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CANYON, Texas – No. 5 West Texas AM&M makes the trip to South Texas this week for a pair of games at Texas A&M International. Friday's tip in the Gateway City is set for 5 p.m. with Saturday's contest scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
The games will air on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network and live stats will also be available at GoBuffsGo.com. 
 
RETURNING TO THE WIN COLUMN
The Buffs returned to the win column their last time on the court with a pair of divisional victories over UT Permian Road including their first road win of the season. 
 
In their 108-85 win at the Falcon Dome in Odessa, WT shot 54.5 percent from the floor, 28.2 percent from three and 89.5 percent from the free throw line. Joel Murray and Qua Grant combined for 56 points with Murray also pulling down 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. 
 
Zach Toussaint scored a career-high 17 points, 12 in the first half, as the Buffs held off the Falcons in the second game. Murray had a team-high 24 points with Grant, Toussaint, Jon'il Fugett also reaching double figures as WT pushed their win streak over the Falcons to nine games. 

A LOOK AT TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL
Texas A&M International welcomes the Buffs to the Kinesiology and Convocation Center following a pair of road losses to Lubbock Christian last week. The Dustdevils are 1-11 overall and 1-9 in LSC play under first year head coach Mac McConnell, who was hired in March after spending three years as an associate head coach at Tarleton State.
 
The Dustdevils have struggled on the offensive end of the floor this season ranking 188th in scoring offense (58.5/game), 187th in scoring margin (-20.1) and 187th in shooting percentage (38.2%). 
 
Anthony Scott and Journee Phillips are scoring a team-high 10.6 points per game but neither featured in the games against LCU last weekend. Scott has scored in double figures in six of his last seven appearances including a career-high 22 points against Oklahoma Christian on Oct. 19. Phillips hasn't made appearance for the Dustdevils since scoring 16 points against Texas A&-Kingsville on Jan. 2. 
 
Tre Thomas is pulling down a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game for TAMIU. The junior from Fort Worth has recorded five or more boards in nine of his 11 appearances including a trio of eight rebound performances. Tyrese Davis, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, is averaging more than seven rebounds in his past three games including a 17-point, nine rebound performance against LCU. 
 
A LOOK BACK AT THEIR LAST MEETING
The Buffs defeated the Dustdevils 64-54 on Jan. 25, 2020 in Laredo behind 19 points from Grant. The Buffs shots 37.7 percent from the floor as they were held under 70 points for the only time during the 2020-21 season. 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
The all-time series is tied 1-1 after WT's 65-54 victory over the Dustdevils last season in Laredo. TAMIU won their first meeting on Nov. 18, 2011 in Odessa.
 
LOOKING TO ADD TO THE STREAK
The Buffs no longer own the nation's longest home win streak following their loss to a ranked DBU squad on Dec. 9 but are one of nine NCAA men's basketball programs to have won 10 or more straight road games. Division III's Swarthmore has won 16 straight on the road but have yet to play a game this season.
 
The Buffs 11 straight road wins is a program record and marks the first time they recorded 10 or more consecutive wins away from Canyon. Under seventh year head coach Tom Brown, WT has set program records for wins in a season, home win streak, road win streak and overall win streak. 
 
MAKING HIS WAY UP THE LIST
Murray moved up to eighth on the WT all-time scoring list during Saturday's game passing NBA Hall of Famer Maurice 'Mo' Cheeks and former LSC Freshman of the Year Tez Dumars. 
 
Through 77 career games, the All-American guard has scored 1,231 points for an average of 16.0 per contest. He has scored in double figures 61 times including 26 games with 20 or more. He currently ranks second in the conference in scoring at 21.8 points per game while playing the third-most minutes per game. 
 
DOING IT ALL FOR THE BUFFS
Grant enters the weekend as the only player in the Lone Star Conference that ranks in the Top 5 in scoring, rebounding and steals per game. He also ranks eight in assists for good measure. The Waxahachie native is nearly averaging a double-double per game at 21 points and 8.8 rebounds. He is also one of two Division II players to have recorded a triple-double this season along with Cedarville's Branden Maughmer.  
 
