Game 31 - Missouri State (14-16, 8-11 CUSA) vs. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (16-14, 10-9 CUSA)
Date and Time	Saturday, March 7, 2026 | 2:00 p.m.
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Missouri
Tickets	Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Great Southern Bank Arena Box Office
Promos & Specials	Senior Day | Future Bears Kids Club Day | Promo Calendar
Fan Info	Flip Card | Digital Program | Gates open one hour before tipoff
Radio	KWTO (FM 93.3 / AM 560) (Corey Riggs, Mike Keltner) | Listen Live |  Bears Radio Network | Varsity Network App
Television	ESPN+ (Don West, Tom Mast) | Watch
Series	Middle Tennessee Leads 3-2 | Last Meeting: MT 90, MSU 87 (2ot) (1/17/26) | Box Score | Highlights
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	Missouri State | Middle Tennessee | 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	Tuesday, March 10 | vs. TBD | CUSA Tournament, Huntsville, Ala. | Tickets | #RocketCityHoops

Accessibility
Missouri State University is committed to providing an accessible and supportive environment for those with disabilities. To request reasonable disability accommodations, contact the Deputy Compliance Officer at (417) 836-6755 or DeputyComplianceOfficer@MissouriState.edu. 

The Ten Count

• Missouri State men's basketball concludes the regular season on Saturday afternoon when the Bears welcome Middle Tennessee to Great Southern Bank Arena for a 2 p.m. tipoff on Senior Day. The squad will recognize four senior players -- Antwan Burnett (Montgomery, Ala.), Logan Epes (Garland, Texas), Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.), Keith Palek III (Woodbine, N.J.) -- as well as senior manager Alex Voss (Fenton, Mo.) in pregame ceremonies. It is also Future Bears Kids Club Day with free admission and activities for club members.
• The Bears are averaging 76.4 points per game in conference games (6th in CUSA), the club's second-highest conference scoring average of its Division I era, trailing only a 77.9 average output in 1989-90 in the AMCU.
• Missouri State is the only team in Conference USA with three players who rank in the top 10 in the league in scoring -- No. 3 Keith Palek III (18.1), No. 9 Kobi Williams (14.8) and No. 10 Michael Osei-Bonsu (14.6).
• Keith Palek III (Sr., Woodbine, N.J.) will be making his 100th career start in the MTSU game and is 21 points shy of 1,700 for his career (118 games). His 543 points is tied for 18th on MSU's single-season scoring list, while his 14 twenty-point games this season ranks 13th. With 5 more rebounds, he would also become the first Missouri State player to rack up 500 points, 200 rebounds and 100 assists in the same season.  
• Trey Williams Jr. ranks 11th on MSU's freshman scoring list with 276 points (9.2 ppg), while his 54 three pointers sits 4th on MSU's freshman chart. He is coming off a career-high 22 points in Thursday's win over WKU and is averaging 10.9 points and 4.6 assists with a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio over the last 8 games. 
• Michael Osei-Bonsu (Sr., Bolingbrook, Ill.) has recorded 748 career points in 79 games, which ranks 69th on MSU's career scoring list and 18th among two-year Bears. He is closing in on No. 68 Art Helms (750), No. 67 Joe Ward (751), No. 66 Greg Bell (742) and No. 65 William Doolittle (757). He remains Conference USA's individual leader in FG percentage (.568) and ranks 35th nationally in offensive rebounding (3.19).
• Kobi Williams (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) reached 1,200 career points (87 games) in Thursday's win over WKU, while Zaxton King (So., Lawrence, Kan.) eclipsed 500 (62 games). Williams needs 2 more three-pointers to become just the 5th MSU individual to make 80 in a season.
• Senior Antwan Burnett (Montgomery, Ala.) needs 1 rebound to give him 400 for his career (84 games).
• Thursday's win over WKU was the squad's 800th victory of its Division I era (since 1982-83) with a current ledger of 800-580 (.580) in 44 seasons at the NCAA's highest level.
• The Bears are now 5-0 this season (and 31-6 under Cuonzo Martin) when shooting 50 percent from the field.
• MoState is averaging 24.6 free throw attempts per game, which ranks 28th nationally and 3rd in CUSA.

Series

• Middle Tennessee leads 3-2
• Last Meeting: MT 90, MSU 87 (2ot) (1/17/26) | 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 287-237 (.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 84-80 (.512) in his fifth season (and second stint) at Missouri State, including 62-25 at home, 17-49 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.