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CANYON, Texas - No. 5 West Texas A&M will face No. 13 Lincoln Memorial in the 2021 NCAA Division II National Semifinal on Thursday, March 25, at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. 
 
Thursday's game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Stats can be found on the men's schedule page on GoBuffsGo.com. 
 
TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING
Joel Murray, Jon'il Fugett and Qua Grant each scored over 20 points as the top seeded Buffs defeated Daemen 97-83 in Wednesday's Elite Eight. Murray scored 24 of his game-high 31 points in the first half while 14 of Grant's 20 points came in the second half. J. Fugett was just one point away from his career-high as the junior hit four 3-pointers en route to a 22-pointt performance. 
 
A LOOK AT NO. 13 LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Lincoln Memorial enters Thursday matchup at 19-3 overall having won three straight games including a dominant 90-76 win over Colorado School of Mines on Wednesday. 
 
The Railsplitters are led by Josh Schertz, who was named the new head coach at Indiana State on March 17. During his 13 seasons at LMU, he has compiled a record of 337-68. 
 
The Railsplitters lead the nation in four categories including assists per game (22.6), defensive rebounds per game (32.6), total assists (474) and scoring margin (+22.8). 
 
LMU has five players scoring double figures including a team-high 18.5 from Devin Whitfield. The redshirt senior from Lipscomb, Ala. only scored eight points against Mines on Wednesday but has reached double figures in 17 games. He scored a season-high 32 against Camp Harrodsburg on Dec. 19. 
 
Jordan Guests ranks third on the team in scoring (14.7 ppg) while pulling down a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game. He recorded his fifth double-double of the season against Mines with 28 points and 11 rebounds. 
 
Xavier Bledsoe is dishing out a team-high 5.3 assists per game coming off the bench. The redshirt sophomore from Gainesville, Ga. has only started in two of 21 games this season. He has reached double figures in assists twice including a 11-assist performance against Catawba on Feb. 8. 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
WT won their only previous meeting, 99-89, at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in St. Joseph, Mo. Murray had a game-high 27 points as the Buffs outscored LMU 13-3 in the overtime period.
 
OFFENSE, GET YOUR OFFENSE HERE
Thursday's game will feature two of the top scoring teams in the country in WT and Lincoln Memorial. LMU is ranked fifth in points per game, 92.8, with the Buffs right behind them at 91.6 points per contest. 
 
JUST TWO ALL-AMERICAN BOYS
After not being named a NABC All-American, Grant and Murray got some consolation in being voted to the D2CCA All-American team.
 
Grant was one of three players to be named to the First Team for the second consecutive year as the junior is averaging a career-high in points, rebounds and assists per game. He is scoring 22.4 points per game and is three points shy of becoming the third player in program history to score over 1,700 career points. 
 
Murray was named to the Second Team after leading the Lone Star Conference in scoring at 23.9 points per contest. Since be held to six points in the second game of the year against Oklahoma Baptist, Murray has scored in double figures in 18 straight games including three games over 30 points. 
 
TWICE AS NICE
With their win over Daemen on Wednesday, WT became the second school in program history to reach the Final Four twice. Tarleton State, now a member of the Western Athletic Conference, reached the Final Four in 2005 and 2015.
 
A win over LMU would make them the first team since Northeastern State in 2003 to reach the National Championship game. 
 
WHAT DO YOU SAY QUA?
Grant's 40-point performance against No. 10 Lubbock Christian in the South Central Regional Final marked the 61st time in NCAA DII Tournament history that a player scored 40 or more points. 
 
It was also the fourth-most points in a single game in program history.
 
MAKING A RUN IN MARCH
The Buffs are 12-3 all-time in the NCAA DII Tournament under Tom Brown including a pair of trips to the National Semifinal. Before he, Chris Gove and Quincy Henderson came to Canyon, WT was 5-16 in tournament play and had reached the Elite Eight just once (1998). 
 
Thursday will mark the seventh time that Brown and Co. have faced a ranked team in the NCAA DII Tournament. Two of their three wins this tournament run have come against ranked teams (No. 16 DBU, No. 10 Lubbock Christian). 
 
A TOTAL 180
With Wednesday's win over Daemen, Brown improved to 180-42 since taking over the program following the 2013-14 season. The 180 wins are the fourth-most in program history with only Rick Cooper (391), Sam Burton (208) and Gus Miller (195) having won more games than the seventh-year head coach from Woodbury, Minn.
 
BUFFALO CHIPS
Grant enters Thursday's matchup against LMU fourth all-time in field goals made. He only needs four to become the fourth player in program history to make 600 shots in a career. He is also 11 short of passing Price Brookfield for third. 
 
With his six-assist performance against Daemen, Murray moved up to fourth on the all-time assist list. With his next assist, he will move up into a tie for third with Michael Hamelin. 
 
Zach Toussaint connected on his 121st career 3-pointer on Wednesday, moving him up to 14th on the all-time 3-pointer list. The sophomore is shooting 45.0 percent from beyond the arc this season.
 
UP NEXT
Thursday's winner advances to the NCAA DII National Championship game on Saturday, March 27, against the winner of No. 4 Northwest Missouri State and No. 8 Flagler.