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CANYON, Texas – No. 8 West Texas A&M goes for their fourth straight Lone Star Conference Championship on Saturday, March 6, when they host St. Edward's. Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the First United Bank Center.
Saturday's final will be broadcast on the LSC Digital Network with
Kent Johnson and Lucas Kinsey on the call. Stats will be available on GoBuffsGo.com
HOW WE GOT TO THIS POINT
The Buffs scored the first 22 points in Friday's 88-77 victory over No. 16 DBU in the semifinals.
Joel Murray scored a game-high 28 points while
Qua Grant notched his six double-double of the season with 27 points and 10 rebounds.
Zach Toussaint was also in double figures with 17 as the sophomore was 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
SHALL WE DANCE (AGAIN)?
WT and St. Edward's will meet in the LSC Championship game for the second straight year after the Buffs overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat the Hilltoppers 81-65 in what proved to be the final game of the 2019-20 season. Murray was named the tournament MVP after scoring 21 points in the final.
A LOOK AT ST. EDWARD'S
St. Edward's has reeled off wins over top-seeded Lubbock Christian and fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville to reach Saturday's final. The Hilltoppers are 12-7 on the season and went 10-7 in LSC play.
Andre Cook is in his 17th season as a head coach and 12th at SEU. He has compiled a record of 323-175 (.643) including consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
LSC Newcomer of the Year B.J. Maxwell is the leading scorer for the Hilltoppers at 18.5 points per game. He has scored in double figures in 18 games this season including a 47-point performance against Midwestern State on Jan. 3. The Austin native nearly had a double-double in their semifinal win over TAMUK with 14 points and nine boards.
Daniel Venzant is scoring 17.6 points per game while dishing out a LSC-best 5.5 assists per game. He has been playing some of his best basketball over the past eight games averaging 19.1 points and 5.3 assists per game.
The other three starters, Jake Krafka, Ryan Garza and Logan Cook, combine to average28.6 points. Sean Phillips has added an extra spark off the bench as the senior scored 25 points in the semifinal making 7-of-10 from 3-point range. He also scored 25 in the season finale against UAFS.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Buffs lead the all-time series 4-2 including a record of 3-0 in Canyon. Saturday's game will be their third meeting in postseason play since the start of the 2018-19 season.
LOOKING TO MAKE IT FOUR STRAIGHT
With their 11th straight LSC Tournament win on Friday afternoon, WT improved to 43-19 (.694) all-time in the LSC Championships. They will also be making their conference record 15th championship game appearance.
A win on Saturday against SEU would make WT the first program in LSC history to win four straight tournament titles breaking the mark set by Abilene Christian from 1985-87. It would also mark the first time since 1994 that they won the title in Canyon when they defeated ACU 85-79.
Saturday's final will feature the same teams in consecutive years for the first time since Tarleton State and Midwestern State played each other in three straight championships from 2012-14.
MURRAY MAKING HIS MARK
Not only is Murray scoring points at an impressive rate, 23.8 per contest for those keeping track at home, but he is also leading the team in assists. WT as a team averaged 12.9 assists per game, four of those are from Murray.
in fact, on Saturday the Rowlett native is one of two players in program history to rank in the Top 5 in scoring and assists. With his fastbreak layup in the opening minute of Saturday's game, he passed Jordan Evans for fifth in the all-time scoring list.
NO SOUP FOR YOU
It is yet to be determined if
Kavon Booker is a fan of Seinfeld but he might just be with the amount of blocks he has produced over the past six games. He had four blocks in the first half on Saturday, just two weeks after blocking a career-high five shots in a win over Cameron.
GOT 'EM
With his 176th career win on Friday,
Tom Brown is now tied with Al Baggett for the fourth-most wins in program history. Baggett, who coached the Buffs from 1934-42includnig a trip to the 1942 NIT, needed 241 games to reach the mark while Brown needed only 218 games.
Gus Miller is next on the list in third with 195 wins.
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
WT is 9-7 all-time in tournament finals dating back to their time in the Missouri Valley Conference. They have won six of the last seven finials including three straight like mention above.
Saturday will mark the third time they will appear in a championship game in the Canyon/Amarillo area. They defeated ACU 85-79in 1994 and defeated Central Oklahoma 83-70 in 1991 in Amarillo.
BOMBS AWAY
Toussaint made five 3-pointers on Friday afternoon marking the fourth straight game that he has made multiple 3-pointers. The sophomore ranks second in the LSC in 3-point percentage at 43.8 percent having made 46-of-105 attempts. He has made108 triples in his career, good enough for the 18th most in program history just ahead of WTAMU Hall of Champions member Tyler Cooper.
BUFFALO CHIPS
Move over Martin, Qua coming through! Grant moved up to third on the all-time scoring list on Saturday following his 26-point performance. Only David Chavlovich and Ryan Quaid have scored more points, 1,583, than the junior from Waxahachie.
Murray is now ranked fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,481 points. The junior is averaging 170 points for his career having appeared in 87 games including 83 starts.
Booker is now ranked second on the team in dunks following his two throwdowns against DB.
John Brown currently ranks first in the Dunk Counter with nine.
UP NEXT
The NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Selection Show will air on NCAA.com on Sunday, March 7, at 9:30 p.m. CT.
