CANYON, Texas – The No. 3 Buffs of West Texas A&M will open the 2021-22 season at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic in Canyon, Texas. The defending South Central Region Champions will play three games over three days starting with a Top 5 matchup against No. 4 Colorado Mesa at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29.
THE D2CCA TIPOFF CLASSIC
West Texas A&M and the First United Bank Center will serve as the host for the 2021 Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) men's and women's Tipoff Classic presented by Suddenlink. On the men's side, the tournament will feature four teams that made appearances in the NCAA Tournament that went 61-15 in the 2020-21 campaign, including two regional champions.
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats and broadcasts will be provided by West Texas A&M for the three-day tournament with games aired on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network. Broadcasts to all games and live stats can be found at GoBuffsGo.com.
SCOUTING #4 COLORADO MESA
The Colorado Mesa Mavericks come to Canyon ranked fourth by the National Association Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll, picking up one first-place vote. CMU finished the 2020-21 campaign 21-2, 18-1 in conference play and were selected to repeat as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champions.
CMU returns all-region standouts Georgie Dancer and Ethan Menzies that led the Mavericks offense last year. Dancer averaged a team-high 31.8 points followed by Menzies with 29.3 who went on to collect all-american recognition from the NABC.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA STATE MOORHEAD
After receiving votes in the NABC preseason poll, MSUM returns five starters from last season's roster that qualified for the NCAA Tournament and went 11-5. Under 12-year head coach Chad Walthall, the Dragons return 11 total players from a roster that averaged 80.8 points per game alongside 37.0 rebounds.
Among the returners is the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division Newcomer of the Year, Lorenzo McGhee. The 6-foot-5 guard from Decatur, Georgia averaged a team-high 13.4 points including 5.3 rebounds.
SCOUTING DAEMEN
Daemen, who received votes in the NABC D2 preseason coaches' poll, will look for a rematch with WT after the Wildcats returned 11 players from last year's National Quarterfinalist team including all five starters. In the 2020-21 season, the Wildcats earned their third consecutive birth to the NCAA tournament after they claimed their first regional title.
The Wildcats will look to the leadership of graduate student and two-time All-American Andrew Sischo. Sischo. The 5
th-year senior was named the East Coast Conference Preseason Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive year as he averaged 26.9 points and 13.0 rebounds last season.
RETURNING NUMBERS
The Buffs return seven from last season's roster that finished 19-3 and went on to win the program's third straight South Central Regional Championship. Of those returners is Zach "The Shot" Toussaint who hit the buzzer-beating three to send WT to its first appearance in the NCAA National Championship game with a victory over #13 Lincoln Memorial. The sophomore averaged 10.0 points for the Buffs with 1.3 rebounds. Returning with Toussaint are fellow region champions
Kavon Booker,
Torian Harris,
Parker Nielsen,
Hayden Blankley,
Cameron Bell and
JT Warren.
NEW EDITION
In the off-season, WT added five transfers with
Trevone Fuller (Trinity Valley CC),
Julius Brown (Lincoln Memorial),
Dalin Williams (Northwestern State),
Addison Wallace (Texas State) and
Larry Wise (North Texas). Texas natives
Jonas Carlisle and
Jesse Iweze enter their first collegiate seasons alongside Australian product
Austin Shelley.
WT HEAD COACH TOM BROWN
Tom Brown enters his eighth season as the head coach of the Buffs, registering an overall record of 181-43 (.808) with four NCAA Tournament Appearances including the programs first appearance in the National Championship game last season. The two-time LSC Coach of the Year led the Buffs to their fourth consecutive conference tournament championship title.
NABC TOP 25 POLL
For the third consecutive season, the Buffaloes of West Texas A&M were ranked in the Top 5 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Preseason Poll. The three-time defending South Central Region Champions are one of three schools from the Lone Star Conference to rank in the national standings alongside Lubbock Christian (9
th) and DBU (19
th). Defending National Champions Northwest Missouri State is ranked first with 15 first-place votes followed by Flager, WT, Colorado Mesa (1-fpv) and Colorado School of Mines to round out the Top 5.
LSC PRESEASON POLL
The four-time defending LSC Champions were picked second after going 19-3 in 2020-21 including the program's first appearance in the National Championship game. WT received 13-of-42 possible first place votes, following the preseason favorite Lubbock Christian with 26. DBU was picked third followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville and St. Edward's in the top five.
Midwestern State was selected sixth followed by Angelo State, Texas A&M-Commerce, UT Tyler, UT Permian Basin, UAFS, St. Mary's, Oklahoma Christian, Eastern New Mexico, Cameron, Texas A&M International and Western New Mexico.
LSC DIGITAL NETWORK
The LSC Digital Network is in its third season showcasing the academic and athletic events of the league and its 18 member institutions. Under the new structure for 2021-22, football, volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball broadcasts will be available via conference-wide pay-per-view passes.
The LSC Digital Network will offer season passes for football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball, giving fans access to all regular-season contests for that sport. In addition, viewers will continue to have the option to purchase a $10 day pass that provides access to all broadcasts aired that day and access to all archived content for 24 hours.
Fans can watch games and purchase passes online at www.lonestarconferencenetwork.com on computer and mobile devices. Viewers can also tune in to games on the LSC Digital Network via OTT apps available on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku by searching for "LSC Digital Network".
COMING UP
WT will continue their preseason homestand with a pair of matchups with Western Colorado for the South Central Regional Challenge on Nov. 12 and 14 at the First United Bank Center.
