# 2017–18 Missouri State Bears basketball team

The 2017–18 Missouri State Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by seventh-year head coach Paul Lusk, played their home games at JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Despite being the preseason favorite in the MVC, the Bears finished the 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. 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.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2016–17 season 17–16, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals before losing to Wichita State in the semifinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jordan Martin | 0 | F | 6'8" | 235 | Senior | St. Louis, MO | Graduated |
| Robin Thompson | 1 | F | 6'6" | 224 | RS Sophomore | St. Louis, MO | Transferred to Maryville |
| Dequon Miller | 4 | G | 5'10" | 176 | Senior | Charleston, WV | Graduated |
| Austin Ruder | 15 | G | 6'3" | 199 | Senior | Nixa, MO | Graduated |
| Chris Kendrix | 33 | F | 6'5" | 185 | Junior | Willard, MO | Graduate transferred to Minnesota State |
| Tyler McCullough | 50 | C | 6'11" | 252 | Senior | Fayetteville, AR | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Abdul-Hakim Fofana | 0 | F | 6'7" | 220 | Junior | Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso | Junior college transferred from Dakota College at Bottineau |
| Reggie Scurry | 2 | F | 6'7" | 220 | Junior | Atlanta, GA | Junior college transferred from Northern Oklahoma College |
| James Miller | 23 | G | 6'4" | 185 | RS Senior | Clinton, NC | Transferred from Howard. Will be eligible to play immediately since Miller graduated from Howard. |
| Tanveer Bhullar | 34 | C | 7'2" | 285 | RS Senior | Toronto, ON | Transferred from New Mexico. Will be eligible to play immediately since Bhullar graduated from New Mexico State. |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jared Ridder SF | Springfield, MO | Kickapoo High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jun 8, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Darian Scott #67 C | Las Vegas, NV | Centennial High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 4, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 68 ||||||
| Mustafa Lawrence PG | Las Vegas, NV | Forest Hills High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Oct 22, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NA ||||||
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 3, 2017. ||||||

## Preseason

In the conference's preseason poll, the Bears were picked to win the MVC, receiving 30 of 40 first place votes. Senior forward Alize Johnson was named the preseason MVC Player of the Year.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 21, 2017* 12:00 pm | | at Kansas State | L 62–78 | | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS |
| Nov 1, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Southwest Baptist | W 83–56 | | JQH Arena (3,926) Springfield, MO |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Western Kentucky | W 85–80 | 1–0 | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,241) Bowling Green, KY |
| Nov 15, 2017* 5:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern | W 86–58 | 2–0 | JQH Arena (4,876) Springfield, MO |
| Nov 17, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Dakota State | L 54–57 | 2–1 | JQH Arena (4,703) Springfield, MO |
| Nov 20, 2017* 12:30 pm | | vs. Georgia Southern Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | L 73–74 | 2–2 | Germain Arena (823) Estero, FL |
| Nov 21, 2017* 10:00 am | | vs. Manhattan Gulf Coast Showcase consolation round | W 69–65 | 3–2 | Germain Arena (841) Estero, FL |
| Nov 22, 2017* 12:30 pm | | at Florida Atlantic Gulf Coast Showcase 5th place game | W 71–60 | 4–2 | Germain Arena (868) Estero, FL |
| Nov 24, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Evangel | W 80–48 | 5–2 | JQH Arena (3,485) Springfield, MO |
| Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Colorado State MV–MVC Challenge | W 77–67 | 6–2 | JQH Arena (4,895) Springfield, MO |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Dakota State | W 73–53 | 7–2 | Frost Arena (2,001) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at North Dakota State | W 71–58 | 8–2 | Scheels Arena (1,704) Fargo, ND |
| Dec 8, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Hampton | W 88–75 | 9–2 | JQH Arena (4,612) Springfield, MO |
| Dec 10, 2017* 3:00 pm | | at Oral Roberts | L 66–73 | 9–3 | Mabee Center (2,331) Tulsa, OK |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wright State | W 66–50 | 10–3 | JQH Arena (3,123) Springfield, MO |
| Missouri Valley regular season ||||||
| Dec 22, 2017 8:00 pm, FSMW | | at Loyola–Chicago | W 64–59 | 11–3 (1–0) | JQH Arena (4583) Springfield, MO |
| Dec 31, 2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | W 67–50 | 12–3 (2–0) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,440) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 4, 2018 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Northern Iowa | W 62–55 | 13–3 (3–0) | JQH Arena (4,934) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 7, 2018 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Illinois State | L 68–72 | 13–4 (3–1) | Redbird Arena (4,344) Normal, IL |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Evansville | L 55–64 | 13–5 (3–2) | Ford Center (3,237) Evansville, IN |
| Jan 14, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 76–73 | 14–5 (4–2) | JQH Arena (4,137) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Valparaiso | W 64–57 | 15–5 (5–2) | JQH Arena (4,876) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 20, 2018 3:00 pm, FSMW | | at Drake | L 58–61 | 15–6 (5–3) | Knapp Center (3,647) Des Moines, IA |
| Jan 23, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Bradley | L 52–72 | 15–7 (5–4) | Carver Arena (5,041) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | Southern Illinois | L 77–79 | 15–8 (5–5) | JQH Arena (6,724) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 30, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Illinois State | L 60–76 | 15–9 (5–6) | JQH Arena (4,545) Springfield, MO |
| Feb 3, 2018 1:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 75–97 | 15–10 (5–7) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| Feb 6, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | W 81–62 | 16–10 (6–7) | Hulman Center (4,040) Terre Haute, IN |
| Feb 10, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Evansville | W 72–55 | 17–10 (7–7) | JQH Arena (3,358) Springfield, MO |
| Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm, FSMW | | at Southern Illinois | L 80–81 $^{OT}$ | 17–11 (7–8) | SIU Arena (4,285) Carbondale, IL |
| Feb 18, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | Drake | L 63–67 | 17–12 (7–9) | JQH Arena (4,859) Springfield, MO |
| Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm, FSMW | | Bradley | L 78–82 | 17–13 (7–10) | JQH Arena (4,054) Springfield, MO |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | L 56–71 | 17–14 (7–11) | McLeod Center (4,834) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| Mar 1, 2018 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (7) | vs. (10) Valparaiso First round | W 83–79 | 18–14 | Scottrade Center (4,852) St. Louis, MO |
| Mar 2, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (7) | vs. (2) Southern Illinois Quarterfinals | L 63–67 | 18–15 | Scottrade Center (7,077) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source