The 2017–18 Missouri State Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears, led by seventh-year head coach Paul Lusk, played their home games at JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Despite being the preseason favorite in the MVC, the Bears finished the 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.
Previous season The Bears finished the 2016–17 season 17–16, 7–11 in MVC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals before losing to Wichita State in the semifinals.
Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Jordan Martin 0 F 6'8" 235 Senior St. Louis, MO Graduated Robin Thompson 1 F 6'6" 224 RS Sophomore St. Louis, MO Transferred to Maryville Dequon Miller 4 G 5'10" 176 Senior Charleston, WV Graduated Austin Ruder 15 G 6'3" 199 Senior Nixa, MO Graduated Chris Kendrix 33 F 6'5" 185 Junior Willard, MO Graduate transferred to Minnesota State Tyler McCullough 50 C 6'11" 252 Senior Fayetteville, AR Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School Abdul-Hakim Fofana 0 F 6'7" 220 Junior Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso Junior college transferred from Dakota College at Bottineau Reggie Scurry 2 F 6'7" 220 Junior Atlanta, GA Junior college transferred from Northern Oklahoma College James Miller 23 G 6'4" 185 RS Senior Clinton, NC Transferred from Howard. Will be eligible to play immediately since Miller graduated from Howard. Tanveer Bhullar 34 C 7'2" 285 RS Senior Toronto, ON Transferred from New Mexico. Will be eligible to play immediately since Bhullar graduated from New Mexico State.
2017 recruiting class
Preseason In the conference's preseason poll, the Bears were picked to win the MVC, receiving 30 of 40 first place votes. Senior forward Alize Johnson was named the preseason MVC Player of the Year.
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