Game Notes
 
CANYON, Texas – Top-seeded West Texas A&M men's basketball takes on the sixth-seeded Black Hills State Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, March 14 for a spot in the Elite Eight. The South Central Regional Championship is slated to tip off at 7 p.m. inside the First United Bank Center in Canyon.
 
LIVE COVERAGE 
A live stream and stats will be provided by the WT athletic communications department. Fans will be able to watch all NCAA South Central Regional tournament games free of charge on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network. Live stats will also be provided for fans unable to attend in person.
 
NABC TOP 25 POLL
The Buffs jumped from No. 22 to No. 13 after winning their sixth-consecutive Lone Star Conference Tournament title. Nova Southeastern, the only undefeated team left in Division II, stayed in the top for the fourth week in a row. The top five remained the same with Nova Southeastern, Northwest Missouri State, Indiana (Pa.), Point Loma, and West Liberty making up the top five. Six members of the South Central Region are represented in the national standings with Fort Lewis (7th), WT (13th), Colorado School of Mines (14th), Colorado Mesa (20th), Black Hills State (21st), and Angelo State (23rd).
 
A LOOK AT THE BRACKET
No. 6 Black Hills State stymied a potent Fort Lewis Skyhawks offense in Sunday's first semifinal. The Yellow Jackets defeated Fort Lewis 81-66 to advance to the regional final. WT followed BHSU's win with a win of its own, holding off the Angelo State Rams. The Buffs overcame early offensive struggles to slide past the Rams, 69-59.
 
The winner of Tuesday's game receives a berth in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight held in Evansville, Ind.
 
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS
Black Hills State advanced to the regional final after defeating Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foes Colorado School of Mines and Fort Lewis. The Yellow Jackets defeated the No. 3 Orediggers 68-48 on Saturday afternoon before posting an 81-66 victory over the Skyhawks.
 
Head coach Ryan Thompson is in his fifth season as the head coach at BHSU and fifth overall. Thompson has turned the Yellow Jackets into a national contender during his time in Spearfish, S.D., going 102-40 during his time at the helm.
 
BHSU averages 81.4 points per game while their opponents are scoring 67.6 for a 13.8 scoring margin. The Yellow Jackets are shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from the arc, and 73.2 percent from the free throw line to go along with 37.5 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 5.5 steals, 11.2 turnovers and 3.0 blocks.
 
Four players average double figure scoring led by South Central Region Player of the Year, Joel Scott. The 6-foot-7 senior forward from Monument, Colo. is scoring 22.7 points per contest with a 60.8 shooting percent from the floor, 39.8 percent from three, and 73.0 percent at the charity stripe. Scott also leads the team in total rebounds (303), rebounds per game (9.5), total steals (30), and blocked shots (35).
 
Matthew Ragsdale follows Scott on the scoring charts with 13.5 points per game while Adam Moussa (11.4) and PJ Hayes (10.9) round out the double-digit scorers for BHSU. Moussa paces the Yellow Jackets with 127 total assists and ranks second on the team with 27 steals.

THE SERIES
BHUS leads the all-time series between the two programs, 1-0 with the lone matchup coming last season in the South Central Regional tournament. The Buffs fell to the Yellow Jackets 91-77 in the regional semifinals where Black Hills State went on to make a Final Four appearance.
 
L, 77-91 – Lubbock (NCAA), 2022

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 237-56 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 80.9%. 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. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Buffs struggled in the game's opening minutes as WT went scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. Angelo State used the momentum to lead 20-9 before the WT offense started making shots. The Buffs took their first lead of the game with 2:21 before halftime. In the second half, WT withstood multiple Ram attacks to walk away with a 69-59 victory. Ryland Holt led WT with 23 points and seven rebounds to go along with two blocks, three steals, and an assist. Julius Brown recorded his ninth 20-point performance of the season, scoring 21 points with five assists. Addison Wallace pulled in a game-high 11 rebounds in the victory. WT shot 37.7% (20-of-53) from the field, 41.7% (10-of-24) from deep, 70.4% (19-of-27) from the charity stripe with 34 rebounds, 10 assists, six steals, four blocks, and 12 turnovers.
 
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 300 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 1,384 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.
 
Julius Brown reached the 1,000-career point mark during WT's LSC Tournament Semifinal win against Lubbock Christian on March 4. Brown now ranks 22^nd in program history with 1,050 points. Larry Wise also achieved the milestone in the Buffs' South Central Regional quarterfinal win over Texas A&M-Kingsville, ranking 25^th with 1,010 points
 
BEVO FRANCIS TOP 50 WATCH LIST
Senior Julius Brown was named to the Top 50 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 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: MARCH 14
Tuesday's championship game marks only the 10th time the Buffs have played on March 14, playing on this date last year in 2021 against No. 16 DBU. In that game, the Buffs defeated the Patriots 82-65 to advance to advance to the South Central Regional Championship
 
W, 82-65 – #16 Dallas Baptist, 2021
L, 63-88 – #11 Colorado School of Mines, 2017
L, 73-75 – #17 Washburn, 2003
L, 80-82 – Ohio, 1969
L, 40-43 – San Diego State, 1941
 
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
A win would return the Buffs to the Elite Eight on March 21-25 in Evansville, Ind.
 
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