A look at every Missouri State men's basketball non-conference opponent entering 2022-23
A new season for Missouri State men's basketball is just a few days away. Here's a look at the Bears' non-conference schedule with the Bears' first exhibition game scheduled for Saturday:
Newman (exhibition on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.)
Some school called Newman will make its way over to Springfield to play the Bears in an exhibition game on Saturday. It's the first time the Bears will play an exhibition game since the beginning of the 2019-20 season when they hosted Washington University.
Newman is a Division II school out of Wichita, Kansas, that went 6-21 last year and lost to teams including Missouri Southern, Central Missouri, Pittsburg State and Lincoln.
Getting an exhibition game on the books for the Bears before the season is a good thing considering the number of newcomers they have on the roster.
More:Meet Missouri State men's basketball's 14 newcomers entering the 2022-23 season
Missouri S&T (Nov. 9, 7 p.m.)
Nothing screams an "opening night" for the Bears quite like a showdown with Missouri S&T. Jokes aside, this is another good opportunity for Missouri State's new roster to play together in a game situation before playing its toughest stretch of the non-conference slate.
This game will count, as the Rolla-based Division II program makes its way down here after going 11-17 last season. The Miners return their top two scorers from last season Julien Smith and Kaden Froebe — who were both freshmen last season.
@ BYU (Nov. 16, 8 p.m.)
The Bears' schedule goes from zero to 100 with a tough road trip to BYU in the return game of a home-and-home that began last season with MSU losing 74-68 at Great Southern Bank Arena.
The Cougars' top two scorers from that game have since moved on. The team's overall top-returning scorer is 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Fousseyni Traore and he was the lone Cougar named to the Preseason All-WCC team. The Cougars were picked to finish tied for third heading into the year behind Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.
More:Missouri State's Donovan Clay as the MVC Player of the Year? Why the Bears think it can happen
Middle Tennessee (Nov. 19, 2 p.m.)
Maybe the Bears' marquee home non-conference game, the Blue Raiders will take on the Bears after going 26-11 last season and finishing as the runner-up in the College Basketball Invitational.
Heading into this year, Middle Tennessee is picked to finish fourth in Conference USA and has one preseason all-conference player in sophomore Teafale Lenard — who averaged 6.9 points and 3.3 rebounds last season while shooting 33.8% from beyond the arc and blocking 58 shots as a 6-foot-7 guard. He attended Link Year Prep in Branson and was the No. 111 player in the country out of high school.
vs. UNC Wilmington (Nov 25, 1 p.m. in the Bahamas)
To tip off the Baha Mar Nassau Championship, the Bears will play UNC Wilmington which is coming off a 27-9 season last year. It was the team that beat Middle Tennessee in the CBI championship in double overtime.
The Seahawks are picked to finish fifth this year in the Colonial Athletic Conference and will be led by senior guard Shykeim Phillips who was named a preseason second-teamer. He was a CAA All-Defensive member last year while averaging 11.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
More:Get to know the new players on the Missouri State Lady Bears' roster entering 2022-23
vs. Vermont or Ball State (Nov. 26, TBD in the Bahamas)
Day 2 of the Bahamas-based tournament will put the Bears up against either Vermont or Ball State in the winner's or losers bracket.
Vermont
The Catamounts are the preseason favorites in the America East Coaches' Poll for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. They have a pair of first-team all-conference preseason selections in Dylan Penn and Finn Sullivan.
Penn is a transfer from Bellarmine who helped his team win the ASUN Championship in 2022. He was the ASUN Tournament MVP and averaged 16.6 points, five assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. Sullivan is a fifth-year player who first attended San Diego. Last season, he averaged 7.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and two assists per game.
The 2021-22 season included a 28-6 record, a 71-57 non-conference win over Northern Iowa and a trip to the NCAA Tournament where the Catamounts fell by four to an Arkansas team in the NCAA Tournament that wound up in the Elite Eight.
Ball State
The Cardinals went 14-17 last season and have been picked to finish fourth in the MAC preseason poll. They will be led by 2022 MAC Freshman of the Year Payton Sparks who is a 6-foot-9, 240-pound center who averaged 13.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
More:Missouri State Lady Bears nearing the beginning of the Beth Cunningham era
TBD — Final Round (Nov. 27, TBD in the Bahamas)
A final round will be played against a team from the opposite side of the bracket. The Bears haven't had an undefeated run through a mid-season showcase or tournament since the Hispanic College Fund Challenge in 2009-10.
