Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Live Links
Monday, December 18	2:00 p.m. CT	#8 Colorado Mesa	Las Vegas, Nevada	Desert Oasis High School	Stats | Video ($) | Game Notes
Tuesday, December 19	2:00 p.m. CT	Rogers State	Las Vegas, Nevada	Desert Oasis High School	Stats | Video ($) | Game Notes

 
CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M men's basketball takes a break from Lone Star Conference play as the Buffs head to Las Vegas for the High Desert Classic presented by the MIAA. The two-day tournament will be held at the Desert Oasis High School on Monday, Dec. 18 and Tuesday, Dec. 19. WT will take on No. 8 Colorado Mesa at 2 p.m. on Monday followed by Rogers State at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Live stats will be provided by the Pitt State athletic communications department. A paid live stream will be provided by Central Oklahoma on the MIAA Network.  For more information visit GoBuffsGo.com. 
 
NABC TOP 25 POLL
Nova Southeastern remained atop the rankings once again grabbing all 16 first-place votes with the remainder of the top five shifting. MSU Moorhead moved into the No. 2 spot after being ranked No. 5 last week while Minnesota State moved into No. 3 after being ranked No. 6 a week ago. West Georgia jumped seven spots in the rankings to No. 4 while WT gained the No. 5 spot.
 
WT is one of five South Central regional programs ranked with the Buffs leading the way at No. 5. Colorado Mesa (8th), DBU (11^th), Fort Lewis (17th), and Angelo State (20^th) earned spots in the poll. MSU Denver, Colorado School of Mines, Eastern New Mexico, and Midwestern State are receiving votes.
 
SCOUTING #8 COLORADO MESA
Colorado Mesa takes a break from RMAC play after a dominant 99-71 victory over Adams State. The Mavericks enter the top-10 matchup with an overall record of 8-1 and 5-0 in RMAC play. Colorado Mesa is led by 23^rd-year head coach Mike DeGeorge who is in his sixth season in Grand Junction. DeGeorge has produced a nationally prominent program in Colorado with a 120-39 (.755) record with the program.
 
On the season, CMU averages 85.9 points per game on 50.2 percent shooting from the field while holding opponents to 73.4 points. Four Mavericks average double-digit scoring with Trevor Baskin leading the way with 16.8 and Mac Riniker on his heels with 16.7 points per game. Baskin also leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per game, 28 assists, and nine blocks while Riniker paces the team with 27 steals.
 
THE SERIES
WT and Colorado Mesa have met just two times, once in 2003 and once in 2021. In the 2003 meeting, the Buffs defeated the Mavericks 79-77 in Golden, Colo. The most recent meeting, occurring in 2021, saw a third-ranked WT squad take down No. 4 Colorado Mesa 72-63 to open the 2021-22 season at the D2CCA Tipoff Classic in Canyon.
 
W, 72-63 – Canyon, 2021
W, 79-77 – Golden, Colo., 2003
 
SCOUTING ROGERS STATE
The Hillcats enter the High Desert Classic with a 4-4 overall record and 3-2 mark in MIAA play after defeating Northeastern State on Wednesday. Rogers State takes on Simon Fraser on Monday before meeting WT on Tuesday. The Hillcats are led by 14^th-year head coach Justin Barkley. Over his 14 seasons in Claremore, Barkley holds a 254-137 record for a winning percentage of .650.
 
On the season, Rogers State averages 74.5 points per game on 49.4 percent shooting from the field while allowing 76.6 points per game to opponents. Rodney Battle leads the team with 16.1 points per contest while Isaac Johnson follows with 13.8 and Anthony Marshall Jr.'s 10.8. Caden Fry brings in a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game and 22 total assists.
 
THE SERIES
Tuesday's game marks the first meeting between the two programs.
 
THE BROWN ERA
Head coach Tom Brown enters his 10th 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 seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments including the Buffs first-ever NCAA Division II National Championship game in 2021. Under Brown, the Buffs are 245-58 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 80.9%.  Brown registered his 200th 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.
 
LAST TIME OUT
WT cruised past the Dustdevils of Texas A&M International on Tuesday, 71-45. With the win, the Buffs improved to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in Lone Star Conference play. After the Dustdevils gained a five-point lead with 14:34 left in the first half, the Buffs rattled off a 14-0 run that lasted over four minutes. TAMIU eventually broke the scoring streak, but five quick points gave WT a double-digit lead in the first half. An 8-0 run by TAMIU cut the lead down to 11 in the second half and force a WT timeout. The Buffs responded to TAMIU's streak with a 12-0 run of their own to extend their lead to 23. Over the closing minutes, WT's defense continued to lock down the Dustdevils' offense as the Buffs held TAMIU to less than 40 points until the 1:55 mark.
 
Three Buffs reached double-digit scoring led by Larry Wise's game-high 19. Mackenzie Morgan scored a career-high 13 points while Kieran Elliott chipped in 11 in the win. Wise also brought in a team-high nine rebounds and three assists.
 
RECORD WATCH
Zach Toussaint is moving his way up the ladder in the program's 3-point career leaderboard.  The Johnsburg, Ill., product ranks second all-time with 319 threes after passing former Buff Jordan Evans (2015-2018) in the Buffs' win over Oklahoma Baptist. David Chavlovich (2014-18) is the program's all-time 3-point leader with 388.
 
Toussaint and fellow senior Larry Wise both broke the 1,000-point mark last season. Currently, Toussaint ranks sixth with 1,489 after passing Jordan Evans in the Buffs' win over Oklahoma Christian. With 19 points against Texas A&M International, Wise moved up three spots to take sole possession of 16^th place with a total of 1,191 and sits six back of Mike Mitchell for 12^th. Wise is also 39 points away from cracking the top 10.  
 
LSC PRESEASON FAVORITE
WT was voted to repeat as Lone Star Conference regular season champs with 703 total points including 34 of the possible 45 first-place votes. Angelo State came in second in the preseason poll with 675 points and nine first-place votes. St. Edward's (600, 1 fpv) came in third followed by Lubbock Christian (564, 1 fpv) and DBU (522) to round out the top five. Texas A&M-Kingsville, voted to finish sixth, tallied 497 points with St. Mary's following at 443 and Eastern New Mexico at 377. Midwestern State (298) and UAFS (282) finish the top 10. Texas A&M International (278), Western New Mexico (216), UT Permian Basin (208), Oklahoma Christian, (183), UT Tyler (176), and Cameron (93) rounded out the poll.
 
THE LONE STAR
The 2023-24 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 2024 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 7-8-9-10, 2024, at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
 
2022-23 REVIEW
The Buffs come off another successful campaign after finishing 27-7 in 2022-23 and claiming the program's sixth-consecutive Lone Star Conference Tournament title. In the LSC Championship game, Zach Toussaint drained a pull-up jump shot with three seconds left to give WT a 64-63 win over No. 19 Angelo State. After receiving the automatic qualifier, the Buffs were selected as the top seed in the region and hosted the regional tournament. After a 78-56 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville and a 69-59 win over No. 23 Angelo State, WT matched up with No. 21 Black Hills State for a spot in the Elite Eight. The game came down to the last tenth of a second as Damion Thornton's game-winner was waved off as the Yellow Jackets advanced with a 68-67 victory.
 
UP NEXT
WT returns to the Texas Panhandle for an exhibition match with Hardin-Simmons at the First United Bank Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
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