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CANYON, Texas – The No. 5 West Texas A&M Buffs (0-2, 0-0 LSC) will take a break from Division II competition on Nov. 21 when they welcome Oklahoma Panhandle State (0-6, 0-1 SAC) for Monday night action. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. against the Aggies at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. 
 
Joining the Buffs coaching staff is honorary coach Rob Williams.  Williams won "Buff for a Day" at an annual fundraiser for the Buff and Lady Buff Basketball teams, the Maroon & White Tip-Off Classic that was held this October. Williams will experience what it is like to be a member of the coaching staff. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE 
A live stream and stats will be provided by the WT Communications department.  The game will be streamed on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network.  Fans will be able to purchase a $10 daily pass that will give them access to all contests on the network that day as well as access to previously aired games from the current season for 24 hours. 
 
Fans can also purchase a $75 volleyball season pass that will give them access to all Lone Star Conference basketball games.  In addition to live and archived streaming options, viewers will have the option to purchase and download games from the 2022-23 season for $10 each.
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR
Four teams from the Lone Star Conference remain undefeated with Western New Mexico leading the West Division with a 4-0 overall record. Eastern New Mexico stands second in the Division with a 2-1 record followed by Angelo State, Lubbock Christian, and UT Permian Basin at 1-1 each. Cameron is sixth at 1-2 followed by Midwestern State (0-3) and West Texas A&M (0-2).
 
HITTING 1,000
Junior Zach Toussaint became the 24^th player in program history to reach 1,000 career point in the Buffs Top 5 matchup against the No. 1 Northwest Missouri State in the season opener. The Johnsburg, Ill., now ranks 23^rdon the all-time leaderboard with 1,009 total points, passing former Buff James Scott (1952-55). David Chavlovich (2014-18) is the program's all-time scoring leader with 2,520 points.  
 
SCOUTING OPSU
The Aggies were selected 11^th in the Sooner Athletic Conference Preseason Poll after finishing the 2021-22 season 12-16 and 9-13 in league action. OPSU is led by fourth-year head coach Mark Laird who has led the Aggies to an overall 22-53 (.293) record.   
 
OPSU is scoring 80.8 points per game which is 14.5 under their opponents, shooting 46.6 percent from the field, 27.6 percent from the arc, and 74.0 percent from the free throw line to go along with 30.8 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 6.2 steals, 2.5 blocks and 17.8 turnovers. 
 
Rayquan Elliott, the SAC Player of the Week, averages 36.0 points per contest to lead the offense through six games. The senior from Tulsa, Okla., is shooting 50.7 percent from the floor along with 41.5 percent from the deep and 81.0 percent at the charity stripe. 
 
Justin Pile is the Aggies second leading scorer with 16.2 points a game while grabbing a team-high 55 boards this season (9.2/game) to go along with six steals and three blocks. Woody Therenciel leads with eight blocks while Kaleb Stephens leads with 15 assists and 22 steals. 
 
THE SERIES
The Buffs lead the all-time series 60-6 with a current 10-game win streak, including 3-0 under Tom Brown. WT is 43-2 overall at home with just two losses coming in 1935 and 1987.  The Buffs have outscored the Aggies 90.6-66.6 in the last five meetings.
 
W, 65-58 – Nov. 19, 2013
W, 72-62 – Dec. 14, 2013
W, 87-77 – Dec. 1, 2015
W, 105-66 – Nov. 22, 2016
W, 124-70 – Nov. 29, 2019
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Buffs led off the season 0-2 for the first time since 2015 after falling to No. 1 Northwest Missouri State and Florida Southern at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Fla. WT fell to Northwest 78-62, before going head-to-head with FSC in a 92-90 upset in the tournament finale. 
 
WEEKLY HONORS
Newcomer Damion Thornton was named the LSC Offensive Player of the Week following the opening weekend of the 2022-23 season. The senior from Edmond, Okla. totaled 36 points in the opening weekend to lead the Buffs offense, including a season-high 23 against Florida Southern at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Florida. Thornton shot 66.7% (14-of21) from the floor for the Buffs and 66.7% (8-of-12) from the charity stripe to go along with nine rebounds, five steals and one assist.
 
RECORD WATCH 
Zach Toussaint is moving his way up the ladder in the program's 3-point career leaderboard.  The Johnsburg, Ill., product ranks fourth all-time with 222 threes and is just 31 away from matching former Buff Martin Lattibeaudiere (1993-97).  David Chavlovich (2014-18) is the program's all-time 3-point leader with 388.  
 
