Mizzou men’s basketball schedule preview: Games 7-8

by: Kyle McAreavy10 hours agoKyle_mcareavy

NCAA Basketball: Missouri at Mississippi State — Feb 1, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Missouri Tigers bench reacts after a three point basket from guard Annor Boateng (6) against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the second half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Through six games, I have the Tigers starting the season undefeated. This edition of the Mizzou men’s basketball schedule preview is fun for reasons other than on-the-court talent, but it’s the next one that starts to bring in the best non-conference games.

But before we get to December, let’s look at the last two games of November. Hosting South Carolina State and Cleveland State.

Game 7: Hosting South Carolina State on Nov. 25.

The Bulldogs enter as one of the more successful early-season opponents. South Carolina State went 20-13 overall and 11-3 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play last season.

The Bulldogs lost big to South Carolina, but were within 3 points against Xavier and 7 points against Georgia.

After starting the MEAC season 3-3, the Bulldogs ran through an eight-game winning streak, then made it to the MEAC championship, but lost a 66-65 game at top-seeded Norfolk State to end the year.

The Bulldogs scored 79.5 points per game last season and allowed 70.4. They shot 46.8 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from 3 and 70.9 percent from the free-throw line.

South Carolina State does not have an updated roster for the 2025-26 season yet. But here is a look at what was lost from last year’s team:

Leading scorer, forward Drayton Jones, transferred to Butler.
Second-leading scorer, center Omar Croskey, was a graduate
Third-leading scorer, forward Davion Everett, was a senior. But might have another year of eligibility.
Fourth-leading scorer, guard Mitchell Taylor, transferred to UNC-Asheville.
Fifth-leading scorer, guard Wilson Dubinsky, transferred to Marshall.
Seventh-leading scorer, guard Michael Teal, looks to still be in the transfer portal.
Tenth-leading scorer, forward Caleb McCarty transferred to California State-Bakersfield.
And it looks like forward Roko Maric entered the portal after appearing in six games.

That’s what I was able to find. And I haven’t been able to find any info about incoming transfers.

But the point is, most of that team that was two points away from going to the NCAA Tournament, is gone.

Coach Erik Martin, going into his fourth season at SC State, will have a challenge in front of him rebuilding after losing a majority of his production.

It does seem like Senior guard Colin McKenzie (6-foot-6, 200 pounds) is back after starting 17 games and averaging 5.8 points per contest last year. As is sophomore guard Jayden Johnson (6-1, 165) who started 12 games and averaged 4.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.

It’s hard to know exactly what SC State will be, but it shouldn’t be a big challenge for Mizzou.

Game 8: Hosting Cleveland State on Nov. 28

Well, that’s a fun matchup. Missouri coach Dennis Gates gets to play his old team for the first time, first-year head coach Rob Summers gets to return to Mizzou Arena just a month into his first season with the Vikings. New Tiger women’s basketball forward Jordana Resima gets to say hi to some old friends after transferring from Cleveland State in the offseason.

And it might even be an OK matchup on the court.

The Vikings went 23-13 overall and 14-6 in Horizon League play last year. The Viking lost to Kansas State by 13 and Minnesota by 11 in non-conference games last year.

Cleveland State averaged 73.1 points per game and allowed 66.5. The Vikings shot 45.2 percent from the field, 33.4 percent from 3 and 73.0 percent from the free-throw line.

The Vikings even went to the College basketball Invitational championship and lost to Illinois State.

But, Summers had some reworking to do on the roster after Daniyal Robinson, who took over after Gates, left for North Texas.

Here are the departures from last year’s team:

Leading scorer, guard Tevin Smith, was a senior and I’m unable to find him continuing his career anywhere.
Second-leading scorer, guard Tahj Staveskie, seems to have entered the portal, but removed his name. His social profiles still list Cleveland State as his school, but he is not on the team roster for 2025-26.
Third-leading scorer, forward Dylan Arnett, followed Robinson to North Texas.
As did fourth-leading scorer, guard Je’Shawn Stevenson.
Fifth-leading scorer, guard Chase Robinson, seems to have run out of eligibility.
Jalin Rice, who played in one game before injury, transferred to Nicholls.
Forward Reece Robinson, followed Daniyal Robinson to North Texas.
As did guard Cole Franklin.
Guard Ebrima Dibba seems to have run out of eligibility.
Forward Isaac Abidde transferred to Albany.
Guard Chaz Watson (from Kansas City) transferred to a JUCO.
Forward KJ Debrick entered the portal, but I can’t find any destination for him.
Guard Danny Young transferred to a JUCO.

Now, if you’re looking at that list and happen to count it, you might notice it’s 13 players long. How many players did Cleveland State have on roster last season you might ask?

Thirteen.

There is not one holdover from last year’s Cleveland State roster to Summers’ first team.

So who is on roster?

Senior guard Foster Wonders (6-5, 205) transferred from Green Bay. He was a 3-point sharpshooter, hitting 100 3s across two seasons at Green Bay.
Junior guard Ice Emery (6-0, 180) transferred from Western Carolina. He averaged 9.3 points per game.
Senior guard Jaidon Lipscomb (6-5, 170) transferred from Florida International, where he averaged 6.3 points per game in 2023-24 before an injury sidelined him in 2024-25.
Senior guard Tre Beard (5-10, 170) transferred from Shawnee State, where he averaged 19.1 points per game last season while shooting 49 percent overall and 47 percent from 3.
Junior forward Preist Ryan (6-6, 205) joins from Howard, where he scored 16.3 points per game.
Junior guard David Giddens (6-7) comes from Coastal Alabama Community College.
Sophomore forward Dayan Nessah (6-7, 210) transferred from George Washington.
Guard Waqo Tessema (6-0) joins from Panola College.
Sophomore forward Holden Pierre-Louis (6-8, 210) comes from Temple.
Senior wing Lucas Burton (6-8, 210) was added from Maryville.
Junior forward Ivan Spirov (6-8) comes from Bulgaria.
Junior forward Josiah Harris (6-7, 205) joins from Akron.
Senior guard Many Hill (6-0) joins from Heidelberg.
Sophomore guard Kamari Jones (6-4, 177) comes from Western Carolina.
Freshman forward Kevo St. Hilarie comes from West Lafayette, Indiana.

That’s a lot of newcomers. So it’s hard to tell quite how tough a squad Summers will have in his first year at the helm. But it should be a fun reunion when the Vikings come to Columbia.

I expect the Tigers to take this one, too.