MSU Men's Basketball Game Day

Midwestern State continues a four-game road stretch Thursday night against Abilene Christian at Moody Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
 

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MUSTANGS FAST BREAK

LAST TIME OUT: Senior forward Corbin Thomas poured in 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Midwestern State to a dominating 82-53 win over Eastern New Mexico Monday night in Portales. The Mustangs connected at a season-best 55.6 percent from the field including a torrid 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from the 3-point arc. Senior guard Kevin Grayer added 17 points, four assists and three steals while sophomore guard Derrell Gibbs provided a spark off of the bench with 11 points and two steals knocking down a career-best three treys.
 
MSU STAYS PERFECT IN LSC: Midwestern State improved to 4-0 in league play for the just the third time since joining the Lone Star Conference prior to the 1996-97 season. The Mustangs sit atop of the conference standings a full game ahead of Texas A&M-Commerce, which own a 2-0 mark. The Mustangs and Lions are the only LSC teams to sport a winning ledger in league play as West Texas A&M (2-2), Eastern New Mexico (2-2), Tarleton State (1-1), Texas A&M-Kingsville (1-1) and Incarnate Word (1-1) are all at .500. Abilene Christian, Cameron and Angelo State are all 1-3.
 
MUSTANGS BUCK THE TREND: Midwestern State never trailed in its 82-53 win Monday night at Eastern New Mexico. It was the first time the Mustangs never trailed in a game this season. It was also the first time in eight games that MSU took a lead into halftime. The Mustangs are now 24-0 over the past two seasons when they own a halftime lead.
 
TRENDING HALVES: Midwestern State has trailed at halftime eight of 11 games this season. To compound that, the Mustangs have faced double-digit opening half deficits in five games this season. MSU shoots just 40.1 percent as a team and owns a narrow +0.9 rebounding margin prior to intermission. On the flip side, Midwestern has outscored the opposition in the second half in each of their 11 games by an average margin of 11.5 points a game. The Mustangs connect on 49.7-percent of their shots from the field after intermission while out-rebounding the opposition by a +7.6 margin.
 
JUST GIVE ME A SECOND CHANCE: Midwestern State has out-rebounded the opposition in each of its 11 outings this season as the Mustangs lead the Lone Star Conference in rebounding margin (+8.7), offensive rebounds per game (16.3) and offensive rebound percentage (44.4). MSU has converted 179 offensive rebounds into 180 second chance points which accounts for an astounding 21.8-percent of its total scoring output.
 
THOMAS TAKING IT TO 'EM: Senior forward Corbin Thomas is averaging 18 points and nine rebounds his last four games including a pair of double-doubles against West Texas A&M (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Arkansas Tech (20 points, 13 rebounds). The transfer from Missouri State has paced the Mustangs in scoring in each of his last three outings and on five occasions this season. Thomas ranks eighth in the Lone Star Conference in scoring (14.0 ppg), is third in rebounding (7.7 rpg), fifth in field goal percentage (.596) and tops the league collecting four offensive caroms a game.
 
KG STEPPING IT UP: Senior guard Kevin Grayer has come on strong over the past three games while showing the athleticism and versatility to dominate at multiple position.  A creator or mismatches, Grayer has tallied in double figures in nine games this season and in each of his last three outings against Arkansas Tech (15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists), Mid-America Christian (14 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) and Eastern New Mexico (17 points, three rebounds, 4 assists).
 
THE DERRELL DEAL: Sophomore guard Derrell Gibbs tallied matching career highs in each of his last two games. The Burkburnett native connected for 11 points and pulled down five rebounds against Mid-America Christian on Dec. 17 then came off of the break to knock down a collegiate-best three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points off of the bench Monday night at Eastern New Mexico.
 
CAN I BEEN OF SOME ASSISTANCE?: Junior guard 'Zaigo Williams continues to lead the Lone Star Conference with 5.9 assists per game. He notched five assists in Monday's 82-53 win at Eastern New Mexico and has tallied at least five helpers in nine games this season including a campaign-best 10 on Nov. 24 at Ouachita Baptist.
 
NEXT TIME OUT: Midwestern State is in the midst of another road stretch as the Mustangs take on Angelo State Saturday night at Junell Center/Stephens Arena. MSU closes out the stretch of playing five out of six games on the road traveling to Texas A&M-Commerce on Wednesday before playing host to rival Tarleton State next Saturday. The Mustangs then take on Cameron on Jan. 23 to close out the extended road stretch. After that, Midwestern closes the regular season with eight of 10 games under the dome.
   

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SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

ABILENE CHRISTIAN
// Thursday, 01.03.2012 // 7:30 p.m. // Moody Coliseum // Abilene, Texas
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Abilene Christian (5-5)  split its games at the Las Vegas Desert Classic going in to the holiday break falling to Rollins (Fla.) (65-61) before taking an 82-72 decision over Florida Tech to snap a four-game losing streak. The Wildcats will see their first game action in 18 days Thursday night against Midwestern State.
 
Lone Star Conference leading scorer Eric Lawton (18.7 points, 3.7 assists) has been on fire of late for the Wildcats. The senior transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock is coming off of a season-best 29-point effort last time out against Florida Tech after erupting for 25 against Rollins. Lawton, who has scored 20-or-more points six times this season, shoots 50.7 percent from the field splashing in 2.7 treys a game and is an impressive 49.1 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Senior center Steven Werner, a 6-8 transfer from Sam Houston State, adds 11.9 points and 6.8 rebounds a game for the Wildcats while senior point guard Elliott Lloyd, a transfer from Northern Colorado, averages 11.1 points and 2.4 assists a game.

About the Series: Midwestern State and Abilene Christian meet for the 82nd time on the hardwood Thursday night at Moody Coliseum in Abilene. The Mustangs own a commanding 52-29 edge in the series which dates back to the 1946-47 season. MSU has claimed wins in each of the last eight and in 15 of the last 16 contests between the programs with ACU's lone win coming by a 90-86 count on Feb. 23, 2008. MSU has weaseled out wins in improbable fashions in two of its last three trips to Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs got a buzzer beating tip-in by Craig Green to take a 77-76 win on Jan. 30, 2010 then Michael Loyd connected on a free throw with a second to play off of a technical foul for a 79-78 win last season in Abilene. The Mustangs are 12-8 all time against ACU at Moody Coliseum.