MSU Men's Basketball Game Day

Midwestern State goes for an outright clinch of its seventh Lone Star Conference championship when the Mustangs play host to Angelo State Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
The Mustangs are up three games in the loss column over Cameron and Incarnate Word with three games to play. A win also solidifies a No. 1-seed in the league's postseason tournament.
 
Angelo State carries an eight-game losing streak and has been beaten in 14 of its last 16 contests. The Rams are also 0-11 off of its home floor at the Junell Center this season.
 
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
   

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MUSTANGS FAST BREAK

LAST TIME OUT:  Senior guard Kevin Grayer converted a traditional three-point play and knocked down a pair of free throws to score the final five points over the last 90 seconds to preserve a 60-55 win for Midwestern State over Abilene Christian Wednesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Grayer finished with a team-high 13 points as ACU wiped out a 17-point deficit with nine minutes to play. Abilene Christian's Eric Lawton hit a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 55-55 with 2:03 to play, but that would be the last bucket the Wildcats would score. MSU junior guard Cam Adderley added 12 points while senior forward Corbin Thomas notched his sixth double double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Lawton paced ACU with a game-high 17 points including three 3-pointers.
 
LAST TIME OUT (vs. Angelo State):  Midwestern State outscored the Rams 15-2 over the final five minutes to claim a 65-55 win on Jan. 5 at Junell Center/Stephens Arena. The Mustangs trailed by as many as 17 points in the opening half but out-rebounded Angelo State 55-23 and outscored the Rams 41-24 after intermission. Junior Cam Adderley and sophomore Keith Spellman tallied 13 points each for MSU while Kevin Grayer and Corbin Thomas each notched 10. Antonio Dye had 13 points to pace the Rams.
 
MUSTANGS LOOKING TO TAKE LSC TITLE OUTRIGHT:  Midwestern State (13-2) owns a three-game lead in the loss column over Cameron (10-5) and Incarnate Word (8-5) with three games left to play. That means the Mustangs will clinch an outright league title with its next LSC victory. Tarleton State (7-6) currently holds the No. 4 position followed by Eastern New Mexico (7-7), Texas A&M-Commerce (6-7), Texas A&M-Kingsville (6-7), West Texas A&M (6-8), Abilene Christian (5-10) and Angelo State (2-13). Midwestern State has claimed league championship in now five of the last seven seasons (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013) 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 57-14 (.803) 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 50-19 mark (.725) 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 25-1 on its home floor under coach Nelson Haggerty and 67-3 (.957) since the start of the 2008-09 campaign which includes 42- and 21-game winning streaks. Midwestern boasts a 538-125 mark (.811) since the coliseum opened in 1969.
 
MUSTANGS RARING TO GO IN SECOND HALF:  Midwestern State has outscored or matched the opposition in 19 out of 22 games in the second half this season and is averaging 39.1 points while outscoring its foes by 6.9 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 21 of 22 games this season as the Mustangs rank fifth in NCAA Division II and lead the Lone Star Conference in rebound margin (+10.2) while leading the LSC in offensive rebounds per game (15.9) and offensive rebound percentage (44.2). MSU has converted 350 offensive rebounds into 336 second chance points, which accounts for an astounding 21.4-percent of its total scoring output.
 
HAGGERTY ON A ROLL:  Midwestern State coach Nelson Haggerty goes for his 47th 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 46-9 (.836) 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 eight opponents 30 points or fewer before the intermission and have taken a halftime edge into the locker in each of the last nine games. The opposition is averaging 22.3 points in the first half over the last eight 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 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.
 
@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.
 
GIBBS...BOTTOM!:  Sophomore guard Derrell Gibbs has connected on a 3-pointer in each of his last seven games matching a season high with three treys against Cameron and Abilene Christian. Gibbs has knocked 12-of-20 shots (60 percent) from beyond the arc during the stretch.

NEXT TIME OUT:  Midwestern State takes on Texas A&M-Commerce Wednesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum before heading to Stephenville to battle rival Tarleton State in its LSC regular season finale next Saturday night at Wisdom Gym.
  

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SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

ANGELO STATE
// Saturday, 02.16.2013 // 6 p.m. // D.L. Ligon Coliseum // Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats | Audio Streaming (BOB-FM) | No Video Streaming | Game Notes (PDF)

Angelo State (5-18, 2-13) dropped its eight consecutive game with a heartbreaking 76-72 overtime loss to Cameron Wednesday night at Junell Center/Stephens Arena. It was the 14th loss in the last 16 games for the Rams, who are also 0-11 away from San Angelo this season. Freshman guard Jovan Austin leads a quartet of Rams averaging double figures at 12.6 points a game while dishing out 3.8 assists and pulling down 2.0 rebounds in 28.3 minutes per game. Senior guard Antonio Dye pitches in 10.8 points and 5.1 rebounds a game while junior guard/forward Chris Talkington (10.7 points, 4.1 rebounds) and sophomore forward Dakota Rawls (10.5 points, 4.4 rebounds) also average double figures. Junior guard Bryan Hammond cues the offense with 9.8 points and 3.1 assists a game. Angelo State scores 69.7 points a game as a team and allows 75.7 on 48.6 percent shooting.

About the Series: Midwestern State meets Angelo State for the 66th time on the hardwood Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs own a commanding 43-22 edge in the series that dates back to the 1965-66 season and have won the last five games between the programs. MSU has dominated the Rams at D.L. Ligon Coliseum by a 27-3 count which includes 20 consecutive victories dating back to Angelo State's 86-76 win on Jan. 7, 1988. Yup, it's been a quarter century!