Game Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's basketball team (8-4, 6-0 LSC) continues Lone Star Conference divisional play on Thursday against the Rams of Angelo State (9-3, 5-1 LSC) Tipoff is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. CT at the Junell Center in San Angelo.
 
LIVE COVERAGE 
A live stream and stats will be provided by the ASU 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 basketball 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.
 
NABC TOP 25 POLL
Indiana (Pa.) remained at No. 1 in the National Association Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Poll as the top three schools remained the same. IUP holds a perfect 11-0 record followed by Nova Southeastern, Black Hills State, Missouri-St. Louis, and Northwest Missouri State. 
 
Three members of the South Central Region are represented in the national standings with BHSU (3^rd), Colorado School of Mines (7^th), and Fort Lewis (15^th) earning spots in the poll.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS
Angelo State comes off its first conference loss of the season after falling to Eastern New Mexico on Sunday, 80-70.
 
Head coach Vinay Patel is in his first season at the helm of Angelo State's men's program. Patel is no stranger to the LSC as he started his coaching career at WT as a graduate assistant in 2005 before working his way up to associate head coach in 2013. In eight seasons on staff, Patel helped lead the Buffs to a 164-93 record and five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.
 
ASU averages 74.3 points per game while their opponents are scoring 66.1. The Rams are shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 31.1 percent from the arc, and 76.4 percent from the free throw line to go along with 38.2 rebounds, 13.2 assists, 8.9 steals, 14.5 turnovers and 1.8 blocks. 
 
Three players average double figure scoring led by Kevon Godwin. The 6-foot-2 junior guard from Blountstown, Fla. is scoring 15.0 points per contest with a 37.7 shooting percent from the floor and 77.1 percent at the charity stripe to go along with while totaling 27 assists and 21 steals.
 
Reggie Quezada is the team's second leading scorer at 12.8 points along with a team-high 30 assists (2.5/game) and 13 steals (1.1/game).
 
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series between the two programs, 53-25, with a 18-19 record in San Angelo and 14-4 under head coach Tom Brown, winning the 14 of the past 15 games. The Buffs took the series 2-1 last season with the lone including wins in the LSC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
 
W, 84-76 – Lubbock (NCAA), 2022
W, 83-73 – Frisco (LSC), 2022
L, 79-82  – Canyon, 2022
W, 107-77 – San Angelo, 2021
W, 102-81 – Canyon, 2021
 
THE BROWN ERA
Head coach Tom Brown is in 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 218-54 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 80.1%.  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. 
 
AROUND THE LONE STAR
West Texas A&M moved atop the Lone Star Conference overall standings following wins over Midwestern State and Cameron. WT leads the West Division with an 8-4 overall record and 6-0 league record. Eastern New Mexico ranks second at 9-3 overall and 4-2 in LSC action followed by Midwestern State (6-7, 3-4 LSC), Angelo State (9-3, 5-1 LSC), Lubbock Christian (8-4, 4-2 LSC), Western New Mexico (8-4, 2-4 LSC), UT Permian Basin (8-7, 2-4 LSC), and Cameron (2-11, 0-7 LSC).
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville (9-5, 3-3) leads the East Division followed by UAFS (7-6, 3-4 LSC), Oklahoma Christian (6-7, 2-5 LSC), St. Edward's (11-4, 5-1 LSC), DBU (9-5, 4-2 LSC), Texas A&M International (9-5, 2-4 LSC), St. Mary's (6-5, 3-3 LSC), and UT Tyler (6-4, 2-4 LSC).  
 
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.
 
LAST TIME OUT
WT (8-4, 6-0 LSC) remained perfect in Lone Star Conference play after the Buffs stormed past Cameron (2-11, 0-7 LSC), 102-80, on Sunday afternoon inside the First United Bank Center. WT shot 45.8% (33-of-72) from the field, 36.1% (13-of-36) from deep and 67.6% (23-of-34) from the free throw line to go along with 36 rebounds, 13 assists, 11 steals, and six turnovers.
Junior Larry Wise led the Buffs offense for the second straight game with 20 points shooting 7-of-14 from the floor, 4-of-11 from the 3-point range and 2-of-2 at the charity stripe. Four other players reach double figures with Julius Brown (19), Jesse Iweze (13), Damion Thornton (13), and Brock Mishak (11).
 
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 248 threes and is 13 away from matching former Buff Martin Lattibeaudiere (1993-97).  David Chavlovich (2014-18) is the program's all-time 3-point leader with 388.  
 
Toussaint also ranks 16^th in all-time scoring with 1,140 points and needs just 87 to crack the Top 10.  He became just 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 2022-23 season opener. 
 
ON THIS DAY: JAN. 7
Thursday's matchup marks the 26^th time the Buffs have played on Jan. 7 and first since 2017 against Cameron. In that game, WT outlasted the Aggies 100-98 in four overtimes. 
 
W, 100-98 (4OT) – Cameron, 2017
L, 58-73 – Midwestern State, 2015
L, 56-59 – #9 Tarleton State, 2012
L, 67-69 – Northeastern State, 2010
L, 59-61 – Adams State, 2009
 
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.
 
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.
 
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. 
 
UP NEXT
WT returns to the friendly confines of the First United Bank Center on Thursday, Jan. 12 when the Buffs host Western New Mexico at 7:30 p.m. The following Saturday, WT welcomes Eastern New Mexico at 3 p.m. on Jan. 14.
 
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).