Midwestern State continues its four-game homestand by playing host to Abilene Christian Wednesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

The Mustangs are riding a season-best five game winning streak into the contest and can decrease their magic number to clinch a seventh Lone Star Conference title to two with a win over the Wildcats.

ACU has lost three of its last four, but is coming off of a 75-70 overtime loss to Tarleton State Saturday at Moody Coliseum.

Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

---

MUSTANGS FAST BREAK

LAST TIME OUT:  Senior guard Kevin Grayer poured in a career-high 24 points to lead Midwestern State to an 83-72 win over Eastern New Mexico Saturday night D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs erupted for a 13-0 run midway through the first half to take a 28-18 lead on a Cam Adderley tip-in with 4:18 to play in the first half. The Mustangs maintained a double figure through much of the remainder of the contest. Senior forwad Corbin Thomas pitched in 19 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes while junior forward Derek Kaster added 13 points including a pair of 3-pointers in 21 minutes off of the bench. Rafael Love (26), Rodney Blackmon (24) and Jordan Romero (12) accounted for 62 of ENMU's 72 points.

LAST TIME OUT (vs. Abilene Christian):  Cam Adderley's layup in transition gave the Mustangs a 72-71 lead with 18 seconds remaining and Monzaigo Williams blocked ACU's Eric Lawton's 3-point attempt from the baseline to preserve the win for Midwestern State on Jan. 3 at Moody Coliseum. Williams knocked down a pair of 3s on his way to a game-high 19 points while sophomore guard Keith Spellman added 14 points including a 7-of-9 effort at the charity stripe. Junior forward Derek Kaster pitched in 13 points and Adderley added 12 more for the Mustangs. Lawton paced the Wildcats wit 17 points and seven assists on 6-of-19 shooting.

SO HARD TO SAY MEOW:  Wednesday night marks the last regular season meeting for Midwestern State and Abilene Christian as NCAA Division II members. It will also mean the MSU's top three running series of all times will be become inactive with the Wildcats leaving for the NCAA Division I Southland Conference. Midwestern and ACU will play for the 83rd time which is the second most tenured series in program history behind Wayland Baptist (103 meetings) and just ahead of Texas Wesleyan (82). The longest active series will fall to Texas A&M-Commerce, who the Mustangs have played 76 times.

MUSTANGS ON VERGE OF SEVENTH LSC CROWN:  Midwestern State (12-2) needs two wins to clinch its seventh Lone Star Conference championship. The Mustangs carry a two-game lead over Incarnate Word (8-4). Cameron (9-5) sits alone in third followed by Tarleton State (7-5), Eastern New Mexico (7-7), West Texas A&M (6-8), Texas A&M-Commerce (5-7), Texas A&M-Kingsville (5-7), Abilene Christian (5-9) and Angelo State (2-12). Midwestern State has claimed league championship in four of the last six seasons (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012) after claiming back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000.

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 56-14 (.800) 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 50-18 mark (.735) trailed by West Texas A&M at 39-31 (.557).

ROAD WARRIORS TURNING TO DOME DOMINANCE:  Midwestern State boasts a 6-2 road mark during Lone Star Conference play. The Mustangs must hit the road just one more time against Tarleton State, but are in the midst of closing out the season with seven of its last nine LSC contests under the dome beginning with its Jan. 26th contest against Cameron. MSU is 24-1 on its home floor under coach Nelson Haggerty and 66-3 (.957) since the start of the 2008-09 campaign which includes 42- and 21-game winning streaks. Midwestern boasts a 537-125 mark (.811) since the coliseum opened in 1969.

MUSTANGS RARING TO GO IN SECOND HALF:  Midwestern State has outscored or matched the opposition in 18 out of 21 games in the second half this season and is averaging 39.5 points while outscoring its foes by 7.2 points a game. The Mustangs have used the second-half rallies of overcome halftime deficits in 11 times this season. MSU has trailed by 10-or-more points in the first half seven occasions this season.

