| (6) West Texas A&M (18-10, 13-9 LSC) vs. (3) #25 Midwestern State (22-6, 17-5 LSC) |
| Date & Time |
Friday, March 7th at 12 p.m. |
| Location |
Frisco, Texas | Comerica Center |
| Live Statistics |
StatBroadcast |
| Live Video (Pay Per View) |
FloCollege |
| Other Links |
Game Notes | Championship Central |
CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M men's basketball kicks off postseason play when the Buffs take on the No. 25-ranked Midwestern State Mustangs in the Lone Star Conference quarterfinals. The Buffs and Mustangs play the first game of the men's tournament at 12 p.m. inside the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
LIVE COVERAGE
The Lone Star Conference will provide live stats and a pay-per-view web stream. Fans will need to purchase a monthly ($19.99) or annual ($107.88) subscription with FloSports, the official streaming provider of the Lone Star Conference. The subscription allows fans access to any content available on FloSports.
A LOOK AT THE BUFFS
The Buffs are led by junior guard
Ahamed Mohammed who averages 18.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while tallying 71 assists.
Noah Pagotto follows Mohammed with 14.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Jailyn Sledge paces the team with 52 steals and 28 blocks.
SCOUTING (3) #25 MIDWESTERN STATE
The Mustangs closed out the regular season with a 74-57 loss to Lubbock Christian. Despite the loss, Midwestern State earned the No. 3 seed in the LSC Tournament with the Mustangs' overall record of 22-6 and conference record of 17-5. Midwestern State is led by head coach Justin Leslie who is in his sixth season in Wichita Falls and 18
th overall. Leslie has produced an 85-78 record at the helm of the Mustangs with a 351-199 mark in his career.
On the season, Midwestern State averages 76.4 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting from the field while giving up 65.8 points per game to opponents. Two players for the average double-digit scoring for the Mustangs paced by Mason Gibson's 17.0 per contest. Pierre Sanders (12.3) also averages double figures. Reggie Hill leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game while Pierre Sanders paces the team with 110 assists and 50 steals.
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series with Midwestern State 45-36 including 2-2 at neutral sites. In the regular season, the Mustangs went into Canyon and held off a Buffs' comeback to walk away with a 70-69 victory. In Wichita Falls, Midwestern State erased WT's seven-point halftime lead to defeat the Buffs, 63-58.
Tom Brown is 11-8 against Midwestern State in his tenure at the helm of the Buffs.
L, 58-63 – Wichita Falls, 2025
L, 69-70 – Canyon, 2025
W, 89-62 – Canyon, 2024
W, 72-67 – Wichita Falls, 2024
L, 86-92 – Wichita Falls, 2023
BUFFS AT THE LSC TOURNAMENT
West Texas A&M returns to the LSC tournament for the 33
rd time in its program history. The Buffs have won the tournament 12 times including six straight from 2018 to 2023 and own the tournament's most wins (50) and best winning percentage (.714). WT has been in the LSC Championship 17 times with a 12-5 record in those games.
A LOOK AT THE BRACKET
The Buffs and Mustangs open the men's bracket on Friday at 12 p.m. with the 3/6 matchup followed by the 2/7 between Lubbock Christian and Eastern New Mexico at 2:30. Top-seeded DBU and eighth-seeded Angelo State will start the second men's session at 6 p.m. with No. 4 St. Mary's and No. 5 St. Edward's closing out the first day at 8:30 p.m. Saturday's semifinals will feature the DBU/ASU winner against the StMU/SEU winner at 6 p.m. and the LCU/ENMU winner against the MSU/WT winner at 8:30 p.m. Sunday's title game will tip at 3:30 p.m.
The winner of the LSC Men's Basketball Championship will be named the league's tournament champion and earn the league's automatic qualification to the 2025 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball South Central Regional, set for March 15-18 at a site to be determined. The winner of the South Central Regional will advance to the Elite Eight/Final Four, which will be held March 25-29 at Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
THE BROWN ERA
Head coach
Tom Brown enters his 11th 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 284-72 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 79.8%. Brown registered his 250
th career victory on Jan. 13, 2024, after the Buffs defeated UT Permian Basin, 77-69, to become just the second coach in program history to reach the 250-win plateau.
NABC TOP 25 POLL
The top four remained the same from last week as Daemen (11 fpv, 392), Nova Southeastern (5 fpv, 387), Alabama Huntsville (372), and Washburn (352) occupy the top four spots. West Liberty (334) and Columbus State (309) moved up one spot each to sit at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. Dallas Baptist (298), Colorado School of Mines (273), and Missouri S&T (250) round out the top 10.
