MSU Men's Basketball Game Day

Midwestern State plays host to rival Tarleton State Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

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MUSTANGS FAST BREAK

LAST TIME OUT: Texas A&M-Commerce struck for a 17-2 run spanning the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to take a 74-66 win over Midwestern State Wednesday night at the A&M-Commerce Fieldhouse. The loss snapped a four-game winning for the Mustangs, who took their first LSC loss to fall to 10-4 and 6-1. Junior guard Monzaigo Williams led the way with 22 point and six assists while senior forward Corbin Thomas notched his fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 boards.

MUSTANGS TOP THE LSC: Midwestern State (6-1) took its first Lone Star Conference loss of the season, but still hold a one-game lead over Incarnate Word (4-1). Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M-Kingsville are tied for third at 3-2 followed by Cameron (4-3), West Texas A&M (2-3), Tarleton State (2-3), Eastern New Mexico (2-3), Abilene Christian (1-5) and Angelo State (1-5). The Mustangs have claimed six Lone Star Conference championships since joining the league prior to the 1996-97 campaign.

5 SEASONS, 50 LSC WINS: Midwestern State claimed its 50th Lone Star Conference victory since the start of the 2008-09 season last Saturday at Angelo State. The Mustangs are a cool 50-13 (.794) during the time span which includes three Elite Eights (2010, 2011, 2012) and three Lone Star Conference titles (2009, 2010, 2012). Tarleton State is second with a 45-16 mark (.738) trailed by West Texas A&M at 35-26 (.574).

TRENDING HALVES: Midwestern State suffered its first loss of the Nelson Haggerty era dropping to 24-1 in games it carried a lead into the half. The Mustangs have trailed in 10 of 14 games at the half this season while double-digit opening half deficit in six games. MSU shoots just 39.0 percent as a team and owns a +2.5 rebounding margin prior to intermission. On the flip side, Midwestern has outscored the opposition in the second half in 13 of its 14 games by an average margin of 9.8 points per game. The Mustangs connect on 48.6 percent of their shots from the field in the second half while out-rebounding the opposition by a +8.0 margin.

JUST GIVE ME A SECOND CHANCE:  Midwestern State has out-rebounded or matched the opposition in each of its 14 outings this season as the Mustangs lead the Lone Star Conference in rebound margin (+10.6), offensive rebounds per game (16.9) and offensive rebound percentage (45.0). MSU has converted 236 offensive rebounds into 223 second chance points, which accounts for an astounding 21.7-percent of its total scoring output.

DOME DOMINANCE: Dome Magic is alive and well at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs have posted a 19-1 mark on its home floor under coach Nelson Haggerty with its lone loss coming to Arkansas Tech last month. MSU is 61-3 (.953) since the start of the 2008-09 season which includes a 42-game winning streak which was snapped by Tarleton State during the 2010-11 season. Midwestern boasts a 532-125 mark (.810) since the coliseum opened in 1969.

HAGGERTY ON A ROLL: Midwestern State coach Nelson Haggerty goes for his 40th win since taking over the helm of the Midwestern State program in 2011-12. Haggerty led the Mustangs to their third consecutive NCAA II South Central Region championship last season winning the school's sixth Lone Star Conference title along the way. Haggerty, who is 39-8 (.830) in two seasons at MSU, has been a part of Elite Eights in each of the last four seasons and five of the last six serving as an assistant at Central Missouri (2007, 2009) before moving to MSU as Grant McCasland's top assistant (2010, 2011) and moving into his first head coaching role in 2011-12.

THOMAS TAKES DEFENSIVE HONORS AGAIN: Senior forward Corbin Thomas claimed LSC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season after averaging 12.7 points and 10 rebounds a game in wins at Eastern New Mexico, Abilene Christian and Angelo State over the Christmas break. The transfer from Missouri State tops the league with 3.9 offensive rebounds a game and is second in overall boarding collecting 8.2 caroms a contest.

DOUBLE, DOUBLE MAN: Senior forward Corbin Thomas has notched double-doubles in each of his last two games including a 10-point, 14-rebound performance at Angelo State and an 18-point, 14-rebound effort against Texas A&M-Commerce. Thomas ranks 25th in NCAA Division II with five double-doubles. He has netted double figures in 11 games this season while pulling down 10-or-more boards five times.

ADDERLEY STARTS, SCORES: Junior guard Cam Adderley has responded well since being moved into the starting lineup four games ago. The transfer from Northeast (Colo.) CC is averaging 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 24.8 minutes over the last four games while hitting in double figures in each of the last three. Adderley has upped his season high in each game scoring 12 points with four rebounds at ACU, 13 points with six rebounds at Angelo State and 15 points with seven rebounds at Texas A&M-Commerce.

NEXT TIME OUT: Midwestern State enjoys an 11-day break before taking on Cameron on Wed., Jan. 23 in Lawton to start "LSC Rivalry Week." The Aggies make the return trip to D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Sat., Jan. 26.
  

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SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

TARLETON STATE
// Saturday, 01.12.2013 // 6 p.m. // D.L. Ligon Coliseum // Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats | Audio Streaming (BOB-FM) | No Video Streaming

Tarleton State (8-4, 2-3) looks to avoid its first three-game losing streak since the 2008-09 season Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Texans are winless away from Wisdom Gym this season taking losses at Angelo State and Incarnate Word and are coming off of a 71-62 loss to Cameron Wednesday night on their home floor.

Junior guard Coleman Furst leads a trio of Texans in double figures this season. The Denison native is averaging 11.4 points per game while junior guard De'Andre Upchurch adds 10.7 points and junior guard Chuck Guy tallies 10.5 points to go along with 4.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds a game.

Senior guard Brian Word scores 8.5 points with 4.9 rebounds a contest while sophomore forward Davene Carter is shooting 86-percent from the field while scoring 8.0 points and pulling down 6.4 boards a game.
Tarleton State averages 66.2 points a game as a team and allows 60.7.

About the Series: Midwestern State and Tarleton State meet for the 64th time on the hardwood Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs own a commanding 42-21 edge in the series which dates back to the 1961-62 season. The teams have met 11 times over the past three campaigns with the Mustangs claiming wins in seven of them including knocking Tarleton out of the South Central Regional in 2010 and 2011. MSU is 15-10 all time against the Texans at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.