MSU Men's Basketball Weekly
Midwestern State hits the road to compete in the Colorado State-Pueblo Al Kaly Shriner's Classic this weekend at Missari Arena in Pueblo.
The 23rd-ranked Mustangs take on Oklahoma Christian Friday at 4 p.m. before battling host Colorado State-Pueblo Saturday night at 8.
MSU FAST FIVE
FAST STARTS SIMPLY SPELLED M-S-U: Midwestern State rolled to a pair of victories over Louisiana State-Shreveport and Southwestern Oklahoma last weekend at the SWOSU Classic in Weatherford. Fast starts are nothing new to the Mustangs who have compiled a 33-1 mark prior to New Year's Eve over the past three seasons. Midwestern started 13-0 in 2011-12 and 14-0 in 2009-10. The Mustangs did drop a controversial decision to Fort Hays State 2010-11 season opener in Bartlesville before rattling off 12 consecutive wins.
MSU RETURNS TO AL KALY SHRINERS CLASSIC: The Mustangs compete in the Colorado State-Pueblo Al Kaly Shriner's Classic for the second consecutive season. MSU battered New Mexico Highlands 79-64 before taking down the host Thunderwolves 70-56 to improve to 4-0 on the season.
MUSTANGS IN THE NABC TOP 25: Midwestern State carries a preseason national ranking for just the second time in school history. The Mustangs rank 23rd in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Top 25 despite a run of three consecutive NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances. MSU was ranked 20th prior to the 2010-11 campaign before falling 81-76 to Fort Hays State in Bartlesville. Midwestern has carried a national ranking in 31 periods since the start of the 2009-10 season including 17 weeks in the Top 10.
BALANCED MUSTANGS: Midwestern State used a balanced attack to sweep to a pair of wins last weekend at the Southwestern Oklahoma State Classic. Senior forward
Corbin Thomas leads the way at 17 points and eight rebounds and is joined in double figures by senior guard
Kevin Grayer (13.5 points), sophomore guard
Keith Spellman (12.5 points) and junior guard
Mozaigo Williams (11.5 points).
HAGGERTY IN CHARGE: Nelson Haggerty enters his second season at the helm of the Midwestern State men's basketball program. The former Baylor standout point guard boasts a 31-4 mark including a Lone Star Conference title and an Elite Eight appearance in 2011-12. He is no stranger to success as his teams have been involved in five of the last seven NCAA Division II Elite Eight fields. As an assistant, Haggerty aided Central Missouri to Elite Eight runs in 2007 and 2009 under
Kim Anderson. He moved on to serve under
Grant McCasland for the 2009-10 campaign at Midwestern State helping the Mustangs to elite runs in 2010 and 2011 as the top assistant before moving over a seat last season.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN
// Friday, 11.17.2012 // 4 p.m. // Massari Arena // Pueblo, Colo.
Live Stats | Video Streaming (PPV / $8 per game)
Oklahoma Christian (1-1) opened its 2012-13 campaign by splitting a pair of road contests last week. The Eagles suffered a 70-67 setback to Science & Arts (Okla.) on Nov. 10 then recovered to take an 86-78 win over rival Southern Nazarene (Okla.) Tuesday night in Bethany. Senior big man
Will Reinke with 21 points and 10.5 rebounds a game. He tallied a double-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists against USAO before settling for 18 points and nine rebounds versus Southern Nazarene. Junior guard
Kendre Talley (17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds) is coming off of a 25-point explosion Tuesday at Southern Nazarene while sophomore guard Nick Tate is averaging 10 points a game off of the bench.
About the Series: Midwestern State and Oklahoma Christian meet for the 33rd time on the hardwood Friday afternoon at Massari Arena, but for the first time since MSU claimed a 76-69 win over the Eagles on Nov. 26, 1993 in Bethany, Okla. MSU owns a 21-11 edge in the series that dates back to the 1961-62 season and has won three of the last four against OC. The series is the 20th longest running in school history despite the 19-year hiatus.
COLORADO STATE-PUEBLO
// Saturday, 11.17.2012 // 8 p.m. // Massari Arena // Pueblo, Colo.
Live Stats | Video Streaming (PPV / $8 per game)
Colorado State-Pueblo (0-2) opened the season with a pair of losses last weekend at the Alaska-Anchorage AT&T Jamboree. The Thunderwolves fell 80-76 to Alaska-Fairbanks Friday in overtime before losing 85-75 to Alaska-Anchorage on Saturday. CSU-P opens the Al Kaly Shrine Classic Friday against West Texas A&M. Senior guard
Arden Dennis paces the Thunderwolves scoring 12.5 points a game while junior forward
J.J. Mina adds 11.0 points a contest. Opponents have shot 46.8-percent from the floor against Colorado State-Pueblo through two games this season.
About the Series: Midwestern State and Colorado State-Pueblo meet for the second on the hardwood Saturday night at Massari Arena. MSU rolled to a 70-56 win over the Thunderwolves in the only other meeting last season at the at the Al Kaly Shriner Classic.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
