CANYON, Texas – The No. 16 Buffaloes of West Texas A&M (29-6, 11-5 LSC) will face third seeded and nationally-ranked 22^nd Black Hills State (23-7, 20-4 RMAC) today, March 13, in the NCAA DII South Central Regional Semifinals.  Tip is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock.  
 
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
Black Hills State (23-7, 20-4 RMAC) won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Championship to receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the Yellow Jackets to make their first run in the postseason. 
 
The Yellow Jackets appeared the in the final National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 poll following the team's RMAC title, coming in at No. 22.    
 
BHSU scores 79.5 points per game, which ranks fourth in the RMAC. Joel Scott is the leading scorer for the Yellow Jackets at 23.4 points per contest, ranking fourth in the nation.  The junior from Monument, Colo., is shooting 62.1 percent from the floor, 40.9 percent from 3-point range and 73.6 percent from the charity stripe. 
 
He has posted 20 20-plus point games this season including a pair of 40-plus performances with 50 against Western Colorado and 41 against Colorado Christian. The 6-foot-7 forwarded grabs 10.5 boards a game with 51 total coming on offense while also knocking down a team-high 35 blocks. 
 
Sindou Cisse ranks second on the team in scoring with 14.9 points a game followed by Adam Moussa with 14.0.   Cisse scored a season-high 29 against New Mexico Highlands while Moussa dropped 32 against Western Colorado. 
 
The Yellow Jackets are led by third-year head coach Ryan Thompson, who has led Black Hills State  to an overall record of 72-34 (.679).  Under Thompson, BHSU has earned a pair of regular-season RMAC Championships and the RMAC Tournament Championship to lead the program to its first NCAA Tournament.  
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Sunday's game marks the first meeting between the West Texas A&M and Black Hills State men's basketball programs.   
 
A LOOK AT THE BRACKET
Four teams saw their NCAA Tournament run come to an end on Saturday night as Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M-Kingsville, DBU and Angelo State fell in the quarterfinals.  On the top side of the bracket, No. 1 Lubbock Christian will face No. 4 Colorado Mesa while No. 2 WT will take on No. 3 Black Hills State on the other side.  The winners of the semifinal games will advance to the championship game set for Tuesday, March 15 with a 7 p.m. tipoff. 
 
HOW WE GOT HERE
The Buffs defeated seventh-seeded Angelo State, 84-76, to advance to the regional semifinals led by 30 points from junior Julius Brown.  Brown went 10-of-22 from the field including 2-of-4 from the deep and 8-of-10 at the free throw line to go along with three rebounds, seven assists and three steals.  Dalin Williams grabbed a team-high nine boards in the victory with three blocks. 
 
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 19-20 all-time in the national tournament including 14-4 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 210-49 (.811). 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 508 points this season for the Maroon & White to combine for 1,177 points in his collegiate career.  
 
Sophomore Zach Toussaint has scored 525 points this season, the fourth-most points scored in the LSC, and is just 18 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 216 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 Black Hills State, the Buffs would advance to the regional championship where they would face the winner of Lubbock Christian and Colorado Meda with tipoff set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, in Lubbock at the Rip Griffin Center.