MSU Men's Basketball Game Day

Midwestern State efforts to put the brakes on Cameron's five-game winning streak Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
The Mustangs begin a home stretch that includes eight of their last 10 games under the dome and currently tied with Incarnate Word for the Lone Star Conference lead at 7-2.
 
The Aggies have won their last five games to move within a game of the top of the standings at 6-3.
 
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

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MUSTANGS FAST BREAK

LAST TIME OUT:  Cameron's Craig Foster's free throw with 3.3 seconds remaining lifted the Aggies to their fifth consecutive win in a 64-63 decision Wednesday night at Aggie Gym. Foster finished with a game-high 19 points as Cameron buried seven second-half 3-pointers to stymie MSU's comeback efforts. The Mustangs did overcome a 12-point first-half deficit to take two brief leads after intermission. Cam Adderley scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half.
 
LSC RACE TIGHTENING:  Midwestern State remains atop the Lone Star Conference standings, but settle back into a tie with Incarnate Word at 7-2. The surging Cameron Aggies have moved within a game of the lead at 6-3 on the strength of a five-game winning streak. Texas A&M-Kingsville is next at 5-4 followed by Texas A&M-Commerce (4-4), West Texas A&M (4-5), Tarleton State (3-5), Abilene Christian (3-6), Eastern New Mexico (3-6) and Angelo State (2-7).
 
5 SEASONS, 50 LSC WINS:  Midwestern State claimed its 50th Lone Star Conference victory since the start of the 2008-09 season on Jan. 5 at Angelo State. The Mustangs are a cool 51-14 (.785) 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 46-18 mark (.719) trailed by West Texas A&M at 37-28 (.569).
 
ROAD WARRIORS TURNING TO DOME DOMINANCE:  Midwestern State boasts a 5-2 road mark during Lone Star Conference. The Mustangs owe road trips to West Texas A&M and Tarleton State, but close out the season with seven of nine LSC contests under the dome. MSU is 20-1 on its home floor under coach Nelson Haggerty and 62-3 (.954) since the start of the 2008-09 campaign which includes 42- and 21-game winning streaks. Midwestern boasts a 533-125 mark (.810) since the coliseum opened in 1969.
 
MUSTANGS RARING TO GO IN SECOND HALF:  Midwestern State has outscored the opposition in 15 out of 16 games this season and is averaging 40.1 points while outscoring its foes by 9.3 points a game. The Mustangs have used the second-half rallies of overcome halftime deficits in 11 of 16 games this season. MSU has trailed by 10-or-more points in the first half seven times this season.
 
JUST GIVE ME A SECOND CHANCE:  Midwestern State has out-rebounded or matched the opposition in each of its 16 outings this season as the Mustangs lead the Lone Star Conference in rebound margin (+10.2), offensive rebounds per game (16.4) and offensive rebound percentage (44.3). MSU has converted 263 offensive rebounds into 254 second chance points, which accounts for an astounding 22.2-percent of its total scoring output.
 
HAGGERTY ON A ROLL:  Midwestern State coach Nelson Haggerty goes for his 41st 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 40-9 (.816) 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.
 
@DUNKEMC AT #8!!:  Midwestern State senior forward Corbin Thomas' alley-oop off of an inbound pass from Kevin Grayer on Jan. 12 against Tarleton State became the first MSU highlight to make ESPN's Top Plays of the Day countdown. The dunk has made Thomas a nominee for the State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships to be hosted at the site of the Final Four in Atlanta.
 
THOMAS NAMED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK.. AGAIN:  Thomas was named Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the third time in the last four weeks after scoring 16 points and pulling down eight rebounds with three blocked shots in MSU's 50-34 win over Tarleton State.
 
AND EVEN MORE CORBIN:  Midwestern State senior forward Corbin Thomas has scored in double figures in seven of his last nine games including four double-doubles dating back to a home win over West Texas A&M on Dec. 5. The transfer from Missouri State leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 49th in NCAA Division II with 8.5 rebounds a game and rates fifth in the league and 47th nationally with a 56.1 field goal percentage. Thomas leads the Mustangs in scoring at 13.1 points per game.
 
CAM LIKES TO START:  Midwestern State junior Cam Adderley has picked up the scoring pace after moving into the starting lineup five games ago at Eastern New Mexico (12/31). The transfer from Northeastern CC (Colo.) has scored in double figures in each of his last five games to raise his scoring average from 4.8 to 7.8 points per game during his run as a starter which includes a season-high 16-point, 5-rebound performance Wednesday at Cameron. Adderley is averaging 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds in 27.7 minutes per game as a starter.
 
KG ACTIVE AGAINST AGGIES:  Senior guard Kevin Grayer shook out of a scoring slump to pour in 15 points Wednesday night at Cameron. It was his first double-figure outing since scoring 10 points at Angelo State on Jan. 5. Grayer snapped an 0-of-9 stretch from the arc to splash in a pair of 3-pointers while working his way to the bucket going a season-best 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. He also notched four assists for the fourth consecutive game and for the fifth time in the last six. It was Grayer's 11th game with at least 10 points this season.
 
KASTER PROVIDES SPARK:  Junior forward Derek Kaster notched his fourth double-figure scoring outing of the season with 11 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes Wednesday night at Cameron. The transfer from Glendale (Ariz.) CC matched a season-high with five field goals and has pulled down at least five rebounds in each of his last five games.
 
WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK:  Midwestern State is 4-4 this season when it commits more fouls than its opponent. In fact, in the Mustangs' nine loses since the start of last season it has committed more infractions in eight of them and ended tied in fouls in the other defeat. Consequently, MSU is 21-0 over the past two seasons when the opponent is called for more fouls.
 
NEW YEAR, NEW SQUAD:  Only three current players have appeared in more than 40 games at Midwestern State. Chris Buttermore (65), Derrell Gibbs (41) and Kevin Grayer (40) have played in more than 16 games in a Mustangs' uniform.
 
NEXT TIME OUT:  Midwestern State plays a pair of games at home next week first hosting LSC co-leading Incarnate Word Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. before taking on Texas A&M-Kingsville next Saturday at 6 p.m.
  

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SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

CAMERON
// Saturday, 01.26.2013 // 6 p.m. // D.L. Ligon Coliseum // Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats | Audio Streaming (BOB-FM) | No Video Streaming  |  Game Notes (PDF)

Red-hot Cameron (10-5, 6-3) rolls into Saturday's rematch on a five-game winning streak and the Aggies have won seven of their last eight games since suffering a third-consecutive loss at West Texas A&M on Dec. 8.

Junior guard Craig Foster leads a balanced scoring attack averaging 15.2 points per game while dishing out 5.2 assists per game, but five other Aggies tally between 5.8 and 9.9 points a game including junior guard Tim Johnson (9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds), senior forward Andrew D. Thomas (8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds), junior guard Jonathan Patino (6.5 points, 4.8 rebounds), senior forward Rudy Harrell (6.4 points, 4.6 rebounds), junior guard Asaad Robinson (6.1 points, 2.0 rebounds) and junior forward Aaron Thompson (5.8 points, 2.9 rebounds).

About the Series: Midwestern State and Cameron meet for the 64th time on the hardwood Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs own a commanding 40-23 edge in the series that dates back to the 1968-69 season. The Aggies snapped MSU's nine-game overall winning streak in the series Wednesday in Lawton. The Mustangs, however, have historically dominated the Aggies under the dome. MSU has won the last 14 games in Wichita Falls dating back to a  75-68 loss on Dec. 15, 1990 and is 26-2 all time against the Aggies at Ligon Coliseum.