Midwestern State (11-17, #7 seed) vs. UT Permian Basin (22-5, #2 seed)
Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament Quarterfinals
Friday, March 2, 2018 | 3:30 p.m.
Kitty Magee Arena | Denton, Texas
UTPB leads all-time series 5-3 | 0-1 vs. UTPB in LSC Tournament games | UTPB swept season series
Live Stats: LoneStarConference.org | Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM | Audio: Mustangs Digital Network | Video: LoneStarConference.org
 
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
 
ABOUT THE LSC POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT: The Lone Star Conference Postseason tournament is an eight-team, single elimination tournament played March 2-4 at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. The winner claims the league's automatic NCAA Division II postseason berth.  NOTE: Due to a facility issue, tournament was suspended Thursday pushing women's games to Friday. All four men's quarterfinal games were moved to Texas Woman's University's Kitty Magee Arena in Denton. The tournament semifinals on Saturday and finals on Sunday return to Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Friday, March 2
Quarterfinal Round (at Kitty Magee Arena in Denton, Texas)
Cameron vs. Tarleton State, 1:30 p.m.
Midwestern State vs. UT Permian Basin, 3:30 p.m.
Texas A&M-Commerce vs. Angelo State, 7 p.m.
West Texas A&M vs. Eastern New Mexico, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 3
Semifinal Round (at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas)
CU/TSU winner vs. MSU/UTPB winner, 6 p.m.
A&M-C/ASU winner vs. WT/ENMU winner, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 4
Championship (at Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas)
Semifinal winners, 3:30 p.m.
 
MUSTANGS IN LSC POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT: Midwestern State boasts a 28-10 (.734) record over 17 LSC Postseason Tournament appearances. The Mustangs are 12-5 in the quarterfinal round, 9-3 in the semifinals and 7-2 in the final round. MSU claimed LSC Postseason Tournament titles in 1999, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2016.
 
MSU AGAINST TOURNAMENT FIELD: The Mustangs are 4-10 against the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament field this season. MSU is 0-8 against the top four seeds (West Texas A&M, UT Permian Basin, Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Commerce), earned season splits against No. 5 Angelo State and No. 6 Cameron and swept No. 8 Eastern New Mexico.
 
MUSTANGS AT NEUTRAL SITES IN 2017-18: Midwestern State competed in four classics this season combining for a 1-5 mark in neutral site games. MSU fell to Arkansas-Fort Smith and Rogers State it the season opening CSU-Pueblo Conference Challenge then lost to Colorado Mesa to start Western State's Comfort Inn Classic. The Mustangs fell to Saint Leo to begin Florida Southern's Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic before rallying from 21 down with 12 minutes to go to beat Rollins 81-79 in the Rollins Las Vegas Classic. MSU finished its trip to Las Vegas with a 78-70 loss to Southern Indiana.
 
CLOSE, BUT….: Midwestern State is 4-6 in games decided by five-or-fewer points this season and 2-1 in overtime games. Amongst the close losses is a 1-point setback at Florida Southern (88-87), an overtime loss at Texas A&M-Commerce (91-88), a three-point loss to UT Permian Basin at home (79-76) and two-point loss at Western New Mexico (86-84).
 
MUSTANGS AGAINST NATIONALLY RANKED OPPOSITION: Midwestern State faces its sixth nationally ranked opponent this season Friday afternoon against UT Permian Basin. The Falcons are ranked 20th in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches' Top 25. MSU is winless in five tries against nationally ranked opponents falling to No. 11 West Texas A&M (83-76) on Jan. 4, to No. 8 UT Permian Basin (88-71) on Jan. 6, to Texas A&M-Commerce (91-88/OT) on Jan. 25, to No. 13 UT Permian Basin (79-76) on Feb. 8 and to No. 8 West Texas A&M (87-58) on Feb. 10. MSU has lost its last eight games against teams ranked in the NABC Top 25 dating back to an 84-78 win over No. 11 West Texas A&M on Jan. 5, 2017 in Canyon. The Mustangs are 15-21 against nationally ranked opponents during the Nelson Haggerty era.

NEEL, PULLUM EARN LSC POSTSEASON HONORS: Midwestern State senior Brandon Neel earned second-team honors after ranking third in the LSC in scoring at 19.3 points per game. He is averaging 20.1 points a game over his last 20 games – all in double figures. He garnered honorable mention last season. Senior guard Devante Pullum earned honorable mention and was an all-defensive team pick following his first full collegiate season. He averaged 13.7 points and 4.6 assists per game.
 
