Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Links
Thursday, January 11	7:30 p.m.	#10 Angelo State	Canyon, Texas	First United Bank Center	Stats | Video | Game Notes

Game Sponsor	Promotions
Texas Farm Bureau	Buzzer Beater Ball Toss / Toot'n Totum Thursdays Kids in Free & Adults are ½ Off

 
CANYON, Texas – In a battle of two top teams in the nation, the West Texas A&M men's basketball takes on No. 10-ranked Angelo State at the First United Bank Center on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m. The winner of the Buffs (12-1, 6-0 LSC) and Rams (12-1, 7-0 LSC) takes over the top spot in the Lone Star Conference West Division along with the overall standings. 
 
LIVE COVERAGE
A live stream will be available for the game provided by the West Texas A&M athletic communications department through the Lone Star Conference Digital Network. Fans can buy a yearly pass for $140 that grants access to all broadcasts for the LSC including previous years or a $30 monthly subscription. Live stats will also be provided for fans to stay up to date.
 
NABC TOP 25 POLL
MSU Moorhead took over the No. 1 ranking after Nova Southeastern dropped its first contest of the season. Minnesota State moved to second followed by Nova Southeastern. WT and Saint Martin's remained in the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
 
WT is one of six South Central regional programs ranked with the Buffs leading the way at No. 4. DBU (6^th), Fort Lewis (9^th), Angelo State (10^th), Colorado Mesa (11^th), Colorado School of Mines (23^rd) earned spots in the poll. Lubbock Christian received votes in the poll.
 
SCOUTING #10 ANGELO STATE
After a 1-1 start to the season, head coach Vinay Patel has the Rams on a roll, winning 11 straight games. Angelo State is 12-1 overall on the year and 7-0 in Lone Star Conference play after sweeping last week's games. In Patel's tenure at Angelo State, the second-year head coach holds a phenomenal 38-8 record at the helm of the Rams and a159-103 record as a head coach.
 
On the season, ASU averages 80.2 points per game on 46.6 percent shooting from the field while holding opponents to just 70.3 points. Three players average double-digit scoring for the Rams paced by Keyshawn Embery-Simpson's 17.8 per contest. Kevon Godwin follows with an average of 17.2 points with Trey Farrer behind at 12.5. Farrer also leads Angelo State's rebounding with 7.5 per contest while Godwin powers the offense with 56 total assists. On the defensive side, Willie Guy has generated 25 steals while DJ Basey leads with 15 blocked shots.
 
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series with Angelo State 53-26 including 35-5 in Canyon. Tom Brown is 17-5 all time against the Rams while Vinay Patel is 2-5 against WT in his career. Last season, the two teams met four times including twice in the postseason. After the Buffs dropped the first game, WT won the next three including a 64-63 thriller in the LSC Championship and a 69-59 victory in the NCAA South Central Semifinals.  
 
W, 69-59 – Canyon (NCAA), 2023
W, 64-63 – Frisco (LSC), 2023
W, 84-67 – Canyon, 2023
L, 77-82 – San Angelo, 2023
W, 84-76 – Lubbock (NCAA), 2022
 
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 249-58 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 81.1%.  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
The West Texas A&M men's basketball team escaped Lawton, Okla. with a 72-68 win over the upset-minded Cameron Aggies. The Buffs improve to 12-1 overall on the season and 6-0 in Lone Star Conference play. Four Buffs reached double-digit scoring on Saturday led by Larry Wise's 16 points. Ryland Holt finished just behind Wise with 15 points followed by Ahamed Mohammed's 11. Kieran Elliott scored 10 points with eight rebounds, nearly recording a double-double. Noah Pagotto hauled in six rebounds in the game while Holt converted four steals.


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 332 threes after passing former Buff Jordan Evans (2015-2018) in the Buffs' win over Oklahoma Baptist on Nov. 25. 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 1,548 after passing Jordan Evans in the Buffs' win over Oklahoma Christian on Dec. 2. Wise now ranks 10^th on the scoring leader board with 1,257 points.
 
ON THIS DAY: JAN. 11
Thursday's matchup marks the 35^th time the Buffs have played on this date and first since 2020. WT is 22-12 all time on Jan. 11 including 1-3 against ranked opponents. The Buffs carry a two-game winning streak on Jan. 11 into the game against Angelo State.
 
W, 100-79—Western New Mexico, 2020
W, 81-77 – Angelo State, 2018
L, 68-69—Cameron, 2014
L, 60-66 (OT) – #11 Midwestern State, 2012
L, 75-85 – #14 Southeastern Oklahoma State, 2007
 
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 stays at home as UT Permian Basin visits Canyon. The Buffs and Falcons are scheduled to tip-off at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.
 
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).