BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Midwestern State takes on Texas A&M-Kingsville for the third time this season this afternoon in the Lone Star Conference Championship semifinals at Bruin Fieldhouse.
The winner moves on to face the winner of the Central Oklahoma and Southwestern Oklahoma State semifinal matchup Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Catch all of the action live on 100.9 BOB FM in Wichita Falls or via live streaming audio on MSUMustangs.com.
All games are also available free of charge via live video streaming on LoneStarConference.tv.
2009 Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Championship Outlook
Bruin Fieldhouse
Bartlesville, Okla.
Thursday, March 5
Quarterfinals
Southwestern Oklahoma State 82, Angelo State 65
Central Oklahoma 77, Tarleton State 76
Texas A&M-Kingsville 50, Texas A&M-Commerce 48
Midwestern State 94, Cameron 65
Saturday, March 7
Semifinals
Southwestern Oklahoma vs. Central Oklahoma, Noon
Texas A&M-Kingsville vs. Midwestern State, 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 8
Championship
Central Oklahoma/Southwestern Oklahoma winner vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville/Midwestern State winner, 1 p.m.
Midwestern State in the LSC Tournament
Midwestern State will making its ninth appearance in the Lone Star Conference postseason and has come away with three league championships.
The Mustangs are 12-5 all time in the event, but are a tidy 10-2 in Jeff Ray's five trips to the tournament which includes championships in 1999, 2000 and 2007. Ironically, MSU has claimed two championships a year after the Mustangs missed the playoffs (1998 and 2006).
Midwestern is now 6-3 all time in LSC Postseason Tournament first round, but is a perfect 6-0 with Jeff Ray on the bench.
MSU is looking to make its fourth appearance in the Lone Star Conference postseason tournament championship game and have claimed win in each of the finals with titles in 1999, 2000 and 2007.
The Mustangs are 8-2 against the tournament field this season with its lone losses coming to Central Oklahoma (92-78 on Nov. 25 in Edmond) and to Tarleton State (66-62 on Feb. 7 in Stephenville).
Mustangs Trends
Midwestern State (22-6) has won 19 of its last 21 games coming into today's Lone Star Conference semifinal.
The Mustangs claimed their first outright LSC South Division title since 2000 by going 10-2 against the South Division. It marked MSU's best division record since it finished.
The Mustangs are second in the LSC in scoring offense at 80.8 points per game and are sixth in the league in scoring defense allowing 69.1 points a game.
MSU tops the conference in field goal percentage (48.7 percent) and 3-point percentage (41.2 percent) and are second in field goal percentage defense (41.2 percent). Midwestern is third in 3-point field goal percentage (31.4 percent).
Javelinas Trends
Texas A&M-Kingsville (19-9) struggled down the stretch by alternating wins and losses over the final two weeks of the regular season, but the Javelinas have still won eight of their last 11 games.
TAMUK is 20-24 in 27 Lone Star Conference Tournament appearances. The Javelinas effort for their eighth championship game appearance, but have claimed just to conference championships – 1992 and 1996.
Texas A&M-Kingsville is 11th in the LSC in scoring offense at 67.3 points per game and are fourth in the league in scoring defense allowing 65.8 points a game.
The Javelinas are fifth in the league in field goal percentage (44.6 percent) and 11th in 3-point percentage (32.5 percent). TAMUK is ninth in field goal percentage defense (43.9 percent) and is ninth in 3-point field goal percentage (34.6 percent).
Be on the look out for this Mustang
Five-time Lone Star Conference South Division Player of the Week Nolan Richardson tops not only the conference but is the NCAA Division II South Central Region's scoring leader at 20.9 points per game.
Richardson tallied a career-best 35 points aided by six 3-pointers to help the Mustangs clinch the No. 1 seed with a 90-77 win over No. 23 Angelo State last week on Feb. 25 in Junell Center/Stephens Arena.
He fought off the flu to score 13 points in a 80-59 runaway win over Texas A&M-Kingsville last Saturday to clinch MSU's first outright South Division title since 2000 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
Richardson needed just 22 minutes and nine field goal attempts to score 27 points in a 94-66 runaway win over Cameron on Thursday night.
In that game, he became the 34th member of Midwestern's 1,000-point Club and currently has 1,015 career points. He also went over 2,000 points during his four years of collegiate competition which included stops at Northern Oklahoma-Enid and Hutchinson (Kan.) College.
