Game Notes
Live Stats ( Game 1 | Game 2 )
Watch Live
 
CANYON, Texas – The No. 3 Buffs of West Texas A&M return to the First United Bank Center for the South Central Region Challenge for matchups with Western Colorado.  WT will face the Mountaineers on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. before another game on Sunday, Nov. 14 set for 1 p.m.  
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats and broadcasts will be provided by West Texas A&M for the three-day event with games aired on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.  Broadcasts to all games and live stats can be found at GoBuffsGo.com. 
 
SCOUTING WESTERN COLORADO
Western Colorado opens its season in Canyon after completeing the 2020-21 season 6-12 overall with a 6-11 mark in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  In the conference preseason rankings, the Mountaineers were selected to finish 13^th with 58 points.
 
Western returns three starters from last season who started in each of the 18 games.  Matthew Ragsdale, the Mountaineers leading scorer last season, returns to the roster for his sophomore campaign.  He was the only player to average over 20 points a game while collecting 4.1 rpg along with 12 steals and 13 assists. 
 
The Mountaineers are led by eight-year head coach Brad Schafer, who led the Mountaineers to an upset victory over No. 6 Colorado Mesa last season. During his tenure, he has helped Western reach the RMAC tournament in 2017-18, while coaching four All-RMAC players. 
 
COMIN' IN HOT
The Buffs led off the 2021-22 season with a 3-0 start after going undefeated at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the end of October.  WT defeated No. 4 Colorado Mesa, 72-63, before taking down Minnesota State-Moorhead, 87-65.  The Buffs finished the opening weekend with a 69-66 victory over Elite Eight finalst Daemen to take the tournament title. 
 
A LOOK INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Three Buffs average double-figure scoring led by Julius Brown at 16.7 points after the junior totaled 50 points in the opening weekend to earn Tournament MVP accolades.  Larry Wise is second for WT's scoring with 15.7 ppg followed by Zach Toussaint with 13.3, each earning All-Tournament honors at the Tipoff Classic. 
 
Hayden Blankley brought down 22 total rebounds in the opening weekend and averages 7.3 to lead the Buffs defense followed by freshman Jesse Iweze with 6.7. 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Buffs lead the all-time series 5-2, including a perfect 3-0 in Canyon.  The teams last faced off on Nov. 9, 2019 where WT put on a dominating performance with its 114-58 victory over the Mountaineers.  The 56-point victory margin is still the Buffs largest over a Division II program under head coach Tom Brown. 
 
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 184-43 (.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 head to Lubbock for the first road trip of the season to face nationally-ranked ninth Lubbock Christian for a Rivalry on the Range matchup on Thursday, Nov. 18.  Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Rip Griffin Center.