MSU Men's Basketball Game Day

Midwestern State loads up for another shot at clinching an outright Lone Star Conference championship Wednesday night against Texas A&M-Commerce at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

The Mustangs own a two-game lead over Cameron with two games to play and can claim the title with a win or a Cameron loss to Tarleton Wednesday night in Lawton.

Texas A&M-Commerce has won three-straight games and is going for its first season sweep of the Mustangs since the 1997-98 season.

Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
   

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MUSTANGS FAST BREAK

LAST TIME OUT:  Angelo State jumped out a 15-point lead at intermission then hung on for a 53-50 win over Midwestern State Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. It was the Rams first victory in Wichita Falls since 1988 snapping a 20-game losing streak under the dome. The Mustangs struggled to a 39.5 percent shooting night including a 2-of-13 effort from the arc. MSU was also abysmal from the charity stripe connecting on 14-of-25 attempts (56 percent). Senior forward Corbin Thomas led the way with 14 points and nine rebounds while senior guard Kevin Grayer chipped in 13 points and four rebounds. Junior guard Cam Adderley added 11 points. Dakota Rawls paced Angelo State with 12 points while Ryan Marsh added 10.

LAST TIME OUT (vs. Texas A&M-Commerce):  Preston Whittley poured in a season-high 28 points to lead Texas A&M-Commerce to a 74-66 win over Midwestern State on Jan. 9 at the A&M-Commerce Fieldhouse. The Mustangs got off to a quick start to lead by as many as 12 points in the opening half before the Lions roared back to close to within 34-33 at the half. Whitley opened the season have with a 3-pointer to give A&M-C its first lead of the game as the Lions spanned the break with a 15-0 run to push the lead to as many as nine points. The Mustangs battled back to tie the game on five occasions but never regained the lead. Junior guard Monzaigo Williams hit four 3-pointers to pace MSU with 22 points and six assists while senior forward Corbin Thomas tallied a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

MUSTANGS LOOKING TO TAKE LSC TITLE OUTRIGHT:  Midwestern State (13-3) takes its second swipe at clinching an outright Lone Star Conference championship Wednesday night against Texas A&M-Commerce. The Mustangs own a two-game lead over Cameron (11-5) who tops a tightly packed field. The Aggies are trailed by Tarleton State (8-6), Incarnate Word (8-6), Texas A&M-Commerce (7-7), Eastern New Mexico (7-7), West Texas A&M (6-8), Texas A&M-Kingsville (6-8), Abilene Christian (5-11) and Angelo State (3-13). 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 57-15 (.792) 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 51-19 mark (.729) 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 25-2 on its home floor under coach Nelson Haggerty and 67-4 (.944) since the start of the 2008-09 campaign which includes 42- and 21-game winning streaks. Midwestern boasts a 538-126 mark (.810) since the coliseum opened in 1969.

MUSTANGS RARING TO GO IN SECOND HALF:  Midwestern State has outscored or matched the opposition in 20 out of 23 games in the second half this season and is averaging 38.7 points while outscoring its foes by 7.0 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 eight occasions this season.

JUST GIVE ME A SECOND CHANCE:  Midwestern State has out-rebounded or matched the opposition in 22 of 23 games this season as the Mustangs rank seventh in NCAA Division II and lead the Lone Star Conference in rebound margin (+9.9) while leading the LSC in offensive rebounds per game (15.7) and offensive rebound percentage (43.9). MSU has converted 361 offensive rebounds into 349 second chance points, which accounts for an astounding 21.5-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 46-10 (.821) 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.

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.

@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.

AND EVEN MORE CORBIN:  Midwestern State senior forward Corbin Thomas has scored in double figures in his last three outings and in 17 of 23 games this season. The transfer from Missouri State ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and ranks 77th in NCAA Division II with 8.0 rebounds a game and rates fourth in the league with a 54.5 field goal percentage. Thomas leads the Mustangs in scoring at 12.9 points per game.

GIBBS...BOTTOM!:  Sophomore guard Derrell Gibbs has connected on a 3-pointer in each of his last eight games matching a season high with three treys against Cameron and Abilene Christian. Gibbs has knocked 13-of-22 shots (59.1 percent) from beyond the arc during the stretch.

CAM GETS IT STARTED IN HERE:  Midwestern State junior Cam Adderley has picked up the scoring pace after moving into the starting lineup nine games ago at Eastern New Mexico (12/31). The transfer from Northeastern CC (Colo.) has scored in double figures in 11 or 13 games as a starter to raise his scoring average from 4.8 to 8.9 points per game during his run as a starter which includes a season-high 17-point, 5-rebound performance on Feb. 2 against Texas A&M-Kingsville. Adderley is averaging 12.1 points and 5.1 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game as a starter.

NEXT TIME OUT:  Midwestern State closes Lone Star Conference play Saturday night against Tarleton State in Stephenville. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. from Wisdom Gym.
  

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SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION

TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE
// Saturday, 02.20.2013 // 7:30 p.m. // D.L. Ligon Coliseum // Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats | Audio Streaming (BOB-FM) | Video Streaming | Game Notes (PDF)

Texas A&M-Commerce (14-10, 7-7) bounced back from a three-game skid to take a pair of road wins over Angelo State and Incarnate Word before defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday night in Commerce. The Lions are currently locked in a tie for fifth place with Eastern New Mexico but are just a game behind Tarleton State and Incarnate Word who are tied for third at 8-6. Senior forward Preston Whitley paces A&M-C with 14.7 points per game and has scored in double figures in 18 of his 21 outings this season including a season-high 28 points against Midwestern State on Jan. 9. Senior guard Stefon Carson pitches in 11.1 points and 3.0 assists per game and has scored 10-or-more points in each of his last three games. Junior guard Devondrick Walker (9.2 points, 3.0 rebounds), junior guard Tyrie Wooten (9.0 points, 3.7 assists), senior forward Andrew Davis (8.9 points, 7.0 rebounds) and senior guard Jason Smith (8.6 points, 5.2 rebounds) are all solid scoring options for the Lions. A&M-Commerce scores 75 points per game and allows 73.

About the Series: Midwestern State meets Texas A&M-Commerce for the 78th time on the hardwood Wednesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. MSU holds a 46-31 advantage in the fourth longest running series in program history. Texas A&M-Commerce snapped the Mustangs' 10-game winning streak in the series taking a 74-66 decision on Jan. 9 in Commerce. It was the Lions' first win in the series since 2005. MSU owns a 26-8 edge in games played at D.L. Ligon Coliseum and have won the last five under the dome. A&M-Commerce's last win in Wichita Falls came by a 57-46 count on Jan. 29, 2004.