THE BROWN ERA
Head coach Tom Brown enters his ninth season at the helm of Buffalo Basketball, building the program into one of the elite NCAA Division II schools in the nation.  He has guided the Buffs to six consecutive NCAA Tournaments including the Buffs first-ever NCAA Division II National Championship game in 2021. Under Brown, the Buffs are 210-52 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 80.2%.  Brown registered his 200^th career victory on Jan. 31, 2022, after the Buffs defeated St. Edward's, 82-72, to become just the third coach in program history to reach the 200-win plateau. 
 
LSC PRESEASON FAVORITE
The Buffs were picked to win their sixth consecutive LSC Tournament title receiving 36 o the 39 first place votes for 619 total points. DBU received 560 points to rank second followed by Lubbock Christian (2-fpv, 489), Midwestern State (460), and St. Edward's (428) closing out the top five. Texas A&M-Kingsville (399) was picked sixth followed by St. Mary's (380), Angelo State (364), UT Tyler (314), UT Permian Basin (1-fpv, 310), UAFS (293), Texas A&M International (246), Western New Mexico (145), Oklahoma Christian (134), Eastern New Mexico (95), and Cameron (68). 
 
PRESEASON POY
Julius Brown, a native of Westerville, Ohio, was named the league Preseason Player of the Year after helping the Buffs to their fifth straight conference title. The D2CCA All-Region selection and LSC Newcomer of the Year averaged 16.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 42.1 percent from the floor, 31.1 percent from 3-point range and 76.8 percent from the free throw line. He scored a season-high 34 in the Buffs 83-73 victory over Angelo State in the conference quarterfinals.
 
SEASON OPENERS
WT has produced a 6-3 (.667) record in season openers under head coach Tom Brown including 3-1 at neutral locations. In season openers, their largest margin coming from a 100-70 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce in 2020. 
 
L, 62-78, vs. #1 Northwest Missouri State
W, 72-63, vs. #4 Colorado Mesa 
W, 100-70, vs. Texas A&M-Commerce
W, 99-89 (OT), vs. #6 Lincoln Memorial
W, 68-62 (OT), vs. Drury
W, 90-69, vs. Adams State
W, 86-72, vs. Azusa Pacific
L, 91-81, at Fort Lewis 
L, 94-81, at Colorado State-Pueblo
 
RETURNING NUMBERS
The Buffs return eight from last season's roster that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Of those returners is starters Larry Wise, Julius Brown and Zach Toussaint who each scored over 500-points, totaling for 54.5% of last year's points. Julius Brown Other returning Buffs include Parker Nielsen, Cameron Bell, Jesse Iweze, Jonas Carlisle and Addison Wallace. 
 
NEW EDITIONS
In the off-season, WT welcomed six new additions to the 2022-23 squad including transfers Damion Thornton (Southwestern Oklahoma State), Ryland Holt (Minnesota State Mankato), and Journee Phillips (Texas A&M International) while Ahamed Mohammed, Brock Mishak and Nicholas Jett enter their first collegiate seasons. 
 
WT also announced the hire of WT standout David Chavlovich to the coaching staff as the Lone Star Conference's all-time leading scorer was named the Assistant Coach in July.  To this day, Chavlovich is the only player in school history to reach 2,000 points. 
 
NABC TOP 25 POLL
The defending National Champions Northwest Missouri State is ranked first with 12 of the 16 first-place votes followed by August (1-fpv), Indiana (1-fpv), Nova Southeastern (2-fpv), and WT. Fellow Lone Star Conference member Lubbock Christian was also posted in the national standings at 16^th. 
 
2021-22 REVIEW
The Buffs ended the 2021-22 season 29-7 with the program's sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  WT earned the automatic bid to the tournament after claiming the Lone Star Conference Tournament title for the fifth consecutive year, defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville 77-70 in the championship. Julius Brown earned Tournament MVP honors after leading the tournament with 76 points including 34 in the quarterfinals.  Zach Toussaint became the first player to drop 36 points in a single game since 2016 while becoming the 14^th in program history to reach the milestone. 
 
THE LONE STAR
The 2022-23 LSC basketball schedule will feature 16 men's teams in two divisions with each team playing a double round-robin schedule within their division. Additionally, teams will play eight crossover competitions against teams from the opposite division for a total of 22 conference games.
 
The LSC Basketball Championships will feature an 8-team field in 2023 with seeding based on the 22 conference games. The divisional winners will receive the top two seeds in the tournament. The championships are set to take place March 2-3-4-5, 2023, at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
 
UP NEXT
The Buffs will return to Division II competition when they host the Oklahoma Baptist Bison on Saturday, Nov. 26, at the First United Bank Center at 2 p.m. CT 
 
FOLLOW THE BUFFS
Fans can follow and stay up to date on all the Buff action on online and on social media.  Follow the Buffs on Twitter (@WestTXD2Hoops), Instagram (@WTAMU_MBB), and Facebook (/WTAMUMBB).