2018–19 Missouri State Bears basketball team

The 2018–19 Missouri State Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by first-year head coach Dana Ford, played their home games at JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 16–16, 10–8 in MVC play to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 4 seed in the MVC Tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to Bradley.

2018–19 Missouri State Bears basketball
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
2018–19 record	16–16 (10–8 MVC)
Head coach	Dana Ford (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Corey Gipson Jake Headrick Jase Herl
Home arena	JQH Arena

2018–19 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Loyola–Chicago	12	–	6		.667			20	–	14		.588
Drake	12	–	6		.667			24	–	10		.706
Southern Illinois	10	–	8		.556			17	–	15		.531
Missouri State	10	–	8		.556			16	–	16		.500
Bradley †	9	–	9		.500			20	–	15		.571
Northern Iowa	9	–	9		.500			16	–	18		.471
Illinois State	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
Indiana State	7	–	11		.389			15	–	16		.484
Valparaiso	7	–	11		.389			15	–	18		.455
Evansville	5	–	13		.278			11	–	21		.344
† 2019 MVC Tournament winner

Previous season

The Bears finished the 2017–18 season 18–15, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for seventh place. As the No. 7 seed in the MVC Tournament, they beat Valparaiso in the first round before losing to Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals.

On March 3, 2018, the school announced that head coach Paul Lusk had been fired.[1][2] He finished at Missouri State with a seven-year record of 106–121. The school announced that former Tennessee State head coach Dana Ford had been named head coach of the Bears on March 21.[3]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Abdul Fofana	0	F	6'7"	207	Sophomore	Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso	Walk-on; didn't return
Mustafa Lawerence	1	G	6'0"	186	Freshman	Newark, NJ	Transferred to Tallahassee CC
Reggie Scurry	2	F	6'5"	213	Junior	Atlanta, GA	Transferred to Middle Tennessee
James Byrd	3	G	6'1"	185	Junior	Kansas City, MO	Walk-on; transferred to Central Missouri
Greg Williams	13	G	6'6"	180	RS Freshman	Houston, TX	Retired from basketball due to injury
Ronnie Roussau III	14	G	5'10"	163	Senior	Cincinnati, OH	Graduated
Jarrid Rhodes	15	F	6'6"	185	Senior	Palmeto, FL	Graduated
J. T. Miller	23	G	6'2"	190	RS Senior	Clinton, NC	Graduated
Alize Johnson	24	F	6'9"	212	Senior	Williamsport, PA	Graduated
Tanveer Bhullar	34	C	7'2"	278	RS Senior	Etobicoke, ON	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Josh Webster	0	G	6'4"	175	Senior	St. Louis, MO	Transferred from Texas Tech. Will be eligible to play immediately since Webster graduated from Texas Tech.
Keandre Cook	1	G	6'5"	190	Junior	Baltimore, MD	Junior college transferred from Odessa College
Kabir Mohammed	5	G	6'5"		Junior	Lagos, Nigeria	Junior college transferred from San Jacinto College
Spencer Brown		G	6'3"	190	Junior	Fayetteville, AR	Junior college transferred from Lyon College. Will join the team as a walk-on.
Tulio Da Silva		F	6'7"	206	RS Junior	Formiga, Brazil	Transferred from South Florida. Under NCAA transfer rules, Chastain will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Tyrik Dixon		G	6'1"	184	Junior	Bentonville, AR	Transferred from Middle Tennessee. Under NCAA transfer rules, Dixon will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Josh Hall		G/F	6'6"	190	Junior	Detroit, MI	Transferred from Nevada. Under NCAA transfer rules, Hall will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jan Wójcik PF	Pełczyce, Poland	Élan Chalon	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	May 12, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Szymon Wójcik PF	Pełczyce, Poland	Élan Chalon	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	May 1, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2018-10-14.

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jordan Brinson #31 PG	Los Angeles, CA	Westchester High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Oct 5, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Tyem Freeman #44 SF	Springfield, MO	Hillcrest High School	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 11, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Dajuan Harris PG	Columbia, MO	Rock Bridge High School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Aug 11, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: NR
Jamonta Black SG	Columbia, MO	Rock Bridge High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Apr 14, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Gaige Prim PF	Aurora, CO	South Plains College	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	Sep 29, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2018-10-14.

