# 2015–16 Missouri State Bears basketball team

The 2015–16 Missouri State Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by fifth year head coach Paul Lusk, played their home games at JQH Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 13–19, 8–10 in Missouri Valley play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They defeated Drake in the first round of the Missouri Valley tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Evansville.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the season 11–20, 5–13 in MVC play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley tournament to Southern Illinois.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ron Mvouika | 10 | G/F | 6'6" | 201 | Senior | Paris, France | Graduated |
| Marcus Marshall | 11 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Junior | Saint Paul, MN | Transferred to Nevada |
| Cameron Maes | 12 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Freshman | Springfield, MO | Left the team |
| Gavin Thurman | 20 | F | 6'7" | 226 | Junior | Wichita, KS | Transferred to Newman |
| Christian Kirk | 42 | F | 6'8" | 218 | Senior | Springfield, MO | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Dequon Miller | 4 | G | 5'11" | 165 | Junior | Charleston, WV | Junior college transfer from Motlow State Community College |

## Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jarred Dixon PG | Lee's Summit, MO | Lee's Summit West High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 2, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Obediah Church SF | Springfield, IL | Springfield High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 15, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Ryan Kreklow SG | Columbia, MO | Rock Bridge High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 15, 2014 |
| 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 1, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| 11/07/2015* 2:05 pm | William Jewell | W 88–62 | | JQH Arena Springfield, MO |
| Non-Conference Regular season |||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:00 pm | at Oral Roberts | L 65–80 | 0–1 | Mabee Center (3,243) Tulsa, OK |
| 11/19/2015* 1:00 pm, ESPNU | vs. No. 22 Butler Puerto Rico Tip-Off quarterfinals | L 59–93 | 0–2 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (1,601) San Juan, PR |
| 11/20/2015* 9:30 am, ESPNU | vs. Minnesota Puerto Rico Tip-Off consolation 2nd round | L 69–74 | 0–3 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (1,814) San Juan, PR |
| 11/22/2015* 11:00 am, ESPN3 | vs. Mississippi State Puerto Rico Tip-Off 7th place game | L 70–84 | 0–4 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum San Juan, PR |
| 11/27/2015* 2:05 pm, ESPN3 | Williams Woods | W 77–56 | 1–4 | JQH Arena (2,937) Springfield, MO |
| 12/01/2015* 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | Utah State MW–MWC Challenge | L 68–69 | 1–5 | JQH Arena (3,694) Springfield, MO |
| 12/05/2015* 2:30 pm, FSSW | at Oklahoma State | W 64–63 | 2–5 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (4,651) Stillwater, OK |
| 12/10/2015* 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | IUPUI | W 88–74 | 3–5 | JQH Arena (4,113) Springfield, MO |
| 12/13/2015* 2:05 pm, ESPN3 | Tulsa | L 61–70 | 3–6 | JQH Arena (4,052) Springfield, MO |
| 12/16/2015* 7:05 pm | Oral Roberts | W 85–66 | 4–6 | JQH Arena (4,079) Springfield, MO |
| 12/19/2015* 1:35 pm | at Valparaiso | L 45–74 | 4–7 | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,458) Valparaiso, IN |
| 12/22/2015* 7:05 pm | Southeast Missouri State | L 74–78 | 4–8 | JQH Arena (4,189) Springfield, MO |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season |||||
| 12/30/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Illinois State | L 61–74 | 4–9 (0–1) | Redbird Arena (5,680) Normal, IL |
| 01/02/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | Evansville | L 59–76 | 4–10 (0–2) | JQH Arena (4,023) Springfield, MO |
| 01/06/2016 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | Northern Iowa | W 59–58 | 5–10 (1–2) | JQH Arena (4,297) Springfield, MO |
| 01/09/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Loyola–Chicago | W 56–54 | 6–10 (2–2) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (1,128) Chicago, IL |
| 01/13/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | Wichita State | L 62–78 | 6–11 (2–3) | JQH Arena (7,684) Springfield, MO |
| 01/16/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Bradley | W 61–42 | 7–11 (3–3) | Carver Arena (6,076) Peoria, IL |
| 01/20/2016 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | at Drake | W 79–70 | 8–11 (4–3) | Knapp Center (2,561) Des Moines, IA |
| 01/24/2016 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | Southern Illinois | L 65–80 | 8–12 (4–4) | JQH Arena (4,835) Springfield, MO |
| 01/27/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Indiana State | L 59–68 | 8–13 (4–5) | Hulman Center (3,501) Terre Haute, IN |
| 01/30/2016 3:05 pm, ESPN3 | Illinois State | W 84–81 $^{OT}$ | 9–13 (5–5) | JQH Arena (3,546) Springfield, MO |
| 02/02/2016 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | Bradley | W 77–71 | 10–13 (6–5) | JQH Arena (3,723) Springfield, MO |
| 02/06/2016 11:00 am, ESPN3 | at Evansville | L 64–83 | 10–14 (6–6) | Ford Center Evansville, IN |
| 02/10/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Northern Iowa | L 69–83 | 10–15 (6–7) | McLeod Center (5,755) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/13/2016 3:05 pm, ESPN3 | Indiana State | W 89–85 $^{OT}$ | 11–15 (7–7) | JQH Arena (4,400) Springfield, MO |
| 02/18/2016 6:00 pm, CBSSN | at Wichita State | L 68–99 | 11–16 (7–8) | Charles Koch Arena (10,506) Wichita, KS |
| 02/21/2016 3:00 pm, ESPNU/ESPN3 | Loyola–Chicago | L 62–75 | 11–17 (7–9) | JQH Arena (3,385) Springfield, MO |
| 02/24/2016 7:05 pm, ESPN3 | Drake | W 61–52 | 12–17 (8–9) | JQH Arena Springfield, MO |
| 02/27/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Southern Illinois | L 68–78 | 12–18 (8–10) | SIU Arena (6,012) Carbondale, IL |
| Missouri Valley tournament |||||
| 03/03/2016 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Drake First round | W 69–67 | 13–18 | Scottrade Center (6,929) St. Louis, MO |
| 03/04/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | vs. Evansville Quarterfinals | L 56–66 | 13–19 | Scottrade Center (8,468) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||