The South Central Region is represented by three teams in the poll with DBU leading the way at No. 6. Colorado School of Mines (9
th), Lubbock Christian (22
nd), and Midwestern State (25
th) also earned spots in the poll.
NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
West Texas A&M men's basketball ranked seventh in the South Central regional rankings as announced by the NCAA national office on Wednesday. The Buffs ranked 10
th in last week's rankings.
Colorado School of Mines remains in the top spot followed by Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, Midwestern State, and St. Mary's. St. Edward's entered the rankings at No. 6 with West Texas A&M, Eastern New Mexico, Angelo State, and Regis to close out the rankings.
LSC AWARDS
West Texas A&M's
Narit Chotikavanic and
Noah Pagotto earned Lone Star Conference Player of the Year awards as announced by the league office at the men's basketball award banquet on Wednesday. Chotikavanic was named the league's Freshman of the Year while Pagotto earned Academic Player of the Year.
Ahamed Mohammed earned First-Team accolades after leading the league in scoring at 18.7 points per game. In addition to the All-Academic team honor, Pagotto earned Second Team All-Conference honors.Chotikavanic led WT's All-Freshman team honorees. Joining Chotikavanic on the All-Freshman team were Amarillo, Texas native
Jailyn Sledge and Geraldton, Australia native
Bob Griechen.
LAST TIME OUT
It took two overtime periods, but the West Texas A&M men's basketball team held off rival Eastern New Mexico 95-90 on Thursday night in Canyon. The Buffs improved to 18-10 overall and 13-9 in Lone Star Conference play. Three Buffs reached double-digit scoring on Thursday night led by a career-high 39 from
Ahamed Mohammed.
Narit Chotikavanic (23) and
Noah Pagotto (17) also ended their night in double figures. Mohammed hauled in a team-high eight rebounds with a pair of blocks while
Mackenzie Morgan dished out two assists.
ON THIS DAY: MARCH 7
Friday's game marks the 14th time the Buffs have played on this date after playing on this date last season. WT is 9-4 in games on March 7 including 2-1 under
Tom Brown. The Buffs are 4-1 in their last five games on this date and 7-3 in their last 10.
L, 89-93 (OT) – Cameron (LSC), 2024
W, 87-77 – Angelo State (LSC), 2020
W, 72-59 – Cameron (LSC), 2019
W, 78-56 – #4 Northeastern State (LSC), 2003
W, 105-101 – #15 Central Oklahoma (NCAA), 1998
BEVO FRANCIS TOP 100 WATCH LIST
West Texas A&M junior
Ahamed Mohammed was named to the Top 100 Watch List for the 2024-2025 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.
2023-24 REVIEW
The Buffs returned to the Final Four in the 2023-24 season, capturing the program's fifth regional title. Despite seeing its run of consecutive Lone Star Conference tournament titles come to an end, WT earned the top seed in the South Central region, hosting the regional tournament for the second consecutive year. The Buffs swept their way through the regional tournament, defeating eight-seeded Angelo State and fourth-seeded and No. 12-ranked Dallas Baptist to reach the championship game. Facing off against third-seeded and No. 6-ranked Colorado Mesa, a big second half lifted the Buffs to the regional title with
Larry Wise earning Tournament MVP honors. At the Elite Eight, WT defeated fifth-seeded and No. 14-ranked North Georgia 90-76 to advance to the Final Four where top-seeded Minnesota State outlasted the Buffs, 79-72.
HOME SWEET HOME
West Texas A&M is home to one of the finest multi-purpose facilities in the country as the First United Bank Center has served as the home of the Buffaloes since January 26, 2002. The Buffaloes are a staggering 277-60 inside of the FUBC during that time for a winning clip of 82.2%. The Buffs are an astounding 156-19 at the First United Bank Center under
Tom Brown including three undefeated seasons at home.
HOME OF CHAMPIONS
West Texas A&M is home to one of the most successful athletic programs in all of NCAA Division II.
The Buffs and Lady Buffs finished third in the 2023-24 Division II LEARFIELD Director's Cup standings. It marked the sixth straight and eighth overall time that WT finished inside of the Top 10 including the fifth straight inside of the Top 5.
UP NEXT
A win would put the Buffs in the LSC Semifinals at 8:30 against the winner of No. 2 Lubbock Christian and No. 7 Eastern New Mexico
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 X (@WTAMU_MBB), Instagram (@wtamu_mbb), and Facebook (/WTAMUMBB).
