Midwestern State (2-8) vs. Rollins (8-3)
Rollins Las Vegas Classic
Monday, Dec. 18, 2017 | 2 p.m.
Doolittle Center | Las Vegas, Nev.
Live Stats: RollinsSports.com | Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM | Audio: Mustangs Digital Network | Video: RollinsSports.com
 
Midwestern State (2-8) vs. Southern Indiana (7-2)
Rollins Las Vegas Classic
Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017 | 4 p.m.
Doolittle Center | Las Vegas, Nev.
Live Stats: RollinsSports.com | Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM | Audio: Mustangs Digital Network | Video: RollinsSports.com
 
MUSTANGS NOTES

• Midwestern State competes in its fourth classic of the season Monday and Tuesday at the Rollins Las Vegas Classic.
• The Mustangs are 0-4 in neutral site games this season falling to Arkansas-Fort Smith (88-74) and Rogers State (73-67) at the Colorado State-Pueblo Conference Challenge on Nov. 10^th and 11^th, to Colorado Mesa (90-78) at Western State's Comfort Inn Classic on Nov. 17th and to Saint Leo (Fla.) (88-84) at Florida Southern's Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 24^th.
• MSU's current five-game slide is the longest since the Mustangs dropped six straight from Jan. 28^th-Feb. 16^th, 2017. An MSU men's basketball squad has not lost more than six consecutive games since the 1988-89 team dropped eight straight from Jan. 4-21, 1989.
• Midwestern State leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 28^th in NCAA Division II by forcing 17.4 turnovers per game and also tops the LSC in team steals per game with 8.8.
• MSU is third in the league in turnover margin at +3.1.
• The Mustangs average 20.4 points off of turnovers per game accounting for 24.7 percent of their total output.
• Midwestern tops the Lone Star Conference in offensive rebounds per game (13.2) while averaging 15.4 second-chance points a contest.
• Midwestern is fourth in the league in scoring at 82.7 points per game, but 10^th in scoring defense allowing 88.2 points a game.
• MSU ranks 73rd in NCAA D2 in scoring at 82.7 points per game. The Mustangs have scored 80-or-more points in seven games this season.
• The Mustangs rate second in the LSC and 90^th in NCAA D2 with a 73.3 team free throw percentage.
• MSU has held a lead in nine of its 10 games this season
• Senior guard Brandon Neel ranks sixth in the LSC and 167th in NCAA Division II in scoring at 16.9 points per game.
• Neel boasts seven 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 10th in the LSC pulling down 6.2 rebounds per game.
• Senior guard Devante Pullum leads the LSC in assists per game with 5.0 and is fifth in steals per game with 1.9. The Little Elm High product has scored in double figures in each of his last five games including a campaign-best 26-point, 6-assists effort at Angelo State on Dec. 7th.
• Pullum is averaging 15.0 points, 5.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game over his last five outings while shooting 46.7 percent from the field (28-of-60).
• Pullum ranks fourth in the LSC in free throw percentage at 82.9 percent (29-of-35).
• Sophomore guard Logan Hicks ranks second on the team notching double-figures in each of MSU's first seven games this season. He had a season-high 19 points in the opener against Arkansas-Fort Smith. He is shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 42 percent from the arc (21-for-50).
• Senior guard Trey Kennedy gives the Mustangs a third double-figure scorer at 10.1 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 put up performances of 17 points against Saint Leo and 14 versus Florida Southern at the Florida Southern Thanksgiving Classic.
• Senior forward Nick Powell has scored at least eight points in six games this season and is averaging 8.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game.
• Powell buried his first five 3-pointers against Texas A&M-Commerce on Dec. 2nd to finish with a season-high 17 points and also grabbed seven rebounds.
• Junior forward Wanaah Bail poured in a season-high 18 points shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the field while going 7-for-8 at the free throw line at Angelo State on Dec. 7^th.

 
VERSUS ROLLINS

• Midwestern State and Rollins (Fla.) meet for the first time on the hardwood Monday afternoon at the Doolittle Center.
• It will be MSU's fifth meeting with a current member of the Sunshine State Conference. The Mustangs split the previous four including a sweep of Nova Southeastern and Lynn during the 2014-15 season before taking a pair of close losses to Saint Leo (88-84) and Florida Southern (88-87) earlier this season at the FSC's Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic in Lakeland.
• Rollins is 8-3 overall and 3-1 in Sunshine State Conference play.
• The Tars have won their last three games and eight of the last nine since opening the season with consecutive home losses to Clark Atlanta and Morehouse. Rollins' only loss during the stretch came on the road against nationally ranked Barry (Fla.) (103-91).
• Rollins leads the Sunshine State Conference and ranks eighth nationally with a team field goal percentage of 51.8. The Tars are fourth in the SSC and ninth in NCAA D2 dishing out 20.1 assists per game.
• The Tars like to dial it up from long distance ranking third in the SSC and 29^th nationally with 10.5 3-point makes per game while shooting 40.6 percent as a team from the arc (35^th in D2 / 3^rd in SSC).
• Senior forward Sam Philpott ranks fourth in the SSC and 33^rd in D2 in scoring at 21.5 points per game. He scored in double figures in each of Rollins' 11 games and tallied at least 20 seven times including a season high of 31 against Puerto Rico-Bayamon (11/21). He is coming off of a 25-point performance going 11-of-14 from the field against Saint Leo (12/9).

 
VERSUS SOUTHERN INDIANA

• Midwestern State and Southern Indiana meet for the second time on the hardwood Tuesday afternoon at the Doolittle Center.
• The Mustangs ended Southern Indiana's 51-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents with an 86-69 win in the finale of the Bill Joergens Memorial Classic at the USI Physical Activities Center on Nov. 28, 2015.
• Southern Indiana rides a six-game winning streak into its home game with Urbana (1-9) Friday at the USI Physical Activities Center before opening the Rollins Las Vegas Classic against West Texas A&M on Monday.
• The Screaming Eagles opening the season with losses in two of their first three games. The setbacks came to Augustana (77-73) at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Evansville, Ind. On Nov. 3^rd and to Hillsdale (Mich.) (77-70) at the GLVC/GMAC Crossover in Canton, Ohio on Nov. 10^th.
• Southern Indiana posted a 25-5 record in 2016-17, but were 25-2 heading into the regular season finale. USI lost at Bellarmine (67-61) to close the regular season then fell to Truman State (69-68 in the GLVC quarterfinals dropping another one-point game to Findlay (Ohio) (70-69) in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional in Louisville.
• The Screaming Eagles are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation ranking seventh in rebound margin (+11.4) and 63^rd in offensive rebounds per game (12.44).
• USI rates fourth in the GLVC and 85^th in NCAA D2 in defensive field goal percentage (42.7).
• The Screaming Eagles shoot 48.3 percent from the field as a team to rank sixth in the GLVC and 69^th nationally.
• Senior point guard Marcellous Washington ranks second in NCAA Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio dishing out 33 assists while committing five turnovers in 299 minutes of play over USI's first nine games of the season.
• Washington is second on the team scoring 15.8 points per game shooting 48.5 percent from the field, 46.3 percent from the arc and 92 percent from the charity stripe (23-of-25).
• Returning 2016-17 All-GLVC first-teamer Alex Stein paces the Screaming Eagles in scoring at 17.3 points per game. The 6-3 junior guard from Evansville, Ind. shoots 44.9 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from the arc and 94.3 percent from the charity stripe (50-of-53).
• Junior forward Nate Hansen connects on three 3-pointers a game and shoots 48.6 percent from distance to average 14 points in his first six games at USI since transferring from Vincennes.