Roster

2018–19 Missouri State Bears men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Josh Webster 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Christian Brothers College Texas Tech St. Louis, MO G 1 Keandre Cook 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 183 lb (83 kg) Jr Edmondson-Westside Odessa College Baltimore, MD F 5 Onediah Church 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Sr Springfield Springfield, IL F 10 Szymon Wojcik 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 224 lb (102 kg) Fr Élan Chalon Pełczyce, Poland G 11 Jarred Dixon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 176 lb (80 kg) Sr Lee's Summit West Kansas City, MO G 15 Szymon Wojcik 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Fr Élan Chalon Pełczyce, Poland G 20 Ryan Kreklow 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Rock Bridge Columbia, MO G 21 Ross Owens (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Jr Woodlawn Woodlawn, IL F 23 Kabir Mohammed 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 233 lb (106 kg) Jr National Christian Academy San Jacinto College Lagos, Nigeria C 25 Darian Scott 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Fr Centennial Las Vegas, NV F 34 Jared Ridder 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 209 lb (95 kg) RS Fr Kickapoo Xavier Springfield, MO G Spencer Brown (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 191 lb (87 kg) Jr Fayetteville Lyon College Fayetteville, AR F Tulio Da Silva 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 211 lb (96 kg) RS Jr Arlington Country Day School South Florida Formiga, Brazil G Tyrik Dixon  6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 173 lb (78 kg) Jr Southwest Christian Academy Middle Tennessee Bentonville, AR G/F Josh Hall  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Montverde Academy Nevada Detroit, MI	Head coach Dana Ford (Illinois State) Assistant coach(es) Corey Gipson (Austin Peay) Jake Headrick (Montevallo) Jase Herl (Colorado Mesa) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Exhibition
Oct 30, 2018* 7:00 pm		Evangel	W 77–28		JQH Arena (3,209) Springfield, MO
Non-conference regular season
Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Oral Roberts	W 84–50	1–0	JQH Arena (5,014) Springfield, MO
Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Robert Morris Hall of Fame Classic campus-site game	W 74–60	2–0	JQH Arena (5,038) Springfield, MO
Nov 11, 2018* 3:00 pm, KOZL		Stetson Hall of Fame Classic campus-site game	W 83–70	3–0	JQH Arena (3,879) Springfield, MO
Nov 19, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. Nebraska Hall of Fame Classic semifinals	L 62–85	3–1	Sprint Center  Kansas City, MO
Nov 20, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. USC Hall of Fame Classic consolation	L 80–99	3–2	Sprint Center (6,521) Kansas City, MO
Nov 24, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Murray State	L 66–77	3–3	CFSB Center (2,701) Murray, KY
Nov 28, 2018* 8:15 pm		at Air Force MW–MVC Challenge	L 69–88	3–4	Clune Arena (1,629) Colorado Springs, CO
Dec 1, 2018* 6:00 pm, P12N		at Oregon State	L 77–101	3–5	Gill Coliseum (4,369) Corvallis, OR
Dec 5, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Western Kentucky	W 84–78	4–5	JQH Arena (4,893) Springfield, MO
Dec 15, 2018* 7:30 pm		at North Dakota State	L 67–74	4–6	Scheels Center (1,942) Fargo, ND
Dec 18, 2018* 7:00 pm		at Arkansas State	L 63–71	4–7	First National Bank Arena (1,409) Jonesboro, AR
Dec 22, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		Arkansas–Pine Bluff	W 93–72	5–7	JQH Arena (3,826) Springfield, MO
Dec 30, 2018* 5:00 pm, ESPN+		William Woods	W 110–56	6–7	JQH Arena (3,174) Springfield, MO
Missouri Valley regular season
Jan 2, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Southern Illinois	L 70–75	6–8 (0–1)	SIU Arena (4,167) Carbondale, IL
Jan 5, 2019 1:00 pm		Valparaiso	L 66–82	6–9 (0–2)	JQH Arena (4,179) Springfield, MO
Jan 8, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Indiana State	W 72–57	7–9 (1–2)	Hulman Center (3,420) Terre Haute, IN
Jan 12, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Bradley	W 69–64	8–9 (2–2)	Carver Arena (5,009) Peoria, IL
Jan 16, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Evansville	L 64–70	8–10 (2–3)	JQH Arena (4,923) Springfield, MO
Jan 20, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Drake	L 63–74	8–11 (2–4)	Knapp Center (3,124) Des Moines, IA
Jan 23, 2019 8:00 pm, CBSSN		Loyola–Chicago	W 70–35	9–11 (3–4)	JQH Arena (4,863) Springfield, MO
Jan 26, 2019 3:00 pm, FSMW		Bradley	W 55–37	10–11 (4–4)	JQH Arena (5,215) Springfield, MO
Jan 29, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Valparaiso	W 55–54 ^OT	11–11 (5–4)	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,333) Valparaiso, IN
Feb 2, 2019 7:00 pm		at Northern Iowa	L 59–64	11–12 (5–5)	McLeod Center (3,882) Cedar Falls, IA
Feb 6, 2019 7:00 pm, FSMW		Southern Illinois	W 65–59	12–12 (6–5)	JQH Arena  Springfield, MO
Feb 10, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPNU/ESPN3		Illinois State	W 66–65	13–12 (7–5)	JQH Arena  Springfield, MO
Feb 13, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Evansville	W 68–56	14–12 (8–5)	Ford Center (5,289) Evansville, IN
Feb 17, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPNU/ESPN3		at Loyola–Chicago	W 65–61	15–12 (9–5)	Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,722) Chicago, IL
Feb 20, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Northern Iowa	L 43–63	15–13 (9–6)	JQH Arena (6,751) Springfield, MO
Feb 23, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Indiana State	W 67–61	16–13 (10–6)	JQH Arena (5,788) Springfield, MO
Feb 27, 2019 6:00 pm, FSMW		at Illinois State	L 57–65	16–14 (10–7)	Redbird Arena (4,468) Normal, IL
Mar 2, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN2/CBSSN/ESPN3		Drake	L 62–73	16–15 (10–8)	JQH Arena (7,894) Springfield, MO
Missouri Valley Tournament
Mar 8, 2019  MVC TV	(4)	vs. (5) Bradley quarterfinals	L 58–61	16–16	Enterprise Center (6,774) St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source[4]

References

1. Rothstein, Jon (March 3, 2018). "Missouri State fires Paul Lusk". fanragsports.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
2. "Sources: Missouri State parts ways with Lusk". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
3. Goodman, Jeff; Borzello, Jeff (March 21, 2018). "Missouri State hiring Dana Ford of Tennessee State". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
4. "Missouri State University Official Athletic Site". www.missouristatebears.com.