MR. BUCKETS: Midwestern State senior Brandon Neel closed the regular season with a flourish averaging 23.8 points over his last five games including a season-high 32-point effort at Eastern New Mexico and a 27-point performance in the regular season finale against Cameron. The 32 points against ENMU were the most for an MSU player since Kevin Grayer went for 33 points versus Texas A&M-Commerce in the 2013 Lone Star Conference Tournament. Neel has scored in double figures in each of his last 20 games and notched at least 20 points 11 times this season. It was his second 30-point performance of the season – 30 vs. Western State (Colo.). During the 20-game run, Neel is averaging 20.1 points per game while shooting 46.1 percent from the field and has knocked down 77-of-111 (69.4 percent) from the charity stripe. The Cincinnati, Ohio native has worked his way up to third on the LSC scoring chart at 19.2 points per game.
 
PULLUM POINTS THE DIRECTION: Midwestern State senior guard Devante Pullum rebounded from a two-game shooting slump (3-for-26 vs. UTPB/WT) to score 17 a game over the final three games of the campaign. Including in the three-game stretch is a 23-point outing at Western New Mexico and a 17-point, 7-assist performance against Cameron. Pullum ranks eighth in the Lone Star Conference during league play pouring in 15.4 points ranking third with 4.7 assists per game. He is shooting 43 percent from the field (130-of-302) and 36 percent from the arc (41-of-114) for the season. Pullum has knocked down 21 of his last 23 free throws (91.3 percent) over his last eight games and is leading the LSC at 85.6 percent for the season.
 
LONG RANGE LOGAN: Midwestern State sophomore guard Logan Hicks ranks eighth in the Lone Star Conference knocking down two 3-pointers per game. He is fresh off of a season-high 20-point effort burying four triples in a win over Cameron. Over his last seven games, Hicks has knocked down 19 of his 42 shots from the arc (45.2 percent). He has knocked at least three 3-pointers six times this season.
 
TREY FACTOR: Midwestern State senior Trey Kennedy scored in double figures 10 times this season including a high of 25 points in a double overtime win at Western State. The Las Vegas native came on strong over the final five games of the season to average 12.8 points shooting 47.1 percent from the field with 10 3-pointers. He started the stretch with matching 19-point efforts against Angelo State and UT Permian Basin.
 
ACTIVE AYODELE: Midwestern State junior forward Ola Ayodele is averaging 7.2 points and 8.3 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game since moving into the starting lineup 11 games ago. The London, England native is shooting 63 percent (34-of-54) while dishing out 2.2 assists to go along with 12 blocked shots and nine steals during the stretch. Ayodele pulled down 10 rebounds on three occasions going for 14 at Cameron and 10 each against Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Kingsville. He blocked a season-best five shots the last time out versus Cameron.
 
THE STRETCH FOUR: Midwestern State senior Nick Powell was shooting 44.2 percent from the arc over his first 17 games this season before going down with an injury on Jan. 13th against Eastern New Mexico. He returned to play a total of 37 minutes over the last three games. He is averaging 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in just under 20 minutes a game this season.
 
TOUGH SLEDDING ON ROAD: UT Permian Basin has nearly unbeatable on its home floor at the Falcon Dome posting a 27-1 mark since entering the Lone Star Conference to start the 2016-17 season including a perfect 15-0 run this season. This season, however, UTPB has found the going tough on the road and are looking to avoid a three-game skid outside of Odessa Friday at Dr Pepper Arena. With a chance to clinch at least a share of their second consecutive Lone Star Conference title, the Falcons sputtered to losses at Tarleton State (78-54) and Texas A&M-Commerce (85-56) last week. UTPB is 7-5 on the road this season.
 
FALCONS ARE UNIQUELY TALENTED: UT Permian Basin senior Daeshon Francis is the reigning Lone Star Conference Player of the Year and leads the league in scoring at 20.9 points per game which ranks 37th in NCAA Division II. Sammy Allen, a 6-2 senior guard, tops the LSC and ranks sixth in NCAA Division II pulling down 11.6 rebounds per game. Allen is the best in the nation averaging 9.56 defensive rebounds a game. Senior forward Josh Morris tops the LSC and rates fourth in NCAA Division II in field goal percentage (67.9), while senior guard James McPherson rates second in the LSC and 38th nationally with 3.0 made 3-pointers per game.