JUST GIVE ME A SECOND CHANCE:  Midwestern State has out-rebounded or matched the opposition in 20 of 21 games this season as the Mustangs rank fifth in NCAA Division II and lead the Lone Star Conference in rebound margin (+10.6) while leading the LSC in offensive rebounds per game (15.9) and offensive rebound percentage (44.4). MSU has converted 334 offensive rebounds into 320 second chance points, which accounts for an astounding 21.1-percent of its total scoring output.

HAGGERTY ON A ROLL:  Midwestern State coach Nelson Haggerty goes for his 46th 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 45-9 (.833) 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.

BETTER STARTS:  Midwestern State has flipped the script in the first half. The Mustangs trailed at the half in 10 of their first 13 games, but their first halves have had much more of a defensive flair as of late. MSU has held its last seven opponents 30 points or fewer before the intermission and have taken a halftime edge into the locker in each of the last eight games. The opposition is averaging 21.9 points in the first half over the last seven games including defensive stalwarts allowing 12 points to Tarleton State (1/12/13) and 11 at West Texas A&M (2/6/13).

FORCING HISTORIC LOWS:  The count of pages flipped in opponents' record books is higher than points put on the scoreboard at times this season for Midwestern State. The Mustangs held Tarleton State to an all-time low scoring output in a 50-34 win on Jan. 12 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. MSU then held West Texas A&M to their second lowest output since entering NCAA Division II in 1986-87 in a 55-42 win on Feb. 6, 2013 at the First United Bank Center.

IN THE POLLS:  Midwestern State has received votes in the last two NABC Division II Coaches' Polls and currently has garnered 31 points to sit just right outside of the rankings. The Mustangs were ranked 22nd in the preseason poll before falling to 23rd then out of the poll following their loss to Colorado State-Pueblo on Nov. 17, 2012. The NCAA Division II South Central Region Rankings are set for their first release on on Wed., Feb. 20.

D'HAITI TABBED LSC DPOW:  Midwestern State junior forward Eddie D'Haiti claimed LSC Defensive Player of the Week honors after blocking two shots and altering five others in last week's 55-42 win at West Texas A&M.

NEXT TIME OUT:  Midwestern State continues its four-game homestand Saturday against Angelo State before wrapping up versus Texas A&M-Commerce on Wednesday. The Mustangs then close LSC play at Tarleton State the following Saturday.
  

---

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

ABILENE CHRISTIAN
// Wednesday, 02.13.2013 // 7:30 p.m. // D.L. Ligon Coliseum // Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats | Audio Streaming (BOB-FM) | No Video Streaming | Game Notes (PDF)

Abilene Christian (11-11, 5-9) have lost three of their last four, but have suffered numerous close losses this season. Six of the Wildcats' 11 losses have come by 5-or-fewer points and four of those defeats have come by two-or-fewer points. ACU has suffered just one double-digit defeat - by a 64-50 count - at Tarleton State earlier this season. Senior transfer Eric Lawton paces a group of three Wildcats averaging in double figures with 16.8 points a game. The 6-foot guard from Moreno Valley, Calif. has hit at a 47-percent clip from 3-point range while connecting on 2.5 treys a contest to go along with 4.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds a game. Senior center Steven Werner gives ACU an inside presence with 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds a game while senior guard Elliott Lloyd scored 11.8 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds a game. Freshman guard Parker Wentz (8.5 points, 2.0 rebounds), junior forward Cornelius Cammock (8.2 points, 4.5 rebounds) and senior forward Dosh Simms (8.1 points, 8.2 rebounds) add scoring depth for the Wildcats. Abilene Christian averages 72.0 points a game and allows 67.8.

About the Series: Midwestern State and Abilene Christian meet for the 83rd time on the hardwood Wednesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs own a commanding 53-29 edge in the series which dates back to the 1946-47 season. MSU has won its nine games against Wildcats, 16 of the last 17 and 18 of the last 20 dating back to the 2002-03 season. The Mustangs have claimed the last eight games played at D.L. Ligon Coliseum dating back to an 82-81 loss on Feb. 21, 2004. ACU's last overall win in the series came by a 90-86 count on Feb. 23, 2008 in  Abilene.