MSU Men's Basketball Weekly
Midwestern State opens Lone Star Conference play with a pair of games on the road this week.
The Mustangs take on Incarnate Word Thursday night at McDermott Center in San Antonio at 7:30 p.m. before battling Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Steinke Center.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
LAST WEEK: Midwestern State battled back from a 23-point first half deficit Saturday night at Ouachita Baptist before taking their second-straight loss 81-77 at Bill Vining Arena.
Junior point guard
Monzaigo Williams notched his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 assists to go along with four steals in 33 minutes of court time to lead a pack of five Mustangs in double figures.
Senior forward
Corbin Thomas was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field to join senior guard
Kevin Grayer with 12 points and five rebounds while sophomore guard
Keith Spellman also netted a dozen points while knocking down a pair of 3-pointers.
Junior forward
Eddie D'Haiti pitched in 10 points and pulled down six rebounds off of the bench.
ROAD WEARY: Midwestern State will play its sixth and seventh straight game away from D.L. Ligon Coliseum this week at Incarnate Word and Texas A&M-Kingsville. The road run is the second longest at the start of a season in school history as MSU started the 1988-89 campaign with nine consecutive games on the road resulting in eight-straight losses before claiming a win at Abilene Christian to start the season with a 1-8 mark. The 1995-96 squad posted a 1-4 mark in five road games from the start of the campaign. Midwestern returns to the comfortable confines of D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Dec. 5 when it takes on rival West Texas A&M.
ROAD IS WHERE CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS: Midwestern State hits the road to open Lone Star Conference play for the fourth consecutive year and for the sixth time in the last eight seasons. The Mustangs are 5-6 when opening league play outside of Wichita Falls and snapped a two-game skid in conference openers with a 65-53 win over Texas A&M-Commerce last season. MSU had dropped consecutive league openers at Angelo State falling to the Rams 84-76 in 2009-10 and 82-81 in overtime in 2010-11. Overall, Midwestern is 8-8 in LSC openers and are 3-2 at home. The Mustangs last opened LSC play at D.L. Ligon Coliseum with a 95-82 win over Angelo State back in 2008-09.
MONZAIGO GOES DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Junior point guard
Monzaigo Williams delivered MSU's first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 assists Saturday night at Ouachita Baptist (Ark.). It was the first point/assist double-double for an MSU player since
Chris Hagan had 18 points and 10 assists against Southwestern Christian on Nov. 17, 2010.
Williams ranks second in the Lone Star Conference averaging 6.8 assists per game. He also rates second in the league with a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Williams has scored at least 8 points in each game this season while connecting on 48.7 percent from the field. He is also 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
INCARNATE WORD
// Thursday, 11.29.2012 // 7:30 p.m. // McDermott Center // San Antonio, Texas
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Incarnate Word (3-2) has dropped its last two in front of the home crowd at McDermott Center, but claimed a 72-68 road win at Texas A&M International in between home losses to St. Mary's (94-87) and St. Edward's (75-62). Senior forward
Dionelle Rucker leads UIW's attack as the leading scorer in the Lone Star Conference at 22.6 points per game. The 6-4 transfer from Our Lady of the Lake has notched 20-or-more points in four of five outings this season including a season-best 29-point effort in 94-87 loss to St. Mary's.
Rucker also leads the Cardinals in rebounding at 6.6 per contest. Sophomore guard
Denzel Livingston (13.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg), junior Division I transfer (Campbell)
Anthony Horton (11.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg) and senior guard
Lyn'Dale Brown (9.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 4.8 apg) add scoring punch for UIW.
About the Series: Midwestern State and Incarnate Word meet for the 23rd time on the hardwood Thursday night at McDermott Center. The series is knotted at 11 games apiece, but the Mustangs have won the last three meetings and seven of the last eight games between the programs including a season sweep in 2011-12. Midwestern is 3-5 all-time against the Cardinals at McDermott Center.
TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE
// Saturday, 12.01.2012 // 3 p.m. // Steinke Center // Kingsville, Texas
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Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-2, 1-0) have yet to venture off Hampton Inn Court at Steinke Center this season. The Javelinas claimed a 56-48 win over Cameron in their Lone Star Conference opener Wednesday night and have now won four of their last five, but the Hoggies are just 2-2 against Division II competition this season claiming wins over St. Edward's and Cameron taking losses against Texas A&M International and McMurry. Junior guard
Rashad Basey paces the Hoggies' slow down attack averaging 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Junior guard
Jamahl Brown adds 9.8 points and 3.0 rebounds a contest while senior forward
Reid Wallace pitches in 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds a game. Texas A&M-Kingsville ranks second in the LSC limiting the opposition to 56.3 points per game and to a 34.8 field goal percentage against.
About the Series: Midwestern State and Texas A&M-Kingsville meet for the 37th time on the hardwood Saturday afternoon at Steinke Center. The Mustangs own a 25-11 edge in the series that dates back to the 1976-77 season. Midwestern has won the last nine games in the series with the Javelinas last win coming by a 78-63 count on Feb. 16, 2008. The Mustangs are 10-6 against the Javelinas in Kingsville and have claimed victories in each of their last four journeys into the Steinke Center.
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