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Bears Set to Square Off with First-Place Liberty

February 03, 2026

By: MSU Athletics Communications
Game 23  - Missouri State Bears (13-9, 7-4 CUSA) at Liberty Flames (18-3, 10-0 CUSA)
Date and Time Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026 | 1:00 p.m. (Central)
Location Liberty Arena (4,000) | Lynchburg, Va.
Tickets Game Tickets | (434) 582-7328
Radio KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | Listen Live | Bears Radio Network | Varsity Network App
Television CBS Sports Network (John Sadak, Roy Hibbert) | Watch
Series Missouri State leads 1-0 | Last Meeting: MSU 54, Liberty 52 (11/26/13) | Box Score
Live Stats Stat Broadcast
Game Notes Missouri State | Liberty | 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 Thu. Feb. 12 vs. LA Tech | 7:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network) | Tickets
Sat., Feb. 14 vs. Delaware | 2:00 p.m. (Hall of Fame Weekend) | Tickets 
    
The Ten Count
  • Missouri State will make its first-ever trip to Lynchburg for men's basketball on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m. CT) when the second-place Bears take on Conference USA front runner Liberty in a nationally-televised showdown on CBS Sports Network. It will be the only regular-season meeting between the clubs this season.
  • Forward Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J.) has scored in double figures in 20-of-22 games this season and remains the only CUSA player to rank in the top 10 in the league in scoring (3rd, 17.9), rebounding (10th, 6.9) and assists (7th, 3.7). He leads CUSA in FG attempts (305), which ranks 53rd nationally.
  • MSU is closing in on its 800th Division I victory. The Bears are 799-573 (.582) in their 44th DI campaign.
  • Trey Williams Jr. (Fr., Centralia, Ill.) needs 14 points to crack Missouri State's all-time top 20 in freshman scoring. He has racked up 189 points this season (8.6 ppg) with 37 three-pointers -- which is currently 10th on MSU's freshman list for triples in a season. He is coming off a 14-point outing in the win over Jax State.
  • The Bears are 8-1 in day games this season (2-1 on the road).
  • KenPom ranks the Bears No. 8 nationally in FTRate (45.4), a "Four Factor" metric that represents a team's ability to get to the line (=FTA/FGA). MSU also ranks 46th nationally (4th in CUSA) in FT attempts per game (24.3).
  • Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) ranks 1st in Conference USA (33rd nationally) in FG percentage (.593). He has scored in double figures 6 straight games (17.2 ppg), including 20+ points in 3 of the last 5 games. He is also one of the nation's top offensive rebounders (54th) with 3.05 per game. He also ranks 10th nationally in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (7.6) and is averaging 17.0 points per game in road contests this season.
  • Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) has scored in double figures 8 times in his last 9 games, and is averaging 16.9 points and 3.4 threes per game in that span. He has knocked down multiple 3-pointers in 12 straight games and ranks 5th in CUSA in three-pointers per game (2.62) and three-point percentage (.374). Williams also ranks 46th nationally in minutes per game (35:11) and needs just 3 points to eclipse 300 for a third straight season.
  • Zaxton King (So., Lawrence, Kan.) needs 36 points to reach 500 for his career (54 games). He is shooting .621 from two-point range this season. 
  • The Bears are 12-2 this season (62-13 all-time under Cuonzo Martin) when firing at a higher FG percentage.
  • Keith Palek III is 1 three-pointer from 150 for his career (110 games) and 7 points from 400 this season. He would become the 89th MoState player to post 400+ points in a single campaign.
  • Antwan Burnett (Sr., Montgomery, Ala.) is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game over the last 4 contests and is coming off an 11-point outing in Missouri State's home victory over Jax State.
Series
  • Missouri State leads 1-0
  • Last Meeting: MSU 54, Liberty 52 (11/26/13) | 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 286-230 (.554) 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 83-73 (.532) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 61-22 at home, 17-45 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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