MSU Men's Basketball Weekly

Midwestern State opens the regular season Friday and Saturday at the Southwestern Oklahoma State Classic in Weatherford.
 
The Mustangs take on NAIA Louisiana State-Shreveport Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. before facing the host Bulldogs Saturday night at 7:30.
 

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MSU FAST FIVE

MUSTANGS IN REGULAR SEASON OPENERS: Midwestern State opens its 67th season competing as a four-year institution. MSU has posted a 45-21 mark (.682) in season openers since the start of the 1946-47 campaign including a 12-14 record (.462) in road games. The Mustangs are 2-2 in season openers over the past four seasons despite advancing to the NCAA II postseason each year including Elite Eight runs in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

POINTING THE PILOTS: Midwestern State opens a season against LSU-Shreveport for the second time in program history. Charlie Sager scored 20 points and combined with "Three"-J Collins and Jason Paty for nine 3-pointers to lead MSU to an 85-75 win over the Pilots on Nov. 8, 1993. The then-Indians advanced to a second consecutive NAIA Final Four that season.

OPENING AMONGST THE WIND SWEPT WHEAT: Midwestern State is opening a campaign in the State of Oklahoma for the 16th time in school history. The Mustangs have posted a 7-8 in Oklahoma openers and last took a controversial 80-76 loss to Fort Hays State on Nov. 12, 2010 in Bartlesville. It's the third time in a decade that MSU has opened a season in Oklahoma as the Mustangs also claimed an 82-63 victory at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Nov. 16, 2006.

WHAT ABOUT WINDY WEATHERFORD STARTERS?  Midwestern has begun four other seasons in the City of Weatherford earning a split in those contests. MSU battled Southwestern Oklahoma State in the 1960 and 1961 openers falling to the Bulldogs 76-73 on Nov. 21, 1960 before taking an 83-66 victory the next season on Nov. 18, 1961. Midwestern claimed a 93-83 victory Santa Fe in a neutral site tilt in Weatherford on Nov. 18, 1968. Southwestern Oklahoma State defeated MSU 76-69 in their last Weatherford opener on Nov. 10, 1992.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS: Midwestern returns five letter winners and zero starts off of last year's South Central Region championship squad. Senior Kevin Grayer played a key role down the stretch finishing the season with averages of 4.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 10.4 minutes over 24 games last season. Senior forward Chris Buttermore (2.3 points, 1.8 rebounds) and sophomore guard Derrell Gibbs (1.3 points, 2.2 rebounds) combined to see action in 51 games in 2011-12 while sophomore forward Matt Gallagher (4.0 points, 2.1 rebounds in 10 games) and senior forward Jeff Grayer (3.3 points, 3.7 rebounds) saw limited action.

'ZAIGO COMES ALIVE: Junior point guard Monzaigo Williams scored 11 of his game high 15 points in the final six minutes to help Midwestern State to a 72-64 exhibition win over pesky Southwestern Assemblies of God last Friday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The transfer from Western Texas buried the first of his three treys down the stretch after the Lions had reclaimed a 58-56 lead with under seven minutes to play. Williams finished the game with 15 points, seven assists and three steals in 32 minutes of court time. He scored four points and dished out five assists with two steals Monday in an 86-48 win over Sul Ross State.

THOMAS GOES FOR DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Senior forward Corbin Thomas logged a double-double in his exhibition debut for MSU with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-8 senior forward then hit 6-of-7 shots from the field to score 13 points and pull down six rebounds in 16 minutes Monday night against Sul Ross State.

WIZARD LEADS THE WAY: Sophomore transfer Keith Spellman averaged 17 points while connecting at a 42.3 percent clip from the field with three treys in 24.5 minutes of MSU's two exhibition wins. The 6-2 guard from Brooklyn, N.Y. rolled up 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting Monday against Sul Ross State including a 3-for-4 effort from the arc. Spellman struggled to a 0-7 showing from 3-point range Friday against Southwestern Assemblies of God, but still battled for 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe.

