WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State battles St. Mary's (Texas) in a Lone Star Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
No. 7 St. Edward's rolled to a 98-60 win over Midwestern State Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Playing without senior guards Darius Thompson (injury) and Elijah Lee (illness), the Mustangs suffered their most lopsided home loss in the history of D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Ashton Spears, the 2018-19 Heartland Conference Player of the Year, scored 17 points and dished out six assists for the Hilltoppers, while senior August Haas distributed 12 of SEU's 29 assists. Sophomore guard Trae Jones paced the Mustangs with 14 points on the strength of four triples, while sophomore forward Jalin Brown threatened a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds.
 
YOU HAVE TO LEAD TO WIN…
Midwestern State has held an advantage in all 13 games this season and has led after halftime in 10 contests. In fact, the Mustangs have led for a combined 203 minutes this season or 38.3 percent of all games. Further, MSU has held leads in the final five minutes or overtime in nine games and in the final minute of regulation or overtime on seven occasions. The Mustangs held the lead for more than half of the game in five of six games from Dec. 9 (vs. Angelo State) to Jan. 2 (at UT Tyler).
  

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
UT Tyler	30:29	15	UTT last lead, 12:50/1st
St. Edward's	0:58	2	MSU did not lead in second half

 
ABOUT THE SERIES
Midwestern State and St. Mary's (Texas) compete for the 34th time on the hardwood Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum, but for the first time as conference foes. The Rattlers lead the series which dates back to the 1974-75 season by a 17-16 margin. Midwestern State claimed the last meeting between the programs – 79-69 – on Jan. 29, 2018 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs are 13-4 all-time against St. Mary's under the dome.
 
ABOUT THE RATTLERS
St. Mary's snapped a three-game slide with an 86-72 win Thursday night at Cameron. With the victory, the Rattlers evened their regular season mark at 7-7 while improving to 3-5 in Lone Star Conference play. Sophomore guard Caleb Jordan leads the Rattlers averaging 14.5 points per game and is coming off of a season-high 24-point effort at Cameron. Senior guard Markques Houston (13.4 ppg) bangs in three triples per game, while junior guard Kobe Magee directs StMU's offense averaging 11.4 points and 5.7 assists per game. The Rattlers are one of the best on the offensive glass ranking third in the LSC and 58th in NCAA Division II with 16.8 per game. Jim Zeleznak has amassed a 225-194 record (.537) in his 15 seasons at the helm of the Rattlers. Zeleznak (2005-present) is just the third head coach of the men's basketball program over the last 57 years following legends Ed Messbarger (1963-78) and Buddy Meyer (1978-2005).
 
DEFENDING THE ARC
Midwestern State ranks amongst the best in defending the 3-point arc. The Mustangs are second in the LSC and fourth in NCAA Division II limiting the opposition to 27.7 percent shooting from deep. Only three of MSU's 12 opponents have shot greater than 32.1 percent. The Mustangs also rank in the top half of the conference in blocked shots per game (2.7 / 8th), defensive rebounds per game (26.17 / 4th), field goal percentage defense (42.3/3rd), free throw percentage (76.1 / 3rd), 3-point field goals per game (9.8/5th) and 3-point field goal percentage (37.3/5th).
 
TRENDS
Midwestern State held leads in each of its 13 games this season including double-digit second half advantages against Colorado State-Pueblo, Central Missouri, UT Permian Basin, Angelo State and UT Tyler. The opposition has outscored the Mustangs 20.9-9.3 in points off of turnovers per game this season and 12.7-9.2 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 268-132 record (.670) 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 also turned in double-double performances against Teas Wesleyan (20 points, 12 rebounds) and Texas A&M-Commerce (18 points, 11 rebounds). He has connected on 41.2 percent of his 3-point tries, while rating 11th in the league and 187th nationally knocking down 2.3 triples a game. Harris is 20th in the LSC in scoring at 13.8 points per game, but ranks as the 12th-best rebounder in the league pulling down 6.6 boards per game.
 
DARING DARIUS
Senior guard Darius Thompson leads the Mustangs in scoring at 14.4 points per game logging double figures in 10 of his 12 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 garnered his third double-double of the campaign going for 10 points and 10 assists at UT Permian Basin (12/5). Thompson then matched a season-high with 21 points against Texas A&M-Commerce (1/4) scoring the final eight points as the Mustangs mounted a 14-4 run in the last 58 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime. Thompson has hit a 3-pointer in in 11 of 12 games this season and is shooting 47.7 percent from the field. He has a knack for blocking shots with nine in his first 12 games. Thompson is 13th in the conference in field goal percentage.
 
TRAE BALL
Sophomore guard Trae Jones has buried 23 of his last 64 shots from beyond the arc (35.9 percent) during his current nine-game run connecting on at least one triple. The Wichita Falls native connected on multiple 3s in seven of those nine games which includes a season-high 18-point effort at Western New Mexico (12/14) and a 14-point performance powered by a season-high four made triples against No. 7 St. Edward's (1/9).
 
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 added his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds while leading the Mustangs to a 59-44 win at UT Tyler (1/2). Brown averages 7.2 rebounds per game – the seventh most in the Lone Star Conference this season.
 
McBUCKETS GOOD UNDER THE DOME AND ON ROAD
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 four of his five 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 12.6 points per game average on the home floor. McCarthy delivered his third consecutive double-digit effort by scoring all 13 points in the second half in a 59-44 win at UT Tyler (1/2), then added 11 points powered by three treys at Texas A&M-Commerce (1/4). McCarthy is shooting 49.3 percent from the field and is 20-of-38 from the arc (52.6 percent) for the season.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State renews the Red River Rivalry with Cameron next week. The Mustangs and Aggies battle at D.L. Ligon Coliseum Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. before taking the fight to Aggie Gym in Lawton next Saturday.