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CANYON, Texas – The Buffs will open the 2016-17 campaign on the road this weekend as they take part in the CCA Division II Tipoff Classic at Santiago Canyon College. WT will take on Azusa Pacific, St. Cloud State and #23 Arkansas-Fort Smith in the event featuring six NCAA Division II men's and six women's programs competing over three days. The Buffs are receiving votes in the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) Division II Preseason Top-25 Poll.
 
- SCOUTING THE FIELD
AZUSA PACIFIC
Azusa Pacific is led by 10th year head coach Justin Leslie who has guided the Cougars to back-to-back Regional Tournament appearances including the 2015 West Region Title in their first season as a full-time Division II member. The Cougars are receiving votes in the NABC Division II Preseason Top-25 Poll.
 
The Cougars enter the season as the preseason favorite in the PacWest Conference after claiming their second straight league title last year with a mark of 15-5. APU finished the season 23-9 overall with a trip to the West Regional Semifinals before falling to National Semifinalist Western Oregon.
 
APU is led by Preseason All-PacWest selection Petar Kutlesic who was the league's third-leading rebounder, grabbing 8.9 per game while scoring 10.8 points per game with a team-high field goal shooting percentage of .540 as a sophomore in 2015-16. Kutlesic also registered a team-high 24 blocked shots, which ranked sixth in the PacWest.
 
Friday's season opener will mark the first ever meeting on the basketball court between West Texas A&M and Azusa Pacific.
 
ST. CLOUD STATE
The Huskies are guided by third year head coach Matt Reimer who has led the team to back-to-back NSIC Tournament Appearances. Reimer took over the St. Cloud Program in 2014-15 after serving as the Huskies' top assistant for 17 seasons.
 
St. Cloud State finished the 2015-16 season with an overall record of 13-16 with a 10-12 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) as they advanced to the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals.
 
The Huskies return the 2015-16 NSIC Freshman of the Year Gage Davis who averaged 19.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while shooting 50.9% from the field and 42.1% from deep.
 
The Buffs lead the all-time series 1-0 against St. Cloud State. The only meeting between the two teams took place on December 14, 1974 as the Buffs topped the Huskies, 65-56 in Amarillo.
 
ARKANSAS FORT SMITH
The #23 Lions are led by 11th year head coach Josh Newman who has led UAFS to a 191-108 overall record including two NCAA Postseason Appearances.
 
Arkansas-Fort Smith, the preseason favorite in the Heartland Conference, is coming off of a 23-9 campaign in 2015-16 as they finished second in the league with a mark of 14-6. The Lions advanced to the South Central Regional Quarterfinals before falling to Angelo State.
 
The Lions are led by Preseason All-Heartland Conference selection Seth Youngblood who averaged 15.8 points per game as a junior last season, grabbing 3.9 rebounds per contest while shooting 44.4% from the floor and 76.9% from the charity stripe.
 
Sunday's tournament finale for both teams will mark the first every meeting on the hardwood between West Texas A&M and Arkansas-Fort Smith.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL
The Buffs were tabbed fourth in the 2016-17 Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Poll announced on October 26th during the league's annual Online Media Day from the conference offices in Richardson, Texas. Midwestern State picked up 12 of the possible 28 first place votes for a total of 253 points to sit atop of the poll followed by Tarleton State (eight first place, 240 points). Angelo State was picked third with eight first place votes for a total of 239 points followed by the Buffs who registered the final first place vote for a total of 211 points. Texas A&M-Commerce (152) was picked fifth followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville (120), Cameron (108), Eastern New Mexico (93), UT Permian Basin (88) and Western New Mexico (36).
 
The Lone Star Conference expands to 10 basketball-playing institutions starting in 2016-17 as Western New Mexico (Silver City, New Mexico) and UT Permian Basin (Odessa, Texas) join the league.  Each team will play a double round-robin conference schedule with 18 conference games. The Allen Event Center will host the LSC Basketball Championships for the sixth straight season on March 2-5.
 
LSC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
WT junior guard David Chavlovich was nearly a unanimous selection to be named the third LSC Preseason Player of the Year in program history, joining Rod Prater (2003-04) and Donald Sims (2012-13). The Arlington native was named a National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) All-American as a sophomore as he led the LSC in scoring with 20.5 points per game. He set a new program single-season record in three-point field goals made (111) and three-point field goals attempted (287) while joining the 1,000 Point Club and being named the Lone Star Conference Player of the Year. The Arlington native has also been named a Preseason All-American by Sporting News and the Basketball Times while making an appearance on the Division II Bulletin Super 16 list.
 
WT HEAD COACH TOM BROWN
WT head coach Tom Brown enters his third season at the helm of the Buffs as the team registered their first 20+ win season since 2010-11 with an overall mark of 21-10 while finishing second in the LSC standings. The Buffs enter the season ranked ninth in the annual Sporting News Division II Preseason Top-10 Poll while receiving votes in the NABC Division II Preseason Top-25 Poll.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Cal-State San Bernardino serves as the host of the 2016 CCA Division II Tipoff Classic. All three of the WT matchups will have live stats provided by the CSUSB Athletic Communications Office. Fans cans visit the Men's Basketball Schedule Page at GoBuffsGo.com for links.