Midwestern State vs. Ouachita Baptist
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 | 3 p.m.
Bill Vining Arena | Arkadelphia, Ark.
Records: Midwestern State (8-1); Ouachita Baptist (2-7)
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM
Video: None
Audio: Mustangs Digital Network (Free) 
Live Stats: OBUTigers.com  
 
ON THE COURT
Midwestern State closes out its pre-holiday schedule Saturday afternoon at Ouachita Baptist at Bill Vining Arena in Arkadelphia. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
- Ouachita Baptist is coming off of an 80-54 exhibition loss at Belmont University Tuesday night in Nashville. Senior forward Tirell Brown paced the Tigers with 12 points against the NCAA Division I opponent out of the Ohio Valley Conference.
- OBU has lost five of its last six games with its lone win during the stretch coming against Southeastern Oklahoma State (102-71) on Dec. 3.
- The Mustangs are the fourth Lone Star Conference opponent for Ouachita Baptist this season. The Tigers are winless in those games taking losses to Texas A&M-Kingsville (82-65), Tarleton State (88-71) and Texas A&M-Commerce (75-63).
- Junior guard Lakee Westbrook paces OBU in scoring at 18.6 points per game and has scored at least 20 points in five games this season including in each of his last two games going for 26 against East Central and 24 against Texas A&M-Commerce.
- Junior guard Justin McCleary scores 12.4 points and dishes out 2.5 assists per game, while Brown scores 12.3 points and pulls down a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game.
- Former NBA player Dennis Nutt is 44-48 in his fourth season at the helm of the Ouachita Baptist men's basketball program. Nutt played for the Dallas Mavericks from 1986-88 after enjoying a standout collegiate career at TCU.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
- Midwestern State and Ouachita Baptist meet for the seventh time on the hardwood Saturday afternoon at Bill Vining Arena.
- The Mustangs control a 4-2 edge in the series which dates back to the 1995-96 season.
- MSU claimed a 73-51 win on Dec. 17, 2013 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum, but took an 81-77 loss in its last trip to Arkadelphia on Nov. 24, 2012.
- It's just the third trip to Arkadelphia for the Mustangs, who claimed their only win at Vining Arena by a 79-69 count on Nov. 19, 1998.
 
MUSTANGS NOTEBOOK
- Midwestern State improved to 8-1 with a 91-60 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
- Southwestern Assemblies of God is ranked 15th in NAIA with a 9-3 overall record.
- The Mustangs are off to their best start since winning the first 13 games of the 2011-12 season... It's the 11th time in program history that MSU has won at least eight of its first nine game and the fourth time since the start of the 2009-10 campaign.
- The Mustangs have won their last four games by double-digit margins and six of their eight wins this season have come by 10-or-more points.
- MSU leads the Lone Star Conference with a team field goal percentage of 50.7 and is the top field goal percentage defense at 37.8.
- The Mustangs rank fourth in NCAA Division II and top the LSC in rebounding margin at +12.8.
- MSU blocked eight shots against Southwestern Assemblies of God and rank third nationally with 6.4 blocked shots per game.
- Senior guard Bretson McNeal paced the Mustangs in scoring for the fourth straight game scoring 19 points with three 3-pointers to up his season scoring average to 14.1 points per game.
- Senior forward Khapri Alston went 7-for-8 from the floor to match a season high with 17 points while pulling down eight rebounds in 17 minutes of court action against Southwestern Assemblies of God.
- Alston has scored in double figures in all nine games for MSU this season.
- Junior forward Trevor Fuller set season highs with nine points, nine rebounds and four assists Saturday against Southwestern Assemblies of God.
- Fuller also recorded two blocked shots and has multiple blocks in eight of nine games this season.
- Senior guard Hershell Grant dealt out a season-high five assists against SAGU.
- Junior guard Pat Smith netted a career-high eight points while dishing out a campaign-best five assists in 20 minutes against Southwestern Assemblies of God.
- Junior forward Matt Pollard scored a season-high eight points and grabbed five rebounds with four blocked shots in nine minutes Saturday against Southwestern Assemblies of God.
 
MSU IN THE POLLS
- Midwestern State remains at No. 2 in the D2 Media Poll which is the highest national ranking in program history. The Mustangs previously ranked as high as no. 3 in the NABC's final regular season rankings of the 2009-10 campaign.
- The Mustangs moved up two more spots to No. 10 in this week's edition of the NABC Division II Top 25.
 
MUSTANGS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
TEAM RANKINGS
- Rebound Margin -- 2nd -- +12.4
- Blocked Shots Per Game -- 3rd -- 6.4
- Total Blocks -- 5th -- 58.0
- Field Goal Percentage Defense -- 7th -- 37.8
- Scoring Margin -- 9th -- 17.9
- Team Field Goal Percentage -- 14th -- 50.7
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
- Total Blocks -- Trevor Fuller -- 11th -- 24.0
- Blocked Shots Per Game -- Trevor Fuller -- 12th --- 2.67
- Free Throw Percentage -- Jordan Stevens -- 18th -- 92.6
- Double-Doubles -- Khapri Alston -- 24th -- 4.0
- Field-Goal Percentage -- Khapri Alston -- 26th -- 62.3
- Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage -- Bretson McNeal -- 31st -- 49.0
 
THE HAGGERTY ERA
- Nelson Haggerty is in his fifth season at the helm for Midwestern State as one of the top young coaches in college basketball.
- Haggerty boasts a 105-31 mark (.772) leading the Mustangs to the NCAA Division II postseason in each of his campaigns at the helm and to  Lone Star Conference championships in each of his first three seasons as head coach.
- Haggerty earned NABC South Central Region and Lone Star Conference coach of the year honors in his rookie season of 2011-12 piloting the Mustangs to their third consecutive Elite Eight showing.
- With Haggerty on the bench (including two seasons as top assistant), MSU has advanced to three Elite Eights (2010, 2011, 2012) and to the NCAA Division II postseason six consecutive years.
 
NEXT TIME OUT
Midwestern State returns from the Holiday break to take on Science & Arts (Okla.) on New Year's Eve at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.