CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M's Larry Wise posted a season-high 27 points on Saturday evening as the No. 11 Buffs defeated UT Tyler, 79-67, at the First United Bank Center.  The victory advances WT to 16-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play to move the Buffs to third in the Lone Star Conference standings while UTT moves to 9-2 (1-1 LSC).
 
Wise was the game's leading scorer with 27 points while matching a season-high eight rebounds and six assists.  The sophomore shot 9-of-19 from the floor, 2-of-8 from the deep and was 7-of-10 at the free throw line.  Zach Toussaint collected his second 20-point game of the week and sixth of the season with 22.
 
The Patriots Milan Szabo opened scoring for the physical conference matchup that saw 53 total fouls until Hayden Blankley put the Buffs on the board with his 22^nd 3-pointer of the season to lead off a 10-2 run.  
 
Toussaint added two to WT's score at the 10-minute mark to make it a five-point game in favor of the Buffs, 16-11.  With just 2:53 left of the half, UTT brought the score within one before Thomas Soloman's free throw tied it at 27-all but was quickly responded by eight consecutive points from Wise to lead 36-29 at the intermission.  
 
WT picked up where they left off the first with back-to-back layups by Addison Wallace and Wise to push the lead out to 11 until the Patriots chipped away to make it a three-point game, 42-39, at 16:52. 
 
Zach Toussaint connected with his seventh field goal of the night with under six minutes remaining in regulation to give the Buffs their largest lead of the night at 67-53 as they picked up their third conference victory. 
 
WT shot 49.1 percent (28-of-57) from the field, 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from the three and 72 percent (18-of-25) at the free throw line to go along with 35 rebounds, 14 assists and five steals.  The Patriots shot 41.3 percent (19-of-46) from the floor, 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from beyond the arc and 89.3 percent (25-of-28) from the charity stripe led by Zaire Mateen with 11 points. 
 
The Buffs hit the road to Austin, Texas on Thursday, Jan. 13 to take on St. Edward's (8-6, 1-2 LSC) for more Lone Star Conference action followed by a game against St. Mary's (3-7, 0-1 LSC) on Jan. 15.