WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State emerges out of the Christmas Break Thursday night against UT Tyler. Tipoff at Louise Herrington Patriot Center is set for 7:30 p.m. It is the first meeting between the Mustangs and the Patriots.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Lubbock Christian's Rashaan Proctor jumper in the paint gave the Chaps final victory margin, while Midwestern State guard Darius Thompson's 3-pointer from the right wing fell just short in a 73-72 loss on Saturday, Dec. 21. It was the Mustangs' third one-point loss this season and was the fifth time the Mustangs held a lead in the final minute. The Mustangs committed just two of its season-low 13 turnovers in the second, but it was enough to hold off a furious LCU effort led Proctor (21 points) and Lloyd Daniels (16 points). Senior D'monta Harris paced MSU with 18 points, while sophomore Trae Jones connected on three 3-pointers to close with 11. True freshman Evan McCarthy continued his run of scoring in double digits at home with 10 points.
 
CLOSE BUT…
Midwestern State has held an advantage in all 10 games this season and has led in the second half in eight contests. In fact, the Mustangs have led for a combined 170 minutes this season or 42 percent of all games. Further, MSU has held leads in the final five minutes in seven games and in the final minute of regulation on five occasions. The Mustangs held the lead for more than half of the game in four of their last five outings.
  

Opponent	Time with lead	Largest lead	Last time opponent tied/gained advantage
UC Colorado Springs	12:04	7	UCCS took lead, 10:51/2nd
Colorado State-Pueblo	18:41	14	CSU-P tied, 3:51/2nd
West Texas A&M	3:12	2	MSU did not lead in second half
Texas Wesleyan	5:13	6	TXWES took lead, 0:07/2nd
Central Oklahoma	4:09	4	MSU did not lead in second half
Central Missouri	26:41	19	UCM tied, 2:21/2nd
UT Permian Basin	25:15	14	UTPB took lead, 0:03/2nd
Western New Mexico	17:58	8	WNMU tied, 0:24/2nd
Angelo State	34:31	13	ASU led only 2-0, 19:42/1st
Lubbock Christian	22:03	8	LCU took lead, 0:55/2nd

  
ABOUT THE SERIES
Midwestern State and UT Tyler meet for the first time on the hardwood Thursday night at Louise Herrington Patriot Center.
 
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS
UT Tyler brings a 4-6 overall record out of the break, but the Patriots are 1-6 in NCAA Division II programs in its first season at the level. The Patriots lone victory was a 58-47 win at Tarleton State. UT Tyler is 3-3 on its home floor this season with the wins coming against Dallas Christian, Ecclesia and Jarvis Christian. Senior guard Ty Glover paces the Patriots scoring 16.1 points per game, while senior forward Jerekius Davis pitches in 9.9 points per game. Louis Wilson is in his first season as head coach at UT Tyler arriving from Grand Canyon where he was an associate head coach under Dan Majerle.
 
DEFENDING THE ARC
Midwestern State ranks amongst the best in defending the 3-point arc. The Mustangs rate second in the LSC and 12th in NCAA Division II limiting the opposition to 28.1 percent shooting from deep. Only three of MSU's 10 opponents have shot greater than 30.8 percent. The Mustangs also rank in the top half of the conference in blocked shots per game (2.7 / 8th), field goal percentage defense (43.2/6th), 3-point field goals per game (10.0/5th) and 3-point field goal percentage (38.3/2nd).
 
TRENDS
Midwestern State held leads in each of its 10 games this season including double-digit second half advantages against Colorado State-Pueblo, Central Missouri, UT Permian Basin and Angelo State. The opposition has outscored the Mustangs 21.5-9.3 in points off of turnovers per game this season and 12.6-8.8 in second-chance points. Midwestern posted a season-high 15 points off of turnovers against UT Permian Basin and had a campaign-best 14 second-chance points against Central Missouri.
 
ALL ABOARD WITH COACH LESLIE
Justin Leslie makes the move to Wichita Falls following a highly successful run at Azusa Pacific. He led his alma mater to an average of 22 wins per season in his 12 season at the helm including nine 20-win campaigns, two Pacific West Conference titles and an NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearance in 2015.  Currently, Leslie boasts a 267-130 record (.673) as a collegiate head coach.
 
HARRIS SETS SINGLE-GAME MARK FOR MARKSMANSHIP
Senior guard D'monta Harris connected on eight of his nine 3-point attempts at Central Oklahoma (11/20). The 88.9-percent accuracy is the best in a single game in program history (with at least seven makes) and is the fourth best in NCAA Division II this season. North Georgia sophomore Josh Cottrell nailed all seven his 3-point attempts against Erskine (11/9). The feat was matched by Kutztown junior Tarojae Brake on Nov. 23 against Clarion. Saint Michael's senior Jordan Guzman was 9-for-10 from the arc against Caldwell (11/8). NCAA single-game shooting percentage is based on seven made 3-pointers.
 
HARRIS RIPS NETS FOR 36
Senior guard D'monta Harris connected on 13-of-15 shots including 8-of-9 from the arc for a career-high 36 points on Nov. 20 at Central Oklahoma. The Pontiac, Mich. native completed his second consecutive double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds. Harris ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and 48th in NCAA D2 with a 44.6 3-point percentage, while rating 11th in the league and 146th nationally knocking down 2.5 triples a game. Harris is 14th in the LSC in scoring at 15.4 points per game, but ranks as the seventh-best rebounder in the league pulling down 6.8 boards per game. He is seventh in the LSC grabbing 5.0 defensive caroms a contest.
 
DARING DARIUS
Senior guard Darius Thompson is the Mustangs' second leading scorer at 14.9 points per game logging double figures in nine of MSU's 10 games. The Memphis, Tenn. native poured in a season-high 21 with 11 rebounds against Texas Wesleyan (11/16), then added a second double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds against Central Missouri (11/26). He added his third double-double of the campaign going for 10 points and 10 assists at UT Permian Basin (12/5). Thompson has hit a 3-pointer in each game this season and is shooting 50 percent from the field. He has a knack for blocking shots with nine in his first 10 games. Thompson is 10th in the conference in field goal percentage.
 
TRAE BALL
Sophomore guard Trae Jones has buried 15 of his last 37 shots from beyond the arc (40.5 percent) during his current six-game run connecting on at least one triple. The Wichita Falls native connected on multiple 3s in five of those six games which includes a season-high 18-point effort at Western New Mexico (12/14) and a 11-point performance versus Lubbock Christian (12/21).
 
BROWN ERUPTS FOR DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Sophomore forward Jalin Brown set career highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds against Western New Mexico (12/14). The Denton native shot 6-of-8 from the field hitting a pair of 3-pointers and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe while dishing out four assists against WNMU. Brown averages 7.1 rebounds per game – the fifth most in the Lone Star Conference this season.
 
McBUCKETS UNDER THE DOME
Freshman guard Evan McCarthy buried four 3-pointers and scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the final seven minutes of Midwestern State's 80-74 win over Angelo State (12/19). The Mansfield, Texas native has scored in double figures in each of his first four games at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. McCarthy buried three 3-pointers to score 14 points in his dome debut against West Texas A&M, then notched 12 points and dished out four assists against Texas Wesleyan. That is good for a 13.8 points per game average on the home floor. McCarthy is shooting 50 percent from the field and is 14-of-26 from the arc (53.9) for the season.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State closes its first road swing of 2020 Saturday afternoon at Texas A&M-Commerce. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.