Getty Missouri State Bears big man Gaige Prim.
The Missouri State Bears basketball team will host the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks on Tuesday for each squad’s season opener.
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The game (8 p.m. ET start time) isn’t on TV, but anyone in the US can watch Southeast Missouri State vs Missouri State live on ESPN+:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Southeast Missouri State vs Missouri State live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Southeast Missouri State vs Missouri State Preview
Last year, the Bears posted their best winning percentage in a decade, going 17-7 overall and 12-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Head coach Dana Ford will have five starters from that squad back for his fourth season at the helm, including a pair of preseason all-conference selections in guard Isiaih Mosley and big man Gaige Prim.
Prim’s 9.1 rebounds per contest led the league, and he ranked third in scoring (16.7 per game) and shot blocking (1.3 per game), as well as 11th in assists per game (3). Mosley led the MVC in scoring with 19.8 points per contest. He also ranked eighth in boards (6.2) and assists (3.1) per game.
“He’s got to continue to do things he’s always done and has to be hungrier to improve and add things day after day,” Ford said of Mosley, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There are a lot of areas to grow. He has to have a mindset of humility so he doesn’t lose what he has, and then have a hunger to improve.”
Missouri State added a pair of impact transfers over the offseason: Donovan Clay, a 6-foot-7 wing who averaged 10.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 blocks for the Valparaiso Beacons last year, and Jaylen Minnett, whose 16.4 points for the IUPUI Jaguars ranked ninth in the Horizon League.
“We love having Donovan and we’re fortunate to have him,” Ford said, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I love the versatility of his offense and defense. Our players were the reason we were able to get Donny. Last year we were who we were. We played one certain way. Now we can play different ways through a game because of his versatility.”
Ford added: “We’re deeper, that’s for sure. Come the second half of January and February, we’ll be playing seven or eight guys probably. In non-league it will be closer to nine. When it comes time to jockey for position, we’ll go with whichever seven or eight give us the best chance to win.”
The Redhawks went 11-16 overall last year, their first season under head coach Brad Korn, including 9-11 in Ohio Valley Conference play, good for the team’s first conference tournament since 2016-17.
Korn will have the top six scorers from that squad at his disposal this time around, including guard Chris Harris, who led the Redhawks in points (12.3) and assists (3.4) per game.
“He makes on-time, on-target passes,” Korn said, according to the Southeast Arrow, “and that’s probably the biggest thing with him is that you can put the ball in his hands, and something positive is gonna happen more times than not.”