Live Stats (Friday / Saturday)
Video
Game Notes
CANYON, Texas – No. 3 West Texas A&M opens Lone Star Conference play this weekend with a pair of games against No. 21 Dallas Baptist. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 8, and 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, at the First United Bank Center and will air on the LSC Digital Network.
READY FOR SOME FIREWORKS
The weekend's match up will feature two of the top scoring teams in NCAA Division II men's basketball. The Buffs rank second in the nation at 97.0 points per game with the Patriots coming in at fifth at 95.0 points per contest. They also rank in the Top 10 in scoring margin, with both teams defeating teams by more than 20 points per game.
A LOOK AT NO. 21 DALLAS BAPTIST
Dallas Baptist enters the weekend ranked 21st in the nation after their 4-0 start to the season with wins over Angelo State and Cameron. The Patriots are led by 15th year head coach Dr. Blake Flickner, whose Patriots squad rank fifth in the nation in scoring at 95 points per game.
The Patriots are led by ALL-LSC performer Chandler Jacobs, who is the reigning LSC Defensive Player of the Week. The senior, who will play his 100th game for DBU on Friday, has scored over 1,500 career points and is averaging 22 points and 7.8 points this season.
Freshman Ricky Lujan has started in the past two games this season and ranks second on the team in scoring at 21.3 points per contest. He was on fire from 3-point range on the weekend against CU with 12 3-pointers en route to scoring 31 and 21 points respectively. The Las Cruces, N.M. native has also dished out 16 assists.
Carson Hughes is averaging a team-high 33 minutes per game and ranks third on the team in scoring (11.3/game) and second in rebounding (5.8/game) while dishing out a team-high 18 assists. He filled the stat sheet in one of their two games against ASU with six points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Jalen Whiite, who has started in all four games for the Patriots, is another threat from beyond the arc. The junior has scored in double figures three times and is 10-of-24 from beyond the arc.
A LOOK BACK AT THE LAST MEETING
The Buffs defeated the Patriots 98-82 in Canyon on Feb. 15, 2020 behind 25 points and nine assists from Murray. Grant and
Jordan Collins chipped in 18 points with
Derrick Geddis and Warren each reaching double figures.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Buffs are 3-0 all-time against the Patriots dating back to their first meeting during the 1988-89 season. All three meetings have taken place in Canyon, with WT outscoring DBU 285-230 including a 20-point victory on Jan. 8, 1990.
OPENING THE NEW YEAR IN STYLE
Qua Grant recorded his first career triple-double as the Buffs returned to the court with a 94-79 victory over Oklahoma Christian on Tuesday afternoon in front of 500 fans at the FUBC.
The junior finished the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds to go along with a career-high 10 assists becoming second DII men's basketball player to record a triple-double this season.
Jon'il Fugett scored a team-high 19 points with
Zach Toussaint scoring 16 points in 23 minutes off the bench.
Ugo Obineke reached double figures for the first time in Maroon & White with 10 points, all of them coming in the second half.
LOOKING TO ADD TO THE STREAK
The Buffs enter the weekend on a program record 25-game win streak which includes 19 straight LSC wins. They have also won 44 straight home, tied for the most in men's basketball with No. 1 Gonzaga.
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Grant achieved something on Tuesday that he had never done before in his life, record a triple-double. The LSC Preseason Player of the Year recorded his 10th and final rebound of the game with 5:54 remaining in regulation to go along with his 17 points and a career-high 10 assists, the most by a Buff since David Chavlovich had 11 against Rollins on Dec. 19, 2016.
LETTING IT FLY FROM DOWNTOWN
The Buffs have been one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the nation since
Tom Brown over in 2014 and that was on full display on Tuesday at the FUBC as WT connected 18 times from beyond the arc. Seven different Buffs made multiple 3-pointers including four from Toussaint, the 14th time in his career he made three or more. They also attempted 49 3-pointers, the third-most in the NCAA this season.
HELP FROM THE BENCH
WT scored 36 bench points in their victory over OBU, led by the 16 from Toussaint. The sophomore tied a career-high against the Bison after connecting on a game-high four 3-pointers.
JT Warren and
Cameron Bell combined for 12 points with
John Brown,
Kavon Booker and
Calvin Fugett Jr. getting on the score sheet.
GETTING CLOSE TO 300
Two games through his junior season,
Joel Murray's name is all over the record books in every offensive category. With four more assists, the Rowlett native will become just the seventh Buff in program history to dish out 300 assists joining Terry Adolph (520), David Chavlovich (506), Michael Hamelin (375), Kyle Shields (369), Lionel Foster (347) and Dawon Foreman (318).
BUFFS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
The Buffs are 25-42 all-time against teams ranked in the NABC Top 25 including a 14-13 record under Brown. Under the seventh-year head coach, WT is 9-3 at home against ranked opponents including nine straight victories.
LET'S LOOK AT THE POLLS
WT remained at third in the NABC Division II Top 25 released on Tuesday behind Northwest Missouri State and Lincoln Memorial, the only other programs to finish the 2020 calendar year undefeated. Colorado School of Mines remained four with Washburn in fifth in Findlay, Northern State, West Liberty, Valdosta State and Colorado Mesa rounding out the Top 10.
Fellow LSC members St. Edward's, DBU and Lubbock Christian were also ranked in the poll with the Hilltoppers at 17th, the Patriots at 24th and the Chaps entering the poll in 24th. Texas A&M-Kingsville is also receiving votes.
BUFFS IN THE NABC POLL
With the latest NABC rankings, WT has now been ranked in the Top 5 for 14 straight weeks, including 10 straight weeks at third. They have also been ranked in the Top 25 for a program record 49 straight weeks.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE
WT will play the same opponent on consecutive days for the first time since December 1958 when they played a pair against Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho.
BUFFALO CHIPS
The Buffs open the season with four straight home games for the first time since 1995-95. They opened that season with five straight at The Box with wins over McMurry, UC-Colorado Springs, National Christian, LeTourneau and Wiley.
Grant recorded double digits rebounds in back-to-back games for second time in his career on Tuesday afternoon. Last season he pulled down a career-high 15 boards in a road win over Angelo State followed by 11 rebounds in Tarleton's final visit to the FUBC as a Division II program.
Murray enters Friday contest with a chance to move up the scoring list as he is only nine points shy of passing Tray Burrus for 15th and 23 points shy of passing Joe Thompson.
Grant can also make history on Friday as the Waxahachie native is six points shy of becoming the 7th player in program history to reach the 1,300-point plateau. Through 73 games, he has scored 1,293 points (17.7/game).
Obineke had two dunks on Tuesday, giving him three on the season and putting him atop the dunk counter.
John Brown quickly moved his way up to second on the team with a pair of dunks as WT defeated a school from the Great American Conference for the first time since Nov. 28, 2014.
LIVE COVERAGE
WT will provide live stats and a pay-per-view broadcast for the two games.
Kent Johnson and Lucas Kinsey will be on the call for the Buffs. 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 hits the road for the first time of the season on Jan. 14 with a trip to Odessa to face off against UT Permian Basin in the Falcon Dome. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
