# 2019–20 Missouri State Bears basketball team

The 2019–20 Missouri State Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by second-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 16–17, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They defeated Indiana State in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Valpariso.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2018–19 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.

## Offseason
### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| 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 ||||||
| Ja'Monta 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 October 14, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Washington (MO) | W 76–59 | | JQH Arena (3,209) Springfield, MO |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Little Rock | L 66–67 | 0–1 | JQH Arena (5,002) Springfield, MO |
| November 10, 2019* 2:00 pm, KOZL/ESPN+ | | Alabama State | W 59–50 | 1–1 | JQH Arena (3,639) Springfield, MO |
| November 12, 2019* 7:00 pm, KOZL/ESPN+ | | Cleveland State | W 73–53 | 2–1 | JQH Arena (3,800) Springfield, MO |
| November 15, 2019* 6:00 pm, FSN | | at No. 21 Xavier Charleston Classic campus game | L 56–59 | 2–2 | Cintas Center (10,463) Cincinnati, OH |
| November 21, 2019* 10:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. Miami (FL) Charleston Classic quarterfinals | L 70–74 | 2–3 | TD Arena (2,914) Charleston, SC |
| November 22, 2019* 1:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Saint Joseph's Charleston Classic consolation 2nd round | W 71–69 | 3–3 | TD Arena (3,245) Charleston, SC |
| November 24, 2019* 2:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Buffalo Charleston Classic 5th place game | L 74–75 | 3–4 | TD Arena (3,122) Charleston, SC |
| November 29, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at LSU | W 73-58 | 3–5 | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (9,892) Baton Rouge, LA |
| December 3, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Murray State | W 71–69 | 4–5 | JQH Arena (3,817) Springfield, MO |
| December 6, 2019* 7:00 pm, KOZL/ESPN3 | | Mississippi Valley State | W 86–62 | 5–5 | JQH Arena (3,552) Springfield, MO |
| December 11, 2019* 7:00 pm, KOZL/ESPN+ | | Arkansas State | W 75–53 | 6–5 | JQH Arena (3,891) Springfield, MO |
| December 15, 2019* 6:00 pm, MASN | | at VCU | L 51–61 | 6–6 | Stuart C. Siegel Center (7,693) Richmond, VA |
| December 21, 2019* 1:00 pm, KOZL | | at Oral Roberts | L 72–82 | 6–7 | Mabee Center (2,490) Tulsa, OK |
| MVC regular season ||||||
| January 4, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 65–52 | 7–7 (1–0) | JGH Arena (4,206) Springfield, MO |
| January 7, 2020 7:00 pm, FSMW | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 58–62 | 7–8 (1–1) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,795) Chicago, IL |
| January 7, 2020 7:00 pm, KOZL/ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | W 67–63 | 8–8 (2–1) | Redbird Arena (3,656) Normal, IL |
| January 11, 2020 3:00 pm, FSMW | | Northern Iowa | L 57–80 | 8–9 (2–2) | JGH Arena (3,520) Springfield, MO |
| January 15, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Bradley | L 78–90 | 8–10 (2–3) | JGH Arena (4,583) Springfield, MO |
| January 18, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Evansville | W 68–58 | 9–10 (3–3) | Ford Center (4,591) Evansville, IN |
| January 23, 2020 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Valparaiso | W 67–60 | 10–10 (4–3) | JGH Arena (4,536) Springfield, Mo |
| January 26, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | L 69–71 | 10–11 (4–4) | Knapp Center (3,593) Des Moines, IA |
| January 29, 2020 6:00 pm, FSMW | | at Northern Iowa | W 95–66 | 10–12 (4–5) | McLeod Center (4,076) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 1, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | L 68–78 | 10–13 (4–6) | JGH Arena (4,284) Springfield, MO |
| February 5, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Illinois State | W 80–60 | 11–13 (5–6) | JGH Arena (2,991) Springfield, MO |
| February 8, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | L 66–68 | 11–14 (5–7) | Banterra Center (6,528) Carbondale, IL |
| February 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Drake | W 97–62 | 12–14 (6–7) | JGH Arena (3,185) Springfield, MO |
| February 16, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Indiana State | W 71–58 | 13–14 (7–7) | Hulman Center (3,988) Terre Haute, IN |
| February 19, 2020 7:00 pm, FSMW | | at Bradley | L 79–83 $^{OT}$ | 13–15 (7–8) | Carver Arena (5,708) Peoria, IL |
| February 22, 2020 2:30 pm, CBSSN | | Loyola–Chicago | W 74–62 | 14–15 (8–8) | JGH Arena (4,251) Springfield, MO |
| February 25, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Valparaiso | L 74–89 | 14–16 (8–9) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,476) Valparaiso, IN |
| February 29, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | W 84–59 | 15–16 (9–9) | JGH Arena (3,887) Springfield, MO |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| March 6, 2020 8:35 pm, ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (3) Indiana State Quarterfinals | W 78–51 | 16–16 | Enterprise Center (6,521) St. Louis, MO |
| March 7, 2020 5:05 pm, CBSSN | (6) | vs. (7) Valparaiso Semifinals | L 82–89 | 16–17 | Enterprise Center (8,145) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source