A look at Missouri State men's basketball's non-conference schedule heading into 2023-24
Missouri State men's basketball begins the 2023-24 season on Monday with as good of a chance to beat a Power 5 team on the road as it's had in some time. The remainder of the non-conference schedule presents challenges from solid mid-major programs that are expected to have good seasons.
Here's a look at who the Bears will face in non-conference competition.
Nov. 6 @ West Virginia
The best time for Missouri State to get a Power 5 win on the road could come in its season opener with the offseason West Virginia has had.
The Mountaineers program has been a mess with the offseason resignation of Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Bob Huggins following a radio incident in which he used a homophobic slur and a DUI arrest within a month and a half. WVU promoted Josh Eilert to head coach while a handful of players entered the transfer portal.
WVU has a new-looking team and it was counting on having Montana State transfer RaeQuan Battle, Georgetown transfer Akok Akok and Arizona transfer Kerr Kriisa heading into the season but all three might not be able to play.
The Mountaineers may have three available guards come opening night. Battle's waiver from the NCAA to play immediately was denied, Akok collapsed last week in an exhibition game and is out for the foreseeable future and Kriisa was suspended by the NCAA for receiving impermissible benefits from his former school.
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West Virginia is a mess. Now would be the time for the Bears to strike and get one of their better non-conference road wins in a while.
Nov. 13 vs. Oral Roberts
The Golden Eagles were picked second in the Summit League heading into the 2023-24 season but they will have some new looks. They lost one of the best guards in the country in a transfer to Texas and their head coach departed for Wichita State.
First-year head coach Russell Springmann, who was promoted as an assistant on the ORU staff, returns talent including first-team All-Summit selection Issac McBride and second-teamer Kareem Thompson. Oral Roberts beat the Bears by three in Tulsa last season. Thompson and McBride combined for 20 points while Max Abmas, now at Texas, went for 23.
The Bears dug themselves into a 13-point hole at halftime last season by allowing ORU to shoot 69.2% in the first half before they came back from a 23-point deficit to tie the game with 3:28 left but never took the lead.
Nov. 14 vs. Florida Gulf Coast*
Missouri State's opening-round game at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam will be a team that's a little more used to the beach than it is. FGSU is coming off a 17-15 season that ended in the first round of the Atlantic Sun tournament. It finished 181st in the NET last season.
Coaches picked FGSU to finish second in the ASUN this season with senior guard Isaiah Thompson being an all-league player. He averaged 14.9 points per game last year and was 37.3% from deep.
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Nov. 18 vs. Kent State or Hampton*
A win against FGCU and the Bears are likely playing Kent State, which finished 68th last year in the NET by going 28-7 and making the NCAA Tournament. This would be a great get for the Bears' schedule.
Kent State should be right there as a MAC contender with Akron heading into the year. Giovanni Santiago is considered one of the Golden Flashes' top returners after averaging 7.5 points and 1.7 assists per game. He missed the end of the season after he got hurt at the beginning of February. Kent State also features former Parkview High standout and former Missouri State signee Tyem Freeman as he makes his transfer from Central Florida.
Hampton went 8-24 last year. If the Bears find themselves against Hampton, then something probably went wrong to begin the tournament.
Nov. 20 - TBD
There are a handful of teams the Bears could match up against at the Paradise Jam whether it's in a championship or some other game. Here are where the possible teams finished in last year's NET:
San Jose State - 99
Fordham - 132
Norfolk State - 183
Abilene Christian - 204
Nov. 25 - South Carolina State
No, this isn't a home game against the Gamecocks. It's a post-Thanksgiving buy-game against one of the worst Division I teams in the country but at least it's not against Evangel.
The intrigue from this game won't happen until halftime when the Bears honor Danny Moore and recognize the 1999 Sweet 16 team. Moore's No. 32 will be retired after being the program's leading scorer and rebounder in all three of his seasons under Steve Alford.
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Dec. 5 @ Middle Tennessee
The Bears will hit the road for a solid non-conference game against Middle Tennesee which was selected as the Conference USA favorite along with Liberty.
The Blue Raiders have a pair of CUSA Preseason All-Conference selections in senior guards Elias King (9.3 pts, 4.0 reb) and Camryn Weston (10.6 pts, 4.6 reb). They led a 19-14 MTSU team last year that lost by three to Final Four participant Florida Atlantic in the CUSA semifinals.
Dec. 9 vs. Sam Houston
The Bearkats couldn't make it to Springfield last year for this game because of a snowstorm but they should be good to get to the Queen City this year. Sam Houston is coming off a solid 26-8 season that saw it advance to the NIT and win a game.
Sam Houston isn't as well-regarded as it was last year heading into this game. The Bearkats were picked to finish sixth in CUSA and have one preseason all-conference player in 6-foot-7 junior forward Cameron Huefner who was the team's third-leading scorer last season at 10.1 points per game.
Dec. 16 @ Tulsa
The Missouri State and Tulsa rivalry is reborn as the two will play for the first time since 2015. Tulsa hasn't been that good as of late but it's a regional game that needs to be played annually.
Tulsa was picked to finish 10th in the American preseason coaches poll. It didn't have a player selected for any of the league's preseason teams. Jesaiah McWright is the team's leading returning scorer and he was eighth on the Golden Hurricane a year ago at 2.5 points per game.
Cobe Williams and Keaston Willis are two transfers from Louisiana Tech who previously played for second-year head coach Eric Konkol.
Dec. 19 vs. Lindenwood
Another home buy game for the Bears, they will host in-state Lindenwood out of the Ohio Valley Conference. This is the Lions' second year playing Division I ball after going 11-21 overall and 6-12 in conference play last season.
Lindenwood was picked to finish 10th in the OVC heading into this year. The roster features seven transfers and one freshman. Keenan Cole is the Lions' top returner after a second-team All-OVC selection in a season in which he averaged 12.9 points and 5.7 rebounds. Cole led the OVC in 3-point shooting percentage.
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Dec. 23 @ Saint Mary's
The Bears have a trip to Saint Mary's for the third straight year. It's a great game to have on the schedule but the Bears' matchups with the Gaels haven't been particularly close over the last two years with losses by 20 and 17 points.
Saint Mary's will begin the year tabbed as the No. 23 team in the country while coming off two NCAA Tournament appearances. The Gaels were selected as the West Coast Conference favorites for the first time since 2017-18 which also places them ahead of Gonzaga.
One of the top mid-major teams in the country, the Gaels return three of their five starters. The trio earned Preseason All-WCC honors with Aidan Mahaney coming off Freshman All-American honors by averaging 13.9 points per game, shooting 43% from the field and 40% from deep.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State men's basketball schedule: Non-conference 2023-24
