MSU Texas (10-16, 6-10) vs. Western New Mexico (4-20, 1-14)
Lone Star Conference game
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 | 5 p.m.
Drag's Court | Silver City, N.M.
MSU leads all-time series 10-0 | 3-0 vs. WNMU on road | First met in 1981 NAIA Tournament
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com | Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM | Audio: Mustangs Digital Network | Video: WNMUMustangs.com
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
 
CLINCHING AN LSC POSTSEASON BERTH: Midwestern State clinches a spot in the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament with a win over Western New Mexico or if UT Permian Basin beats Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday. The Mustangs can reach as high as the No. 6 seed with a win over Cameron Tuesday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. That would produce a season split with the Aggies and the Mustangs would either have to finish a game ahead of CU or have Angelo State finish ahead of Tarleton State in the final standings. The LSC Postseason Tournament runs from March 2-4 at the Dr Pepper Center in Frisco, Texas.
 
MANY HAPPY RETURNS: Senior forward Nick Powell showed no rust after injury forced him to miss a month of action. The Henrietta High grad knocked down a 3-pointer to finish with five points and grabbed five rebounds in 23 minutes against Eastern New Mexico. It was his first action since playing four minutes against the Greyhounds on Jan. 13th at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Sophomore guard Romello Walker returned from a two-game suspension to score four points and pull down six rebounds in a season-high 24 minutes. Senior guard Trey Kennedy sat out the Eastern New Mexico after accumulating his third technical foul last Saturday against West Texas A&M. He makes his return Saturday at Western New Mexico.
 
MR. BUCKETS: Midwestern State senior Brandon Neel erupted for a career-high 32 points in Thursday's 89-74 win at Eastern New Mexico. He connected on 6-of-8 shots from the arc to score the most points for MSU since Kevin Grayer went for 33 points against Texas A&M-Commerce in the 2013 Lone Star Conference Tournament. Neel has scored in double figures in each of his last 18 games and notched at least 20 points 10 times this season. It was his second 30-point performance of the season – 30 vs. Western State (Colo.). During the 18-game run, Neel is averaging 19.8 points per game while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and has knocked down 65-of-90 (72.2 percent) from the charity stripe. The Cincinnati, Ohio native has worked his way up to third on the LSC scoring chart at 18.9 points per game.
 
THE DRAG'S COURT ADVANTAGE: Western New Mexico closes a five-game homestand Saturday afternoon against Midwestern State. WNMU claimed its first-ever Lone Star Conference win last week with an 84-80 win over Eastern New Mexico but has been on the verge of more victories. The Mustangs stretched then-No. 22 Texas A&M-Commerce before falling 93-87 on Feb. 1st. Tarleton State needed a late run to shake WNMU for a 66-49 victory before Cameron survived for an 82-78 win Thursday night. Three of Western New Mexico's four wins this season have come at Drag's Court.
 
WNMU LIKES BALANCE: Junior guard Willie McCray is the lone Mustang average in double figures this season at 12.9 points per game. The Clovis, N.M. native is coring off of a 24-point performance Thursday against Cameron, but is one of seven WNMU players averaging at least 6.7 points per game. Junior guard Haneef Vaughn-Wilson scores 9.7 points per game followed by junior guard Jordan Enriquez (8.9 ppg), junior forward Jon-Reese Woodson (7.2 ppg), sophomore guard CJ Vanbeekum (7.2 ppg), senior forward Latrell Spivey (7.1 ppg) and junior guard Davis Wade (6.7 ppg).