in CUSA FT percentage (.851); 4th in 3-point percentage (.372); 4th in threes per game (2.74); 4th in minutes per game (35:55); and 9th in scoring (15.1). He has made at least one 3-pointer in 23 consecutive games, dating back to Nov. 22.
  • Trey Williams Jr ranks 13th on MSU's freshman scoring list with 241 points (8.6 ppg), while his 50 three-pointers sits 5th on MSU's freshman chart. He is 43 points from breaking into Missouri State's freshman scoring top 10. Over the last 6 games, he is averaging 4.0 assists with a 3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio and 8.7 points per game.
  • The Bears have out-rebounded 5-of-6 foes during their six-game losing streak with a +4.2 rebound margin. On the other end of the floor, Sam Houston leads CUSA in rebound margin (6.9), which ranks 23rd nationally, while ranking No. 15 in he DI ranks in total rebounds per game (40.86) and 17th in offensive rebounding (13.43).
  • After posting a season-high 29 points at LA Tech on Thursday, Keith Palek III (Sr., Woodbine, N.J.) became the 32nd Bear to eclipse 500 points in a season  -- his 504 points currently ranks 29th. He needs 15 points to break into the program's single-season top 25. He has 13 20-point games on his resume this season.
  • Palek ranks 3rd in Conference USA in scoring (18.0) and 5th in assists (3.7). Last week at FIU, he reached 100 assists for the season, making him the first Bear taller than 6-foot-8 to reach 100 helpers (currently at 103).
  • On Thursday, Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) became the 82nd Bear to reach 700 career points -- his 708 points in 57 games ranks 80th -- with No.'s 78 Bobby Howard and Chris Kendrix (716), No. 77 Christian Kirk (718), No. 76 Lee Campbell (719) and No. 75 Caleb Patterson (721) in range. He remains CUSA's leader in FG percentage (.561) and offensive rebounding (3.36).
  • The Bears have eclipsed 200 threes for the 9th time in 10 years and for the 5th straight season. MSU's 213 3-pointers this season is just 39 shy of the club's all-time high under Cuonzo Martin of 252 set in 2009-10.
  • Zaxton King (So., Lawrence, Kan.) needs 10 points to reach the 500 milestone for his career (60 games). He matched his career high with 6 rebounds on Thursday at LA Tech in an 18-minute assignment in Ruston.

Series
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 286-236 (.548) 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 83-79 (.512) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 61-25 at home, 17-48 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.
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