ODESSA, Texas – Joel Murray recorded his first career double-double as No. 7 West Texas A&M returned to the win column with a 108-85 victory over UT Permian Basin on Thursday evening in Odessa. The Buffs improve to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in Lone Star Conference play while extending their road win streak to 10 games.
Murray finished with 28 points going 12-of-23 from the floor with a career-high 12 rebounds, six steals and six assists. It marks the second time in his career that the Rowlett native has led the Buffs in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals in the same game. Qua Grant also had 28 points after going 9-of-15 from the floor, 3-of-8 from 3-point range and a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. John Brown reached double figures with 14 in his first career start with Jon'il Fugett chipping in 13.
WT got off to a hot start in their first road game of the season jumping out to a 12-2 lead in the opening three minutes thanks to 3-pointers from Grant and Murray. The Falcons would go on a 14-2 run over the next three minutes to tie the game at 16-all at 14:12 on a dunk from Quintez Grimes.
JT Warren would connect on his first 3-pointer in two games two possessions later to jump start a 20-2 run for the Buffs. Murray would get a layup following an offensive rebound on his missed 3-pointer followed by a layup from Grant. J. Fugett would score four straight points off Falcon turnovers to keep the run going. Murray added another four points before Ugo Obineke connected from downtown to make it 36-18 in favor of the visitors.
Calvin Fugett Jr. got on the score sheet with an old-fashioned 3-point play followed by another three from Warren as WT lead 45-27 with six minutes remaining until halftime. Following a Falcon turnover, Zach Toussaint connected on a 3-pointer to push the lead over 20 points for the first time, 48-27
Brown had a strong start to the second half scoring four points in the opening two minutes including another dunk that sparked a 12-2 run to push the lead back to 20 points, 73-53, at 15:23. WT continued to score at will in the second half as J. Fugett reached double figures for the fourth time this season with a jumper right before the under 12-minute media timeout to make it a 83-61 game.
Toussaint connected on his third 3-pointer of the game with under nine minutes remaining in regulation to push the lead to 23 points, 90-67. Brown's offensive put back six minutes to give the Buffs their largest lead of the game, 104-77, as they won their eighth straight over UTPB.
The Buffs will welcome the Falcons to the First United Bank Center on Saturday, Jan. 16. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will air on the LSC Digital Network.
