LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Julius Brown scored 30 points on Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as No. 24 West Texas A&M came up short in a Top 25 matchup against No. 7 Missouri-St. Louis, 83-81, at the South Point Hotel Holiday Hoops Classic. The Tritons remain undefeated this season with a 10-0 overall record while the Buffs fall to 6-3 (4-0 LSC). 
 
The Leaders
Brown became just the second player to reach 30-points this season as the senior went 9-of-13 from floor, 4-of-6 from the 3-point range and 8-of-8 at the free throw line to go along with four rebounds. Larry Wise scored 26 points for his 10^th career 20-point game with a game-high seven rebounds while Damion Thornton led with four assists and five steals to go along with 15 points.  
 
How It Happened
The Tritons jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead until the Buffs leveled the score with Wise knocking for 2-of-2 free throws at the line. Wise followed-up with back-to-back threes to ignite a 10-0 run to give WT its first substantial lead of the day. 
 
Addison Wallace recovered possession for the Buffs off Matt Enright's missed jumper before passing to Brown where the senior pushed the Buffs lead back into the double figures. At the 6:38 mark, the Westerville, Ohio product sank his second 3-pointer for his 16^th to make it 26-16.
 
WT's lead would get as high as 14, 37-23, in the first half with Wise's third trey until the Enright cut the lead to nine after hitting a classic three-point play. Following the Triton's turnover, Brown drove up the lane for two to extend the lead back out into double figures at the half, 43-32.  
 
The second half told a different story as UMSL quickly cut the Buffs lead down to three before junior Ryland Holt added two back to the board to add insurance. At 12:17, Victor Nwagbaraocha hit the jumper to give the Tritons their second lead of the day until Damion Thornton leveled the score at 50-all. The Buffs took back the lead, 53-50, with a trey from Brown. 
 
The next 10 minutes of action saw five lead changes until the Wise drew the shooting foul with 22-seconds left of regulation. The 6-foot-4 guard went 2-of-2 at the charity stripe to even the score at 75-all to force overtime. 
 
Junior Zach Toussaint pushed the Buffs lead out at 1:49 with shots at the line but was quickly responded with 5-0 run by the Tritons secured the Top 25 victory. 
 
The Stats
WT shot 39.7% (23-of-58), from the field, 37.5% (9-of-24) from the deep and 83.9% (26-of-31) from the line while totaling 32 rebounds, 11 assists, nine steals and a block from Ryland Holt. 
 
The Tritons went 29-of-50 (58%) from the floor, 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the 3-point range and 19-of-21 at the charity stripe with 26 boards, 13 assists, 12 steals and two blocks. Victor Nwagbaraocha scored 27 points for UMSL followed by Isaiah Fuller with 17 and Bowen Sandquist with 11. 
 
Up Next 
WT will return tomorrow, Dec. 19, for the tournament finale against the No. 21 Chargers of Dominican (10-1, 4-0 CACC). Tipoff is scheduled for noon CT inside the South Point Hotel.