#20 West Texas A&M (13-3, 5-1) vs. #23 St. Mary's (11-3, 4-2)
Date	Saturday, January 10 | 3:00 p.m.
Location	Canyon, Texas | First United Bank Center
Follow Along	Live Stats
Watch Live	FloCollege (Pay-Per-View)
Additional Links	Game Notes

CANYON, Texas – The #20 Buffaloes play their second straight Top-25 opponent as they return to Lone Star Conference action on Saturday afternoon, hosting the #23 St. Mary's Rattlers with tipoff set for 3:00 p.m. at the First United Bank Center in Canyon.
 
ST. EDWARD'S REWIND
The #20 Buffs played their second overtime contest in less than a week on Thursday night, coming away with a big 84-82 Lone Star Conference victory over the #17 Hilltoppers of St. Edward's in Canyon. Brock Mishak led the team with 21 points, shooting 7-for-13 from the field and adding nine rebounds. Fontaine Williams Jr. contributed 19 points, converting 9 of 10 free throws. Zach Brown posted 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and collected eight rebounds.
 
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
St. Mary's enters Saturday with an overall record of 11-3 with a 4-2 mark in Lone Star Conference action. The Rattlers are 1-1 away from Bill Greehey Arena this season as they defeated Eastern New Mexico (63-54) on Thursday in Portales while falling at Dallas Baptist (73-67) back on December 11th.
 
Thursday night saw the Rattlers take a nine-point lead into the locker room on their way to a 63-54 victory over #19 Eastern New Mexico. St. Mary's forced 18 Greyhound turnovers which led to 19 points, StMU outscored the Hounds 34-22 in the paint in Portales. St. Mary's was led by Damani Claxton who went 7-of-14 from the floor with a team-best 16 points followed by Olaverr Camacho (11) and Justin Britt (10) in double-figures.
 
The Rattlers return five letterwinners off the 20-11 team from 2024-25, including 2025-26 LSC Preseason Player of the Year Damani Claxton. The senior guard from The Bronx, New York has gone 74-of-159 (46.5%) from the floor including 17-of-42 (40.5%) from deep and 49-of-56 (87.5%) from the free throw line to average 15.3 points per game with 36 rebounds, 41 assists, 14 steals and two blocks.
 
StMU HEAD COACH BUBBA MEYER
Bubba Meyer is now in his third season at the helm of the St. Mary's men's basketball program after serving 22 seasons as an assistant in San Antonio. Meyer has guided the Rattlers to an overall mark of 43-30 as the head coach including a run to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
 
Meyer was named the 17th head coach in program history on March 21, 2023. During his 22 years as an assistant with the Rattlers, St. Mary's posted a 334-278 overall record with nine Heartland Conference titles and nine trips to the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament.
 
THE SERIES
Saturday afternoon marks the 23rd all-time meeting on the hardwood between the Buffs and Rattlers in a series that dates back to 1936. West Texas A&M is 20-2 all-time as they have won the last three meetings. The Rattlers are 0-9 all-time in the Texas Panhandle including 0-1 at the First United Bank Center. The series has featured a pair of long hiatuses between meetings, 58 years (1941-1999) and 18 years (2001-2019).
 
Last year's meeting saw the Buffs shoot 50% (26-of-52) from the floor including 52% (13-of-25) from behind the arc in a 89-85 victory in Canyon. Mackenzie Morgan led the way with 22 points followed by Ahamed Mohammed with 21. West Texas A&M forced 15 Rattler turnovers that led to 20 transition points by the Buffs.
 
WT HEAD COACH TOM BROWN
Tom Brown, now in his 12th season at the helm of the West Texas A&M men's basketball program, has built the Buffs into one of the elite NCAA Division II programs in the nation.  He has guided WT to nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments including the Buffs first-ever NCAA Division II National Championship game in 2021. 
 
Brown was hired as the 17th head coach in program history on April 16, 2014. In the past 10 seasons, Coach Brown and his staff are 278-65 (.810) and an average of 27 wins a season with appearances in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four (2) and National Title game. During his time in Canyon, Brown is 298-78 (.792) overall and 159-44 (.782) in league action. 
 
LSC PRESEASON POLL
Defending Regional Champion Dallas Baptist claimed 42 of the possible 51 first place votes for a total of 850 points to sit atop of the poll followed by St. Mary's (two first place, 724), Lubbock Christian (four first place, 720), St. Edward's (669) and West Texas A&M (two first place, 654) to round out the top five.
 
Angelo State and Eastern New Mexico tied for sixth with 592 points followed by Midwestern State (558), UT Permian Basin (468), Texas A&M International (one first place, 350), Texas A&M-Kingsville (330), Cameron (301), Oklahoma Christian (266), UT Tyler (260), Western New Mexico (193), UT Dallas (188) and Sul Ross State (88).
 
NABC DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL
The Buffaloes are ranked 20th in this week's edition of the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) Division II Top-25 Poll announced on Tuesday afternoon. The South Central Region is represented by Lubbock Christian (6th), Black Hill State (11th), St. Edward's (17th), Eastern New Mexico (19th), West Texas A&M (20th), St. Mary's (23rd) and Dallas Baptist (RV).
 
LIVE COVERAGE 
The LSC and FloSports reached a historic agreement in August of 2024 for the largest streaming rights deal in NCAA Division II history. Fans have two different subscription options: $19.99 per month or $107.88 per year ($8.99/month). Additionally, those who use an .edu email address from an LSC member institution will be able to sign up at a discounted subscription price of $9.99 per month or $71.88 per year ($5.99/month).
 
LSC NEWS & NOTES
After an 11-day break, Lone Star Conference men's basketball games returned Jan. 2 and continued Jan. 4. Eastern New Mexico (12-1 overall) and DBU (11-4 overall) are the only teams without a league loss at 5-0. ENMU has won 12 games in a row, while DBU has prevailed in nine straight games. ENMU is nationally for the first time since the 1995-96 season.
 
No. 8 Lubbock Christian (14-2, 5-1 LSC) won a pair of road games against fellow nationally-ranked teams (No. 13 St. Edward's and No. 20 St. Mary's) to improve its winning streak to five games.
 
Western New Mexico (9-3, 3-2 LSC) upset No. 14 West Texas A&M 84-81 in overtime for its fourth straight win at the time. In non-conference play, LSC teams have gone 40-24 against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams.