The Missouri State Bears look to bounce back following a four point overtime loss to Arkansas when they travel to Evansville to open Missouri Valley Conference play. Second year coach Cuonzo Martin has the Bears sitting at 10-1 after non-conference play.

In Martin’s first season, he guided the Bears to a 7-4 start, but Missouri State played out their conference schedule at 3-15. The Bears and Evansville are similar in the fact they both have young teams. They are facing a Purple Aces squad that has six freshmen on their roster, however they have guard Colt Ryan who is playing 35 minutes per game and averaging 15.5 points.

Missouri State is led by sophomore Kyle Weems who scored a career high 24 points in the Arkansas lost when he hit 6 of 10 three’s. Weems is the only to score in double figures all 11 games this season. He has posted double-figures in 12 straight games overall, dating back to last season, and 19 of the last 21 contests.

The Bears also picked up a little (very little) national recognition by picking up five points in the AP top 25 poll. They are well out of the top 25, but some recognition for the Bears is better than the Missouri Tigers who didn’t show up at all on the AP or Coaches poll.