Midwestern State (2-5, 0-0) vs. Tarleton State (3-2, 0-0)
Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017 | 7:30 p.m.
D.L. Ligon Coliseum | Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com | Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM | Audio/Video: Mustangs Digital Network
 
Midwestern State (2-5, 0-0) vs. Texas A&M-Commerce (5-0, 0-0)
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 | 4 p.m.
D.L. Ligon Coliseum | Wichita Falls, Texas
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com | Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM | Audio/Video: Mustangs Digital Network
 
FREE THROWS

• Midwestern State looks to get back on track after dropping two close games last weekend at the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic in Lakeland, Fla. The Mustangs fell to Saint Leo (88-84) and host Florida Southern (88-87).
• The Mustangs are 5-1 in Lone Star Conference openers during the Nelson Haggerty era.
• Midwestern State rides a two-game winning streak into the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic.
• The Mustangs top the Lone Star Conference in free throws made (101), offensive rebounds per game (13.8) and steals per game (9.2).
• MSU ranks third in the LSC and 39^th in NCAA D2 in scoring at 87 points per game, but are last in the league allowing 88.6 points per game. The Mustangs have scored 80-or-more points in six of seven games this season.
• The Mustangs are 16^th nationally in total steals (64) and 30^th in steals per game (9.1). The Mustangs score 20.9 points per game off of turnovers which accounts for 24 percent of the team's scoring.
• Midwestern has proven adept at getting to the free throw line ranking 21^st nationally in free throws made (132) and 22^nd in free throws attempted (183). That's an average of 26.1 free throws a contest.
• Senior guard Brandon Neel ranks fifth in the LSC and 128^th in NCAA Division II in scoring at 18.4 points per game.
• Neel boasts five games with at least 10 points this season three games of 20-or-more. He poured in a season-high 30 points at Western State (Colo.), had 27 versus Southwestern Assemblies of God and 26 against Colorado Mesa.
• Neel tops MSU and is seventh in the LSC pulling down seven rebounds per game.
• Sophomore guard Logan Hicks ranks second on the team notching seven consecutive double-figure performances. He had a season-high 19 points in the opener against Arkansas-Fort Smith. He is shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 51.5 percent from the arc (17-for-33).
• Senior guard Trey Kennedy gives the Mustangs a third double-figure scorer at 13 points per game. He scored 10-or-more points in five games including a season-best 25 points on 11-of-25 shooting against Western State on Nov. 18^th. He is coming off of performances of 17 points against Saint Leo and 14 versus Florida Southern last weekend.
• Senior guard Devante Pullum rates fourth in the LSC in assists per game at 4.0 and is 11th in steals per game with 1.4. The Little Elm High product raised his season average to 9.0 points per game with back-to-back double-digit efforts in Florida. He scored 12 against Saint Leo, then went for 11 points and five assists at Florida Southern.
• Senior forward Nick Powell has scored at least eight points in four of seven games this season and is averaging 7.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game.
• Midwestern State and Tarleton State meet for the 77^th time on the hardwood Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
• The actual series dates back to the 1961-62 season with MSU holding a 47-29 edge. Tarleton State information only references the 54 games played in the series dating back to the start of the Lonn Reisman era (since 1988). Since 1988, the series is knotted at 27-27. Prior to the Reisman era, Midwestern won 20 of the 22 meetings.
• Tarleton State has won the last three meetings of the series including a season sweep in 2016-17.
• The Texans leave Wisdom Gym for the first time this season with Thursday night's trip to D.L. Ligon Coliseum. TSU routed St. Mary's (Texas) 87-61 Saturday in Stephenville to bounce out of a rough patch which included home losses to UC-Colorado Springs (103-100/2OT) and Central Oklahoma (71-63) as well as a close win over D3 Sul Ross State (80-76).
• Junior guard Corinthian Ramsey leads the LSC and ranks 11^th in NCAA D2 in scoring pouring in 25.2 points per game. The Angelina College transfer opened the season with efforts of 35 points against Metro State and 40 versus UC Colorado Springs hitting seven 3-pointers in both games. He is coming off of a 21-point effort the last time out against St. Mary's.
• Sophomore forward Josh Hawley drops ranks eighth in the LSC scoring 17.2 points and is fourth with 8.8 rebounds. He is coming off of a campaign-high 22 points Saturday against St. Mary's.
• Jaraan Lands, a 6-6, 250-pound transfer from Albany, is the Texans' third double-figure scorer averaging 11.2 points and 5.6 rebounds a game.
• Midwestern State and Texas A&M-Commerce meet for the 89^th time on the hardwood Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
• The Mustangs won a 55-33 edge in the series which dates back to the 1947-48 season. MSU has won 18 of the last 21 meetings between the programs dating back to the 2005-06 campaign. The teams have split the last two season series.
• Texas A&M-Commerce is off to a 5-0 start for the second straight season and for the fourth time in the last eight years.
• First-year coach Jaret von Rosenberg is the first Lion mentor to win his first five games.
• Junior guard Willie Rooks leads the Lions in scoring at 16.2 points per game. He is shooting at a 44.4-percent clip from the arc (12-of-27) and has scoring in double figures in all five games for the Lions including season-best 21-point efforts against Oklahoma City and Lubbock Christian. Rooks transferred in from Coastal Bend after playing his freshman year at College of Marin in 2014-15.
• Florida Gulf Coast transfer Reggie Reid has also scored in double digits all five times out for Texas A&M-Commerce. The junior guard averages 14.6 points per game with a high of 18 against Oklahoma City.
• Top returner Dorian Armstrong averages 11.8 points and is third in the LSC in rebounding with 9.8 per game. He has 10-or-more rebounds in three games this season.