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CANYON, Texas – The No. 18 West Texas A&M Buffs look to punch their ticket to the Lone Star Conference Championship on Saturday, March 5, when they face Midwestern State in the semifinals at the Comerica Center. Tip is set for noon CT in Frisco. 
 
A LOOK AT THE BRACKET
Four teams saw their conference run come to an end on Thursday night as St. Edward's, St. Mary's, Angelo State and  DBU fell in the quarterfinals.  On the top side of the bracket, No. 1 Lubbock Christian will face No. 12 Texas A&M-Kingsville while No. 2 WT will take on No. 6 Midwestern State on the other side.  The winners of the semifinal games will advance to the championship game set for Sunday, March 6 with a 1 p.m. tipoff. 
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
Midwestern State (16-14, 10-6) entered the LSC Tournament as the sixth-seed and advanced to the semifinals with their  in the quarterfinals led by Jermane Carter.  The senior forward scored 24 points to go along with eight rebounds against the Patriots.
 
MSU outscores opponents 69.0-67.5 with a 1.5 scoring margin. Carter is the leading scorer for the Mustangs with 14.7 points per contest shooting 50.8 percent from the field which ranks third in the conference and has collected seven 20-point plus games this season.  He also leads the team with 6.1 rebounds a game. 
 
Terrell Wilson ranks second on the team in scoring with 13.7 points and posted a season-high 28 against UT Tyler while leading the Mustangs with 79 total assists (2.6 apg).  
 
Head Coach Justin Leslie is in his third season at the wheel of the men's program and 15^th overall after a 12-year stop at Division II competitor Azusa Pacific for an overall 301-164 record.  

INSIDE THE SERIES
Saturday's meeting marks the 77^th matchup and third this season between West Texas A&M and Midwestern State since it's series start in 1947 with the Buffs leading the all-time series, 43-33.  MSU split the season series 1-1 with a 100-90 overtime conference victory in Wichita Falls.  Head coach Tom Brown is 9-5 against the Mustangs. 
 
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 207-49 (.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 made four 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.
 
GOING STREAKIN'
The Buffs enter the LSC Tournament looking to add to their trophy case as they became the first team in league history to win the postseason tournament in four consecutive seasons, passing former LSC member Abilene Christian. 
 
WT's 10 titles are the most in LSC history, three more than Midwestern State. Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M-Kingsville are the only other active members of the conference who have won multiple titles. 
 
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. 
 
BUFFS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
The South Central Region is comprised of teams from the Lone Star Conference and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  Lubbock Christian ranks first in the region rankings followed by WT, Colorado Mesa, DBU, Angelo State, Black Hills State, Texas A&M-Commerce, St. Edward's. Fort Lewis, and UTT Tyler.  
 
The announcement of the 64-team field for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship will be made following the conference tournament and announced via an online selection show on NCAA.com on Sunday, March 6 at 11:30 p.m. CT.
 
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 436 points this season for the Maroon & White to combine for 1,105 points in his collegiate career.  
 
Sophomore Zach Toussaint has scored 490 points this season, the fourth-most points scored in the LSC, and is just 49 point away from joining Brown in the 1,000-point club. 
 
THREAT FROM THE DEEP
Toussaint has collected 211 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 Lone Star Conference with the game aired on the LSC Digital Network.  Broadcasts to all games and live stats can be found at GoBuffsGo.com. 
 
UP NEXT
The winner of the Saturday's game will go on to face the winner of Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M-Kingsville in the championship game on Sunday, March 6 at noon.