CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M men's basketball continues its Lone Star Conference slate on Saturday as the Buffs travel to Lawton, Okla. for action against the Aggies of Cameron. The Buffs (11-1, 5-0 LSC) and Aggies (8-4, 4-2 LSC) start at 3 p.m. inside the Aggie Gym.
LIVE COVERAGE
A live stream will be available for the game provided by the Cameron 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 CAMERON
The Aggies started the season 2-2 but have since won six of eight to improve their record to 8-4 overall including a 4-2 record in Lone Star Conference play. Cameron surpassed its 2022-23 win total in just eight games after registering just four wins last season. The Aggies are led by second-year head coach Kevin O'Connor with both seasons coming in Lawton. O'Connor enters Saturday's contest with an overall record of 12-28 for a 30.0 winning percentage.
On the season, MSU averages 82.6 points per game on 47.1 percent shooting from the field while holding opponents to 78.9 points. Five players average double-digit scoring for the Aggies paced by Lavell Brodnex's 14.2 per contest. Andre Washington leads the team in rebounds per game, registering 6.9 per contest with Brodnex right behind at 6.8. Reggie Prudhomme sparks the Cameron offense with 42 assists while Daylon Andrews has a team-best 15 steals.
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series with Cameron 44-16 including 17-9 in Lawton, Okla. During his tenure in Canyon,
Tom Brown is 16-2 against the Aggies. In the series, the Buffs have won 14 straight meetings and 15 of the last 16.
W, 83-79 – Lawton, 2023
W, 102-80 – Canyon, 2023
W, 104-44 – Canyon, 2022
W, 85-72 – Lawton, 2022
W, 103-50 – Lawton, 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 248-58 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
On Thursday night, West Texas A&M men's basketball went on the road and defeated longtime Lone Star Conference rival Midwestern State, 72-67. The Buffs improve to 11-1 on the road and 5-0 in Lone Star Conference play. Four Buffs reached double-digit scoring on Thursday led by
Zach Toussaint's 15 points.
Ryland Holt and
Larry Wise added in 14 points each while
Ahamed Mohammed chipped in 10.
Kieran Elliott pulled in a team-high seven rebounds in the win while also making a pair of blocks.
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 330 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 1,542 after passing Jordan Evans in the Buffs' win over Oklahoma Christian on Dec. 2. Wise moved into the top 10 with 14 points against Midwestern State on Jan. 4 to now rank 10
th with 1,241.
ON THIS DAY: JAN. 6
Saturday's matchup marks the 29
th time the Buffs have played on this date and first since 2022. WT is 18-11 all time on Jan. 6. The Buffs have won two straight games on this date and seven of their last eight.
W, 79-69 – Texas A&M-Commerce, 2022
W, 93-59 – Cameron, 2018
L, 65-74 – #6 Midwestern State, 2016
W, 72-66 – Southeastern Oklahoma State, 2011
W, 66-57 – Northeastern 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
The Buffs return to the First United Bank Center for a top-25 matchup with No. 11 Angelo State. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 11.
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).
