Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Live Links
Thursday, January 4	7:30 p.m.	Midwestern State	Wichita Falls, Texas	D.L. Ligon Coliseum	Stats | LSC Digital Network | Game Notes

 
CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's basketball team returns to Lone Star Conference play on Thursday, Jan. 4 as the Buffs face Midwestern State. The Mustangs (8-3, 2-3 LSC) host WT (10-1, 4-0 LSC) at 7:30 p.m. at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum in Wichita Falls, Texas.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
A live stream will be available for the game provided by the Midwestern State 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
The top four remained the same with Nova Southeastern leading the way followed by MSU Moorhead, Minnesota State, and WT. Saint Martin's took possession of the No. 5 spot after Central Oklahoma dropped a game over the holiday break.
 
WT is one of five South Central regional programs ranked with the Buffs leading the way at No. 4. DBU (6^th), Fort Lewis (10^th), Angelo State (11^th), and Colorado Mesa (14^th) earned spots in the poll. Eastern New Mexico and Colorado School of Mines received votes in the poll.
 
SCOUTING MIDWESTERN STATE
Midwestern State started the season 6-0 before dropping three of its first five Lone Star Conference games. The Mustangs come off a pair of LSC losses to St. Edward's and Cameron but look to snap their streak against WT. Midwestern State is led by fifth-year head coach Justin Leslie who is in his 17^th overall season. For his career, Leslie holds a 321-184 record with a 155-63 mark in Wichita Falls.
 
On the season, MSU averages 88.6 points per game on 46.4 percent shooting from the field while holding opponents to 80.4 points. Four players average double-digit scoring for the Mustangs paced by Mason Gibson's 15.1 per contest. Reggie Hill leads the team in rebounds per game, registering 6.7 per contest. Pierre Sanders paces the team and the conference with 5.6 assists per game while Duncan Alevok leads the league with 27 total blocks.  
 
THE SERIES
WT is 43-34 all time against Midwestern State in a series that started in 1947. The Buffs are 30-9 in Canyon but 11-23 in Wichita Falls. Tom Brown is 11-6 against the Mustangs during his tenure at WT while Justin Leslie is 2-6 against the Buffs in his career. Last season, the Buffs and Mustangs split the season series with each team winning on its home court.
 
L, 86-92 – Wichita Falls, 2023
W, 72-71 – Canyon, 2022
W, 87-55 – Frisco (LSC), 2022
L, 90-100 (OT) – Wichita Falls, 2022
W, 94-74 – Wichita Falls, 2021
 
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 247-58 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 81.0%.  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 Buffs ended the High Desert Classic 2-0 after a 108-100 overtime victory over Rogers State. WT led at halftime 48-37, but Rogers State came back to force overtime. In the overtime period, the Buffs outscored the Hillcats 17-9 to take the non-conference duel and move to 10-1 on the season. Four Buffs reached double-digit scoring on Tuesday with three surpassing the 20-point mark. Ahamed Mohammed led the team with a career-high 25 points and nine assists. Zach Toussaint (23), Ryland Holt (22), and Larry Wise (18) also reached double digits. Holt pulled in a team-high eight rebounds in the win while also making a pair of 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 326 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 1,527 after passing Jordan Evans in the Buffs' win over Oklahoma Christian. Wise is tied with WT legend Maurice Cheeks for 11^th place at 1,227 points and is four points away from moving into the top 10.
 
ON THIS DAY: JAN. 4
Thursday's matchup marks the 31^st time the Buffs have played on this date and first since 2020. WT is 20-10 all time on Jan. 4. The Buffs have won four straight games on this date and eight of their last 10.
 
W, 76-71 – Eastern New Mexico, 2020
W, 83-76 – Midwestern State, 2018
W, 77-72 – Texas A&M-Commerce, 2012
W, 80-66 – Central Oklahoma, 2007
L, 62-65 – Northeastern State, 2001
 
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 on the road and heads to Lawton, Okla. for a 3 p.m. matchup with Cameron at the Aggie Gym on Saturday, Jan. 6.
 
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).