Richardson has posted at least 30 points in five games and has scored 20-or-more points 15 times this season.
This Javelina is Dangerous
Although senior point guard Wendell Mulkey has scored 14 points over his last four games, the first-team All-Lone Star Conference South Division performer is the pivotal cog for Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Mulkey rates second in school history with 438 career assists and tops the TAMUK's career charts with 226 steals.
But he has shown the ability to score as he poured in a season-high 23 points at Angelo State on Feb. 4 as part of a four-game run in double figures.
The Hoggies look to senior forward Robert Williams and junior forward Clyde Johnson to provide a scoring spark.
Williams paces TAMUK with a 12.1 points per game average and also leads the team with 6.9 rebounds a contests, while Johnson scores 11.3 points and pulls in 4.4 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Adan Montalvo is the Javelinas' top perimeter threat and leads the conference in 3-point shooting accuracy at 45.3 percent. He scores 7.9 points per game and is coming off of a three-trey, 16-point performance in Thursday night's win over Texas A&M-Commerce
Midwestern's last time out against the Javelinas
The Mustangs scored the first nine points of the game and rolled to an 80-59 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville last Saturday at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
Sophomore forward Charlie Logan paced Midwestern with 17 points and added six rebounds, but it was the all-around games of Earl Rabb and Anthony Moore that played a key role for MSU.
Rabb scored just seven points, but snagged a team-high 10 rebounds and dished out six assists.
Moore narrowly missed a triple double with 10 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Robert Williams was Texas A&M-Kingsville's lone player in double figures with 11 points and seven rebounds off of the bench.
The Mustangs limited the Hoggies to a 34.8 percent shooting night as TAMUK hit just six of its 28 shots from beyond the arc (21.4 percent).
Midwestern also claimed a 68-63 overtime win at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Jan. 17 at Steinke Center.
Mustangs like it neutral
Midwestern State hopes to continue its hot shooting on neutral floors in today's LSC semifinal against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
The Mustangs are 3-0 with wins over Northwest Missouri State (84-78 on Dec. 20), Ouachita Baptist (77-72 on Dec. 21) and Cameron (94-65 on March 5).
In those games, MSU has posted a 53.8 field goal percentage and has hit a 51-percent clip from the arc.
Senior guard Nolan Richardson averages 30.3 points a game on neutral surfaces with a 56.1 field goal percentage while hitting 12 of his 21 shots (57.1 percent) from the arc. He has also hit 33 of his 34 free throws (97.1 percent).
About the series
Midwestern State and Texas A&M-Kingsville will meet for the 30th time on the hardwood Saturday afternoon at Bruin Fieldhouse.
The Mustangs own an 18-11 edge in the series and have won the last two contests between the teams this season to snap a five-out-of-six run by the Hoggies in the series.
While the teams have never met in a Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament contest, MSU has won each of the neutral site games between the teams.
Midwestern defeated TAMUK 76-71 in Grand Forks, N.D. on Dec. 29, 1985 before besting the Javelinas 69-64 on Nov. 27, 1987 at the LSC regular season tournament in Amarillo.
On this date (March 7)
1979 - Paul Brantley and Tony Forch combine for 55 points to lead Midwestern to a 93-83 win over Prairie View A&M for the NAIA District 8 championship in front of 3,700 fans at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Brantley scores 29 points while Forch hits for 26 as the Indians earn a berth in the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City.
1983 - Chuck Hall scores 23 points and dishes out five assists, but Midwestern is unable to hold on to a six-point halftime lead as Texas Wesleyan takes 63-61 win in the NAIA District 8 finals in Fort Worth.
1992 - Incarnate Word's Randy Henderson erupts for 25 points and eight rebounds to lead the Crusaders to a 93-88 win over Midwestern in the NAIA District 8 playoffs at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. James Nelson cans four 3-pointers to finish with 23 points to lead the Indians.
1994 - E.J. Collins knocks down three treys on his way to 26 points and hands out six assists to pace an 81-67 runaway win over Wayland Baptist in the NAIA South Regional finals in Brownwood. Roderick Hay also notches a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Indians.
1997 - Damion McKinney cans four 3-points and threatens a triple-double with 21 points, eight assists and eight steal, but Midwestern falls 98-94 to The Master's (Calif.) in the NAIA Southwest Region Independents finals in Fort Worth.
Midwestern State is 2-3 all time in games played on March 7.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
