#14 Angelo State 1-14-15: (Live Stats / Live Video / Audio / Tickets)
 
Buffalo Basketball Game Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's basketball team will welcome in No. 14 Angelo State for a midweek Lone Star Conference contest on Wednesday evening, Jan. 14. The Buffs and Rams will tipoff from the First United Bank Center (FUBC) in Canyon at 7:30 p.m. WT heads into the game with a 10-5 overall record and 1-1 mark in LSC play and has won seven of its last eight games. The Rams come to Canyon boasting a 13-1 (1-0, LSC) record and are winners of eight-straight.
 
LIVE COVERAGE: Live stats and a free webstream will be available for Wednesday's game courtesy of West Texas A&M Athletic Media Relations. Fans can also listen to the game as always on the radio by tuning into 98.7 Jack FM. Live updates can also be found by following @wtathletics on Twitter. Links can be found at the top of the page or on www.GoBuffsGo.com via the men's basketball schedule page.
 
A DIFFERENT GAME: Unlike the past several seasons, the Buffs are putting up points and doing it consistently. After eclipsing 80 points in just eight games during the 2013-14 season, WT has broken that total in 10 contests so far this year and is now averaging 80.1 points per game. A large part of that success has come from beyond the 3-point line. The Buffs rank ninth nationally and first in the LSC in 3FG attempts (410), 18th in in the nation and first in the LSC in 3FG per game (9.7), and 16th in the nation and first in the LSC once again in total 3FG made (146). Freshman guard David Chavlovich has been the team's individual leader in each of those categories, ranking seventh in the nation in 3FG attempts (117), 14th in 3FG per game (3.36), and 11th in total 3FG made (47). He also tops the conference in each of those categories.
 
HEAD COACH TOM BROWN: WT welcomed in its 17th head coach in program history earlier this spring in Tom Brown who comes to Canyon after an impressive career as the Associate Head Coach at Winona State, one of the most successful Division II men's basketball programs in recent history. Brown coached the Warriors to two National Championships and three appearances in the title game while at WSU. His accomplishments there also include four Elite Eight appearances, six conference championships, five conference tournament titles, 10-straight 20 win seasons, 10 All-Americans and three National Players of the Year.
 
Brown will be joined on the bench by first-year Associate Head Coach Chris Gove and Assistant Coach Quincy Henderson. Gove, like Brown, comes to WT after a 16-year stint as an assistant at WSU. After spending the previous two years on the coaching staff at Illinois Wesleyan and previously playing under Brown and Gove at WSU, Henderson begins his first season with the Buffs as well.
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL: Last week, the LSC announced the annual men's basketball preseason poll and awards. WT was picked eighth in the league heading into the 2014-15 season. Tarleton State topped the preseason rankings while Xavier Blackburn of Midwestern State was chosen as the Preseason Player of the Year.
 
TSU was picked in the top spot with 12 first-place votes and 156 points, closely edging MSU, who received five first-place nods and 155 points. Angelo State comes in at third with 134 points and one top vote, followed by Texas A&M-Commerce in fourth (117 points and three first-place votes), and Cameron in fifth (66 points). Texas A&M-Kingsville (59 points), Eastern New Mexico (57 points and one top vote) and WT (48 points) rounded out the poll.
 
ANGELO STATE AT A GLANCE: The Rams own a 13-1 overall record and a 1-0 mark in LSC competition so far this season. They come into Wednesday's contest against WT ranked 14th in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll and second in the D2SIDA South Central Region rankings. ASU began the season with five-straight wins before suffering their lone loss of the year, a 70-67 decision to Colorado Mesa in Grand Junction, Colo. on Nov. 28. Since, the Rams have won eight-straight. Their last outing was a 78-60 rout of previously No. 3 Tarleton State in both teams' LSC opener.
 
ASU owns the top offense in the league as they come in averaging 93.1 points per game, just shy of 10 points higher than the second-ranked team (Cameron, 83.6 ppg). The Rams are outscoring their opponents by 30.3 points, the top scoring margin in the league, 13.3 higher than Tarleton State in second. ASU also has the best field-goal percentage of any conference team, shooting .556 from the floor. It also leads the LSC in assists (22.07 apg) and steals (10.93 spg).
 
Senior guard Chris Jones tops the conference individually in both steals and assists at 3.3 steals per game and an impressive 5.8 assists per game. The Rams are led in scoring by senior guard/forward Demario Mayfield who is averaging 16.4 points per game. Three additional Rams are averaging double figures: Jones (14.6 ppg), senior guard Marsell Holden (14.4 ppg), and senior guard Raijon Kelly (10.5 ppg).
 
The Buffs own a 38-21 advantage in the all-time series with the Rams; however, lost both meetings a year ago. The last contest between the two teams was a 69-47 victory for ASU on Feb. 5, 2014 at the FUBC in Canyon. The two teams will meet once more this regular season, on Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. in San Angelo, Texas.   
 
CAMERON REVISITED: Senior Antjuan Ball maneuvered around a defender in the air and laid the ball in off the glass with just 1.8 seconds left to give WT a thrilling 83-82 victory over Cameron in its Lone Star Conference home opener at the First United Bank Center in Canyon on Saturday evening. The Buffs were led in scoring by senior Tez Dumars who poured in 23 points to give head coach Tom Brown his first LSC victory. WT improved to 10-5 on the season and 1-1 in league play. With the loss, Cameron fell to 9-5 (1-1, LSC) on the year.
 
WT finished the night shooting 28-for-60 (.467) from the field while the Aggies went 32-for-61 (.525). The Buffs would once again do damage from long range, going 14-for-27 (.519). They would manage to pull out the win despite a 45-26 rebounding disadvantage. The Aggies would also hold a 54-24 advantage in points in the paint and 19-6 advantage in second-chance points. Saturday evening's contest featured seven ties and 10 lead changes, the largest being by WT at 12.
 
Late mistakes would nearly do the Buffs in as they were called on a close five-second call on the inbound when up by two and 16 seconds on the clock while trying to call for a timeout. Then they were called for a foul on a 3-point shot. Cameron Lee would put the visitors up by one with seven seconds left after draining all three free-throws. But the Buffs would take advantage on the final possession. Senior Miles Gatewood found Ball on layup with 1.8 seconds left to give WT the one-point win.