ZACH ATTACK
Toussaint has been given the launch codes to launch from downtown since he stepped onto campus in the fall of 2019. He shot 44.0 percent from 3-point range last season as a true freshman, the ninth-highest percentage in a single season in program history (min. 50 attempts). 
 
He is shooting 44.4 percent this season connecting on 16-of-36 attempts including tying a career-high with five against UTPB on Jan. 16. He has multiple 3-pointers in five of six games this season. 
 
FIRST TO 157 GETS THE RECORD
A school record could fall this weekend, with Grant and Murray within striking distance of David Chavlovich's career steal record. Murray enters the two-game set against the Javelinas with 149 steals, eight shy of passing Chavlovich's record of 156. 
 
LET'S LOOK AT THE POLLS
Colorado School of Mines is ranked first for the third consecutive week with 12 first-place votes with Northern State in second with a pair of first-place votes. Northwest Missouri State picked up two first-place votes and sits third followed by Lincoln Memorial and WT. Colorado Mesa is sixth with Findlay, Truman State, West Liberty and Mercyhurst rounding out the Top 10. Four other Lone Star Conference schools are represented in the poll as DBU moved up four spots to 11th with Lubbock Christian in 14th, St. Edward's in 16th and Texas A&M-Kingsville in 22nd.
 
WT dropped a sport for the second straight week in the D2SIDA as they Buffs are now fifth with 304 points. Only three teams are receiving first-place votes  led by 12 from Northwest Missouri State. 
 
BUFFS IN THE NABC POLL
WT has now been ranked in the NABC Top 25 for a program record 51 straight weeks, the last 28 weeks coming in the Top 10. Since Brown took over before the 2014-15 season, WT has been ranked in the Top 25 in 55 weeks including 25 in the Top 5. 
 
WELCOME TO THE #BUFFNATION AUSTIN
Austin Shelley is the first signing of the 2021 class for Brown and the Buffs after playing at Berwick College. He averaged 16 points game shooting 48.0 percent from the floor and 80.0 percent from the free throw line en route to being named to the All-Australian Team at the U18 School Sport Australia Championship in 2019. 

Welcome to the family, @AustinShelley13.

🔗: https://t.co/rW2Zx6JSdD#BuffNation | #TraditionInMotion pic.twitter.com/fODbu02MxP

— Thunder the Buffalo (@WestTXD2Hoops) January 25, 2021

 
Both his parents, Carolyn and Phil, played professionally in Australia. His sister, Jaz, is a guard for the University of Oregon women's basketball team and his older brother played at Kentucky Wesleyan.
 
BUFFALO CHIPS
Entering the two games against TAMUK, Grant is 24 points shy of 1,400 for his career. The junior also needs 31 points to pass Price Brookfield and move into sixth on the all-time scoring list. 
 
With his six-assist performance against UTPB, Murray moved up to sixth in career assists passing Dawon Foreman. He is one of only seven Buffs in program history to dish out over 300 assists.
 
Jan. 16's game against UTPB marked the first time this season that the Buffs did not register a dunk. John Brown now leads the dunk counter with eight throw downs following a season-high three in their first victory over UTPB. 
 
The Buffs ranks second in the nation in turnover margin and third in turnovers forced. They also rank seventh in steals per game and eighth in scoring offense at 92 points per game. Grant's four double-doubles are the sixth-most in NCAA DII men's hoops. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats and a pay-per-view broadcast will be provided by TAMIU for both games this week. Patrons can purchase a day pass for $10 that will allow them to watch any game on the LSC Digital Network for 24 hours. 
 
UP NEXT
WT return to LSC divisional play on Thursday, Feb. 4, when they host Angelo State at the First United Bank Center. They make the return trip to San Angelo on Saturday, Feb. 6.