SCORING WITH DEPTH: Seven different Mustangs averaged 7-or-more points in two exhibition games including Keith Spellman (17.0 ppg), Corbin Thomas (13.0 ppg), Monzaigo Williams (9.5 ppg), Kevin Grayer (8.0 ppg), Conner Geiser (8.0 ppg), Eddie D'Haiti (7.5 ppg) and Cam Adderley (7.0 ppg). Junior forward Derek Kaster also scored 4.5 points a game while pulling down 7.5 rebounds a contest.
   

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SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION


LOUISIANA STATE-SHREVEPORT
// Thursday, 11.09.2012 // 3 p.m. // Rankin Williams Fieldhouse // Weatherford, Okla.
Live Stats  |  Video Streaming

Louisiana State-Shreveport carried a No. 7 ranking in the final NAIA Division I poll last season boasting a 27-8 mark as the Pilots finished as runners-up to Our Lady of the Lake in the Red River Athletic Conference. LSU-Shreveport received votes in the NAIA Division I preseason poll under the direction of first year coach Kyle Blankenship. The Pilots' roster is made up of four Division I transfers in 6-0 guard Rodney Milum (Appalachain State), 6-1 guard Tevin Hall (Louisiana Tech), 6-7 center Jayce Barnum (Nevada-Las Vegas) and 6-5 forward Rydell Harris (Grambling State). LSU-Shreveport also sports a pair of former Division II players in 6-2 guard Mark Politte (Incarnate Word) and 6-8 center Micah Jordan (West Alabama). Politte led the Pilots to a season opening 85-75 win over Belhaven (Miss.) last week with 20 points and five assists and was joined in double figures by Milum (17 points), Aaron Jones (13 points, four assists) and Harris (10 points, 15 rebounds). LSU-Shreveport is counting each of its three games this weekend as exhibition contests. The Pilots face MSU on Friday, West Texas A&M on Saturday and Tulsa on Sunday.

About the Series: Midwestern State and Louisiana State-Shreveport meet for the eighth time Friday afternoon at Rankin Williams Fieldhouse in Weatherford. The Mustangs own a 7-0 edge in the series with each of the contests coming in five consecutive seasons from 1990-95. MSU is 5-0 against the Pilots at home and 2-0 in Shreveport. This is the first neutral site contest between the teams. Midwestern won the last meeting between the program by a 92-71 margin on Jan. 21, 1995 in Wichita Falls. Brian Hightower led the way with 20 points and five rebounds while Kerry Bragg added 15.
  

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SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
// Saturday, 11.10.2012 // 7:30 p.m. // Rankin Williams Fieldhouse // Weatherford, Okla.
Live Stats  |  Video Streaming

Southwestern Oklahoma is coming off of a strong exhibition performance falling to Oregon 82-65 Monday night in Eugene. Thomas Davis leads a group of eight returning letter winners off of last season's 17-12 squad. The 6-6 senior forward led the Bulldogs in scoring at 13.5 points a game while pulling in 5.7 rebounds. Senior guard Marin Zelalija rattled in 10.8 points while shooting 38 percent from the arc in 15 games last season, while senior guards Dominick Cornelius (9.7 points, 3.6 rebounds) and Ryan Donahoe (8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds) were also top performers. Junior guard Keemo Richardson (1.4 ppg), sophomore guard Kenyan Borders (4.3 ppg), sophomore guard Jordan Franz (0.9 ppg) and sophomore forward Jalen Dorsey (0.4 ppg) also saw action last season for SWOSU. The Bulldogs' roster features five players hailing from Croatia including Zelalija, sophomore guard Bret Atkins, senior guard Hrvoje Volarevic, junior forward Ante Bozic and redshirt  guard Dominik Benger.

About the Series: Midwestern State and Southwestern Oklahoma State meet for the 49th time on the hardwood Saturday night at Rankin Fieldhouse. The Mustangs own a 31-17 edge in the series but are 9-10 against the Bulldogs all time in Weatherford. Midwestern has won the last five meetings between the teams dating back to a 78-71 overtime loss at home on Nov. 29, 2007. The Mustangs rolled to a 67-40 victory over SWOSU in their last trip to Rankin Williams Fieldhouse on Dec. 11, 2010.