CANYON, Texas – The No. 16 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M their 20
th run in the NCAA tournament after drawing the No. 2 seed and the Lone Star Conference's automatic bid. WT (28-6, 11-5 LSC) will face seventh-seeded Angelo State (20-9, 9-6 LSC) on Saturday, March 12, in the NCAA South Central Region Quarterfinals at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock. Tip is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT.
SCOUTING THE RAMS
Angelo State (20-9, 9-6) makes its ninth appearance in the South Central Region as the Rams entered the NCAA Tournament as the seventh-seed and advanced to the regional quarterfinals after receiving an at-large selection from the NCAA selection committee.
ASU scores 78.9 points per game, which ranks second in the Lone Star Conference. Tyrell Carroll is the leading scorer for the Rams at 13.6 points per game shooting 47.9 percent from the floor, 26.3 percent from 3-point range and 67.2 percent from the charity stripe. He has scored in double figures in 19 including a season-high 22 points against the Buffs in the quarterfinals.
Paul Williams ranks second on the team in scoring (13.1) followed by Dante Moses (12.5) and Lathaniel Bastian (11.2). Bastian grabs 8.1 rebounds a game which ranks third in the league. The sophomore has recorded double-figure rebounds seven times this season including a season-high 16 against St. Edward's and WT.
The Rams are led by sixth-year head coach Cinco Boone, who has led Angelo State to an overall record of 129-66 (.665). In the 2019-20 season, he passed the 100 win mark while also leading ASU to its second straight 20-win season.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Saturday's game marks the third meeting between the two programs this season with the season-series evened at 1-all. The Buffs claimed the previous meeting in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament, defeating ASU 83-73.
A LOOK AT THE BRACKET
The regional tournament tips off with No. 3 seed Black Hills State battling the No. 6 seed DBU on Saturday at noon, followed by No. 2 seed West Texas A&M against No. 7 seed Angelo State at 2:30 p.m. CT. Top-seeded Lubbock Christian will take on No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Commerce at 5 p.m. and No. 4 seed Colorado Mesa faces No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Kingsville at 7:30 p.m.
The semifinal round will begin at 5 p.m. on Sunday with the winner of the BHSU/DBU game facing the winner of WT/ASU followed at 7:30 p.m. by the LCU/TAMUC winner against CMU/TAMUK winner.
HOW WE GOT HERE
The Buffs defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville, 77-70, to claim their fifth consecutive Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Julius Brown was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring 76 points throughout the tournament while posting a career-high 34 against Angelo State in the quarterfinals. Brown was also named to the All-Tournament Team joined by
Zach Toussaint and
Hayden Blankley who combined for 31 points in the championship game.
THE BUFFS IN THE MADNESS
WT is making its sixth consecutive run in the NCAA Tournament when they compete in the region tournament this weekend. The Buffs are 18-20 all-time in the national tournament including 13-4 under head coach
Tom Brown with three straight regional championship titles.
WT HEAD COACH TOM BROWN
Head coach
Tom Brown is in his eighth season at the helm of the Buffs, registering an overall record of 209-49 (.806). Brown earned his 200
th career victory on Monday afternoon with the Buffs victory against St. Edward's, becoming just the third coach in program history to reach the milestone.
He's making his fifth NCAA Tournament Appearances including the programs first appearance in the National Championship game last season. The two-time LSC Coach of the Year led the Buffs to their fourth consecutive conference tournament championship title.
POSTSEASON HONORS
Julius Brown was named the Lone Star Conference Newcomer of the Year as four total Buffs picked up postseason awards on Wednesday night following the league's announcement. Brown,
Zach Toussaint, and
Larry Wise each were named First Team All-Conference while
Jesse Iweze was tabbed to the All-Freshman team. Brown was also listed on the All-Defensive team.
LOOK AT THE POLLS
The Buffs jumped four spots in the latest edition of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll to rank 18
th. Nova Southeastern remained atop the national standings as the last remaining undefeated team in Division II. The Sharks became the first program in Sunshine State Conference history to record a perfect regular season with a 25-0 record. West Liberty stand second in the rankings followed by Lubbock Christian, Augustana and Cal State San Bernardino to round out the Top 5.
MR. 1,000
Julius Brown joined the 1,000
th-point club on in the Buffs 104-64 victory against the Cameron Aggies. Brown, who scored 669 points at Lincoln Memorial, has scored 478 points this season for the Maroon & White to combine for 1,147 points in his collegiate career.
Sophomore
Zach Toussaint has scored 511 points this season, the fourth-most points scored in the LSC, and is just 28 points away from joining Brown in the 1,000-point club. Toussaint would become the 24
th player in program history to reach the career scoring record.
THREAT FROM THE DEEP
Toussaint has collected 214 career 3-pointers, including his career-high performance against Midwestern State where he sank seven shots from the deep. The Johnsburg, Ill. product ranks fourth in the Buffs all-time leader board led by All-American David Chavlovich (2014-18) who set the all-time career record with 388 threes.
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats and broadcasts will be provided by the Lubbock Christian athletic communications department with the game aired on the LSC Digital Network. Broadcasts to all games and live stats can be found at GoBuffsGo.com. A full recap can be found at the conclusion of Saturday's game.
UP NEXT
With the win over Angelo State, the Buffs would advance to the regional semifinal where they would face the winner of Black Hills State and DBU with tipoff set for 5 p.m. in Lubbock at the Rip Griffin Center.