The best opponent the Bears can play is likely North Texas which finished last season 55th in the NET rankings. The Mean Green were 25-7 last season and went to overtime in the second round of the NIT Tournament but lost by two to Virginia. Entering this year, they are picked to finish third in Conference USA and have one player, Tylor Perry, selected to the preseason team after he averaged a team-high 13.5 points per game last season while shooting 42% from deep.
Other opponents the Bears could play include San Jose State, Oakland and Long Beach State.
@ Illinois Chicago (Nov. 30, 7 p.m.)*
No, this isn't a non-conference team as the Missouri Valley Conference will play games in late November and early December for the second year in a row. The Bears' first trip to play UIC, as a member of the MVC, comes on the final day of the month.
Expectations aren't high for the Flames which were picked to finish 11th out of 12 in the Valley — only ahead of Evansville. No players were named to any of the three All-MVC preseason teams.
UIC only has one starter back and three total lettermen. Jace Carter is the top returning scorer for the Flames after averaging 8.1 points and 5.4 rebounds last season.
Bradley (Dec. 3, 7 p.m.)*
The team picked to finish second in the Valley heading into the season will visit the Bears but it could be without its best player entering the game.
Bradley, which returns three starters and nine lettermen, could be without star center Rienk Mast who is currently nursing a knee injury. He could be out through the end of December after earning third-team All-MVC laurels last season while leading the league with 8.4 rebounds per game.
Bradley lost its star player, Terry Roberts Jr., in a transfer to Georgia. Ja'Shon Henry should be a standout for the Braves this season after an injury-plagued 2021-22 season. Melevy Leons started 29 games for the Braves last season and averaged 9.9 points and 5.9 rebounds.
More:After being overlooked, former Kickapoo star Indya Green is ready to shine at Missouri State
@ Saint Mary's (Dec. 7, 9 p.m.)
The Bears will go to the San Francisco area for the second year in a row to play the Gaels after losing to them 75-58 last season. The Gaels' two top scorers from the game have moved on with Logan Johnson being the team's top returner heading into the season.
Saint Mary's is picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference only behind Gonzaga. They have a pair of All-WCC preseason players in senior 6-foot-7 wing Alex Ducas and Johnson, a fifth-year guard. Ducas averaged 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game last season and was the Gaels' fourth-leading scorer behind Johnson who averaged 11.9 per game.
Purdue Fort Wayne (Dec. 10, 7 p.m.)
The Mastodons enter this season as the co-favorites to win the Horizon League after going 21-12 and winning the league's regular season championship last year.
They return their top player from last season in fifth-year standout Jarred Godfrey who is a 6-foot-5 guard who ranks fourth all-time in scoring at Fort Wayne. He averaged 15.2 points and 4.6 rebounds last season.
Fort Wayne returns three starters outside of Godfrey along with the Horizon League's Sixth Man of the Year.
@ Oral Roberts (Dec. 16, 7 p.m.)
A year after a Sweet 16 run, Oral Roberts finished 19-12 and didn't qualify for a postseason tournament. They are the favorites heading into the Summit League and they still feature Max Abmas who won the 2020-21 Summit League Player of the Year.
Abmas, a junior guard, averaged 24.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. He is one of 20 preseason candidates for the Bob Cousy Award which is given to the top point guard in the nation.
The Bears defeated Oral Roberts last season 69-60 in Springfield and held Abmas to 19 points while the team shot 39.7% from the field and 7-for-26 from beyond the arc.
More:Hints at starters, who's getting NBA attention and more for Missouri State men's basketball
Central Michigan (Dec. 18, 5 p.m.)
The Chippewas make the trip to Springfield while being picked to finish 10th in the MAC this season. They have one player selected to the preseason All-MAC second-team in 6-foot guard Kevin Miller who was an honorable selection player last season. The sophomore averaged 13.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game during his freshman year.
The Chips went 7-23 last season with only one win in non-conference play. They lost to Illinois Chicago 71-67 in non-conference competition.
Sam Houston (Dec. 22, 7 p.m.)
The Bears finish their non-conference season by hosting Sam Houston right before Christmas. The return game of a home and home which saw the Bears win 77-55 against the Tigers in Texas last season.
Sam Houston was picked to finish eighth in the Western Athletic Conference coaches poll heading into this season. Senior guard Javion May was selected to the second-team All-WAC preseason team by the coaches. He was held to two points against the Bears last season.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Analyzing Missouri State basketball's 2022-23 non-conference schedule
