The 2008-09 Missouri State University men’s basketball team will open its new $67 million basketball facility, JQH Arena, with a home opener on November 22 against 2008 NCAA Tournament qualifier Arkansas.

The Bears will host eight non-conference games along with nine game Missouri Valley Conference home games, plus two preseason exhibition games, giving Bears fans 19 home dates.  

After opening the regular season on the road at Auburn (November 14) and Central Michigan (November 17), the Bears kick off a four-game home stand in their new, state-of-the-art, 11,000-seat facility with familiar opponents.

The Arkansas Razorbacks, who were also the Bears’ first opponent for the Hammons Student Center opener on December 1, 1976, will be Missouri State’s guests for the inaugural game at JQH Arena on November 22.

The Bears’ second Southeastern Conference foe in its first three games finished with a 23-12 record a year ago and defeated Indiana in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1 regional seed North Carolina in the second round.

The Bears will host the 2008 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) qualifier against Utah on November 28 before entertaining Arkansas-Little Rock on December 3. The four-game home stint concludes on December 6 against Arkansas State.  

The Bears travel to 2008 CBI champion Tulsa on December 10 in the team’s final non-conference road game of the season.  

 

 

After the trip to Tulsa, the squad returns home on December 13 to play Central Arkansas, and the team’s final non-conference series will take place December 20-22 and feature a three-game home tournament against Norfolk State, UC Irvine, and Middle Tennessee, respectively. The Basketball Travelers Tip-off Tournament will include nightly doubleheaders at JQH Arena with the teams playing three games apiece during the round-robin style event.

The complete 2008-09 Missouri Valley Conference schedule, which begins the first weekend of January and wraps up with the conference tournament March 5-8, will be announced later this summer.

Information courtesy of Missouri State Sports Information