The 2018–19 Missouri State Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by first-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 16–16, 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.
Previous season The Bears finished the 2017–18 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.
Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Abdul Fofana 0 F 6'7" 207 Sophomore Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso Walk-on; didn't return Mustafa Lawerence 1 G 6'0" 186 Freshman Newark, NJ Transferred to Tallahassee CC Reggie Scurry 2 F 6'5" 213 Junior Atlanta, GA Transferred to Middle Tennessee James Byrd 3 G 6'1" 185 Junior Kansas City, MO Walk-on; transferred to Central Missouri Greg Williams 13 G 6'6" 180 RS Freshman Houston, TX Retired from basketball due to injury Ronnie Roussau III 14 G 5'10" 163 Senior Cincinnati, OH Graduated Jarrid Rhodes 15 F 6'6" 185 Senior Palmeto, FL Graduated J. T. Miller 23 G 6'2" 190 RS Senior Clinton, NC Graduated Alize Johnson 24 F 6'9" 212 Senior Williamsport, PA Graduated Tanveer Bhullar 34 C 7'2" 278 RS Senior Etobicoke, ON Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Josh Webster 0 G 6'4" 175 Senior St. Louis, MO Transferred from Texas Tech. Will be eligible to play immediately since Webster graduated from Texas Tech. Keandre Cook 1 G 6'5" 190 Junior Baltimore, MD Junior college transferred from Odessa College Kabir Mohammed 5 G 6'5" Junior Lagos, Nigeria Junior college transferred from San Jacinto College Spencer Brown G 6'3" 190 Junior Fayetteville, AR Junior college transferred from Lyon College. Will join the team as a walk-on. Tulio Da Silva F 6'7" 206 RS Junior Formiga, Brazil Transferred from South Florida. Under NCAA transfer rules, Chastain will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. Tyrik Dixon G 6'1" 184 Junior Bentonville, AR Transferred from Middle Tennessee. Under NCAA transfer rules, Dixon will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. Josh Hall G/F 6'6" 190 Junior Detroit, MI Transferred from Nevada. Under NCAA transfer rules, Hall will have to sit out for the 2018–19 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
2018 recruiting class
2019 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Missouri Valley regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Missouri Valley tournament
Source
References