Game Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – In a pivotal Lone Star Conference West Division matchup, the West Texas A&M men's basketball team hosts the Angelo State Rams at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 at the First United Bank Center. The Buffs (15-6, 13-2 LSC) look to avenge their loss to the Rams (18-4, 14-2 LSC) from Jan. 5 in San Angelo.
 
LIVE COVERAGE 
A live stream and stats will be provided by the WT 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
The top two schools in the National Association Basketball Coaches (NABC) remained the same as Indiana (Pa.) continues to reign at No. 1 followed by Nova Southeastern. IUP and Nova Southeastern continue to be the only undefeated teams in the nation. Black Hills State jumped to third, Northwest Missouri State moved to fourth, and UNC Pembroke joined the top five. Five members of the South Central Region are represented in the national standings with Black Hills State (3rd), Colorado School of Mines (10th), Fort Lewis (13th), Angelo State (15th), and Colorado Mesa (22nd) earning spots in the poll.
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS
Angelo State fell to Lubbock Christian 67-66 on Thursday night in Lubbock. The loss snapped the Rams nine-game winning streak.
 
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 75.6 points per game while their opponents are scoring 67.7 for a 7.9 scoring margin. The Rams are shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 34.9 percent from the arc, and 75.1 percent from the free throw line to go along with 36.0 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 8.5 steals, 14.1 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 17.7 points per contest with a 46.2 shooting percent from the floor and 76.9 percent at the charity stripe to go along with while totaling 55 assists and 32 steals.
 
Reggie Quezada and Fredelin De La Cruz average double digits as well, scoring 12.0 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. Willie Guy leads the Rams with 61 total assists while Steve Webb leads with 40 steals.
 
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series between the two programs, 52-26, with a 29-6 record in Canyon and 14-5 under head coach Tom Brown, winning the 14 of the past 16 games. The Buffs fell to the Rams 82-77 in San Angelo earlier this season but took the series 2-1 last season.
 
L, 77-82 – San Angelo, 2023
W, 84-76 – Lubbock (NCAA), 2022
W, 83-73 – Frisco (LSC), 2022
L, 79-82 – Canyon, 2022
W, 107-77 – San Angelo, 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 225-56 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
Angelo State remains atop the Lone Star Conference overall standings despite falling to Lubbock Christian on Thursday. Angelo State leads the West Division with an 18-4 overall record and 14-2 league record. WT ranks second at 15-6 overall and 13-2 in LSC action followed by Lubbock Christian (15-6, 11-4 LSC), Western New Mexico (12-9, 6-9 LSC), Midwestern State (10-12, 7-9 LSC), UT Permian Basin (11-14, 5-11 LSC), and Cameron (4-18, 2-14 LSC).
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville (15-8, 9-6) leads the East Division followed by St. Edward's (16-7, 10-4 LSC), St. Mary's (12-8, 9-6 LSC), DBU (12-10, 7-7 LSC), UAFS (9-12, 5-10 LSC), Oklahoma Christian (9-13, 5-11 LSC), Texas A&M International (12-10, 5-9 LSC), and UT Tyler (9-10, 5-10 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
The West Texas A&M men's basketball team held off the upset-minded UT Permian Basin Falcons 70-66 at the First United Bank Center on Thursday night. The Buffs went up by as much as 10 points in the second half, but the Falcons brought the game within two near the end. WT held off UTPB as the Buffs closed out the game down the stretch. WT shot 35.3% (18-of-51) from the field, 39.4% (13-of-33) from deep, 87.5% (21-of-24) from the charity stripe with 28 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals, one block, and nine turnovers.

Junior Larry Wise led WT with 23 points on 5-of-14 shooting including 5-of-9 from three and 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Damion Thornton and Addison Wallace reached double figures for the Buffs, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. Wise hauled in a team-high eight rebounds while Thornton followed with seven.
 
RECORD WATCH 
Zach Toussaint is moving his way up the ladder in the program's 3-point career leaderboard.  The Johnsburg, Ill., product ranks third all-time with 269 threes after passing former Buff Martin Lattibeaudiere (1993-97).  David Chavlovich (2014-18) is the program's all-time 3-point leader with 388. 
 
Toussaint also moved into ninth in all-time scoring with 1,239 points in the Buffs' loss to Midwestern State on Jan. 28. He became just the 24th 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.
 
BEVO FRANCIS TOP 100 WATCH LIST
Senior Julius Brown was named to the Top 100 Watch List for the 2022-2023 Bevo Francis Award presented to the top player in Small College Basketball, awarded by SmallCollegeBasketball.com. The honor is awarded to a deserving player whose university is affiliated within NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA Division I, NAIA Division II, USCAA and NCCAA.
 
The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Considerations will be season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character, and team achievements. This is an incredibly prestigious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.
 
On February 15th, the list will be reduced to the Top 50 players. One month later on March 15th, the Top 25 players will be announced. On April 1st, the finalists of this year's award will be announced, followed by the Bevo Francis Award winner being crowned on April 3rd.
 
ON THIS DAY: FEB. 4
Saturday's matchup marks the 31st time the Buffs have played on Feb. 4, playing on this date in 2021 against Angelo State. The Buffs racked up 102 points to defeat the Rams 102-81 in Canyon.
 
W, 102-81 – Angelo State, 2021
L, 73-77 – #25 UT Permian Basin, 2017
L, 68-77 – #7 Angelo State, 2015
W, 69-47 – Eastern New Mexico, 2009
W, 74-60 – Texas A&M-Kingsville, 2006
 
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 travels to the Land of Enchantment for a pair of games of Eastern New Mexico and Western New Mexico. The Buffs square off against the Greyhounds on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 8:30 p.m. before traveling to Silver City for a 3 p.m. game against the Mustangs on Saturday, Feb. 11.
 
FOLLOW THE BUFFS
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