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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – No. 5 and top seeded West Texas A&M will face No. 8 seed Daemen in the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Elite Eight on Wednesday, March 24, at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. 
 
Wednesday's Elite Eight will be broadcast on NCAA.com. Stats can be found on the men's basketball schedule page on GoBuffsGo.com.
 
WINNING IS FUN, ESPECIALLY IN LUBBOCK
WT faced No. 10 Lubbock Christian for the third time on March 16 in the NCAA DII South Central Final at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock. The Buffs led by 10 at halftime and never looked back as they defeated the Chaps 101-92 to punch their ticket to this week's NCAA DII Elite Eight.
 
Qua Grant scored a career-high 40 points in the victory as the Buffs shot 55.7 percent from the floor, 43.8 percent from beyond the arc and 83.6 percent from 3-point range. 
 
A LOOK AT DAEMEN
Daemen located in Amherst, N.Y. enters the Elite Eight with a record of 10-5 after defeating No. 11 St. Thomas Aquinas 71-70 in the East Region Final. 
 
The Wildcats are led by Mike MacDonald, who is in his seventh season at Daemen after stints at Medaille College and Canisus. He has accumulated a record of 396-282 during his 24 seasons as a head coach.
 
The Wildcats are led by redshirt senior Andrew Sischo, who enters Wednesday's game averaging 26.7 points and 12.8 rebounds per game. He has recorded a double-double in all but two games including a 31-point, 21 rebound performance against D'Youville. 
 
The Guilderland, N.Y. native has appeared in 103 games including 87 starts during his career. He has scored over 2,000 points and is averaging 21.3 points and 10.5 rebounds all while shooting 60.8 percent from the floor and 71.2 percent from the free throw line. 
 
Sean Fasoyiro earned NABC All-District honors along with Sischo as the graduate student is averaging 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game after transferring from Franklin Pierce. The Houston native has scored in double figures in 11 games with a season-best against D'Youville.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Wednesday will be the first all-time meeting between the two programs. 
 
It will also mark the Buffs first game against a member of the East Coast Conference. 
 
BACK TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT
The Buffs return to Evansville, Ind. looking for revenge after suffering a 94-84 defeat to hometown Southern Indiana in 2018. Grant and Joel Murray are the players left on the roster that faced the Eagles that day in front of NCAA DII tournament record 7,330 fans.
 
BIG GAME QUA
Grant has turned it up a notch (if that is possible) during the Buffs run to their third straight Elite Eight appearance. He was named the South Central Region Most Valuable Player after averaging 30 points and six rebounds per game. He scored a career-high 40 points against LCU in the final connecting on a career-best seven 3-pointers.
 
In six NCAA Tournament games, Grant is averaging 24.3 points per game shooting 54.3 percent from the floor, 43.2 percent from three and 84.8 percent from the free throw line. He scored 27 points against USI in their last trip to Evansville and the Ford Center.
 
NABC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Grant and Murray were both named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District First Team on Tuesday. It marks the second straight season that the dynamic duo has earned first team all-district honors.
 
Murray is having one of the best offensive seasons in program history as the junior guard is scoring a Lone Star Conference-best 23.5 points per game shooting 48.9 percent from the floor, 31.0 percent from 3-point range and 80.8 percent from the free throw line. 
 
Grant picks up NABC All-District honors for a third straight year after averaging a career-best in points, rebounds and assists. The junior guard is scoring 22.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game having recorded eight double-doubles and the program's first triple-double under seventh year head coach Tom Brown.
 
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
Survive and advance. A phrase that is nearly used as much in March as the newest hit single from Lady Gaga. But the truth is that the Buffs have done a great job of winning games in March during Tom Brown's seven years as head coach. 
 
WT is 11-3 in the NCAA Tournament under Brown including eight straight wins in the regional portion of the tournament. Wednesday's game will be their second game against the East Region Champion after defeating LeMoyne 87-73 at the 2018 NCAA DII Championships behind a 25-point, 10 rebound double-double from All-American Ryan Quaid. 
 
A win over Daemen would make WT the second team in LSC history to make two Final Four appearances as Tarleton State accomplished the feat in 2005 and 2016. 
 
A LOOK AT THE NCAA RANKINGS
Entering Wednesday's game, WT ranks in the Top 10 NCAA DII men's basketball in six different categories. They rank third in turnover margin (+6.70 and fourth in turnovers per game (17.7/game). 
 
They also own of the top scoring offenses in the nation ranking sixth in points per game (91.6) and eighth in scoring margin (+15.2). Their 11.4 3-pointers per game are also the seventh-most per game.
 
Individually, Murray ranks seventh in field goal attempts (322) and ninth in points per game. The junior also ranks 10th in free throws made and 12tth in free throw attempts.
 
BUFFALO CHIPS
With his 12 field goals against LCU, Grant moved up to third on the all-time field goals list. He needs just 12 more to become the fourth player in program history to make over 600 field goals joining David Chavolovich, Ryan Quaid and Price Brrookfield.
 
Murray is two assists away from up to third on the all-time assist list. The junior has led the Buffs in assists per game during his first three seasons in Canyon. Grant is also 17 assists away from moving up to 10th all-time. 
 
Zach Toussaint has made multiple 3-pointers in eight straight games for the Buffs including four in the regional final against LCU. The sophomore guard from Johnsburg, Ill. has 120 makes from downtown during his short career as a Buff, the 13th most in program history.
 
UP NEXT
The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to the Final Four on Thursday, March 25, to play the winner of No. 6 Colorado School of Mines and No. 13 Lincoln Memorial. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.