OPINION|
You would have to be of a certain age to remember a Missouri State basketball result as startling, or one that was this much needed to inject joy back into a program, as what happened on Wednesday night in northeast Alabama.
In what will go down as one of the biggest upsets in school history, Michael Osei-Bonsu turned in one of the greatest performances by anyone to wear a Bears’ uniform in the Division I era.
Osei-Bonsu, a Sherman tank-like 6-foot-4, 280-pound senior center, scored a career-high 31 points on 14-for-16 field-goal shooting as Missouri State upset top-seeded Liberty 77-69 in the quarterfinals at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Ala.
The ninth-seeded Bears, who barely qualified for their first C-USA Tournament, notched the upset to reach the semifinal round at 11:30 a.m.on Friday. Louisiana Tech or Middle Tennessee await and those two will play their quarterfinal at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Missouri State forward Michael Osei-Bonsu goes for two of his 31 points against Liberty in the Conference USA Tournamnet (Photo by Conference USA).
Meanwhile, the Bears will have Thursday off – not the next seven months off as most expected entering their first C-USA Tournament. The day off is much-welcomed after back-to-back tournament wins.
“These last two days have been tough, so an off day will be nice. I can’t lie about that,” senior forward Keith Palek III said.
Palek has played 62 minutes the last two days, Osei-Bonsu 69, guard Trey Williams Jr. 75 and guard Kobi Williams a grueling 76. But as Osei-Bonsu pointed out, vacations can wait.
“It’s on to the next,” Osei-Bonsu said in the news conference after beating Liberty. “Coach always tells us to stay in the present and we just finished the present moment. Now it’s time to get some recovery, stay together and get our mindset ready to win the next one.”
The most-recent head-turning victory to challenge this one? Go all the way back to the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals in St. Louis. The Bears rallied from a 25-point deficit to beat nationally ranked Southern Illinois in the semifinals. Names like Tamarr Maclin, Blake Ahearn and Deven Mitchell were prominent in that one.
Twenty-two years later, Osei-Bonsu etched his name into the record book and memory banks with a performance for the ages. “Big Mike” also added eight rebounds and four assists in a spot-on rendition of a vintage Charles Barkley.
“We’ve been working all season and staying together all season,” Osei-Bonsu said. “Our team was working together, like a well-oiled machine. Our team was finding me and I was finishing it off.”
Missouri State fans cheer on Wednesday at the Conference USA Tournament in Huntsville, Alabama. (Photo by Conference USA)
It hasn’t been an easy season – or two seasons – for Osei-Bonsu in terms of team success. The Bears were 9-23 a season ago and stand 16-17 after beating the regular-season champion Flames. There was despair to go around as Missouri State lost eight of their last nine regular-season games, many by agonizingly close margins.
Fans were frustrated or didn’t bother showing up. Close losses compounded the frustration. But the Bears did not quit. Credit the players and Coach Cuonzo Martin. They saw a trip to Huntsville as a fresh chance – and dominated the final minutes on back-to-back nights when games are won or lost.
“Our guys displayed a lot of heart, resiliency,” Martin said. “We had to take this game. We stayed the course and we did a phenomenal job in the second half, defensively. A great, great win for our guys and I’m happy for them.
“Oftentimes in the season, your fans want to see you have success but you have to have those grinds behind the scenes, those storm days in order to see the results. And here we are now.”
Liberty, unlike most teams, refused the double-team the 280-pound Osei-Bonsu. He took advantage with domination in the post as his teammates found him, time and again, against single coverage.
“He’s a true warrior and wonderful young man to be around,” Martin said of Osei-Bonsu. “He had a relentless focus and he wanted the ball every time. We wanted him to have the ball every time down.”
Liberty led 37-33 at halftime and opened a 10-point lead two minutes into the second half, but just when it looked like the Bears’ season was on life support, they roared back. As Osei-Bonsu worked inside,the outside game opened for others. Kobi Williams’ 3-pointer gave the Bears a 51-50 lead, part of an 11-0 run that grew to 15-0 after buckets by Osei-Bonsu and Keith Palek III.
Missouri State did not trail again. Kobi Williams added 18 points and Trey Williams added 10 – six on a pair of cold-blooded late-game 3-pointers to ice the upset.
As good as Osei-Bonsu was, the Bears’ ability to defend in the second half was even bigger. Liberty, after shooting 57 percent in the first half, hit only 31 percent the rest of the way and was a miserable 9 of 31 from 3-point range.
Missouri State shot 73.7 percent in the second half and made half of 16 3-point attempts.
Liberty players look on in frustration during Missouri State’s upset of the top-seeded Flames at the Conference USA Tournament. (Photo by Conference USA)
“We have an intelligent group of guys and they can comprehend it,” Martin said of the mindset during a timeout after Liberty stretched its lead to 10. “The biggest thing is ‘relax, gather yourself, stick to the game plan, hear what I’m saying and let’s get out of here with a win.’
“When you’re at this point, you’ve been through a lot and you’ve seen a lot. Ten points down, 12 down, we were down 20 at (Liberty’s) place and gave ourselves a chance. We’re a group of fighters.”
Those fighters, after getting a day of rest, will lace it up for at least one more game on Friday. Don’t count ‘em out now.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if this group of Bears, counted out by most, ended the program’s 27-year NCAA Tournament drought? Weird things happen in March.
Lyndal Scranton is a Springfield native who has covered sports in the Ozarks for more than 35 years, witnessing nearly every big sports moment in the region during the last 50 years. The Missouri Sports Hall of Famer, Springfield Area Sports Hall of Famer and live-fire cooking enthusiast also serves as PR Director for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri and is co-host of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. Contact him at Lscranton755@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @LyndalScranton. More by Lyndal Scranton