WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State faces its second Top 10 challenge of the season when the Mustangs take on No. 7 St. Edward's at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Midwestern State rallied for 10 down to force overtime before falling 85-82 to Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday night at A&M-C Field House. The Lions misfired on 4-of-8 free throws in the final 58 seconds allowing the Mustangs to complete a 14-4 run keyed by 3-pointers by Tre Jones, D'monta Harris and two by Darius Thompson with the last coming with 13 seconds remaining to knot the game at 74-all. Thompson matched a season-high with 21 points, while Harris notched his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Evan McCarthy scored in double figures for the third straight game finishing with 11 points. Wayne Stewart (27) and Deon Barrett (23) combined for 50 points to lead Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
YOU HAVE TO LEAD TO WIN…
Midwestern State has held an advantage in all 12 games this season and has led after halftime in 10 contests. In fact, the Mustangs have led for a combined 202 minutes this season or 41.2 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 their last seven 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
UT Tyler	30:29	15	UTT last lead, 12:50/1st
Texas A&M-Commerce	1:32	1	A&M-C took lead, 3:03/OT

 
ABOUT THE SERIES
Midwestern State and St. Edward's meet for the 25th time on the hardwood Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. It will be the first competition between the programs since 2009. The Mustangs lead the all-time series which dates back to 1959 by a 16-8 margin. It will be the first meeting at D.L. Ligon Coliseum since MSU defeated the Hilltoppers 86-67 on Dec. 18, 2000. The Mustangs are 8-1 all-time against St. Edward's under the dome with 'Toppers only victory coming by a 94-89 count on Jan. 11, 1994.
 
ABOUT THE HILLTOPPERS
St. Edward's (12-1) tops the South Central Region in the D2SIDA rankings and is ranked seventh in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Poll released earlier this week. Reigning D2CCA All-South Central Region performer Ashton Spears leads the Hilltoppers averaging 18.6 points, 2.8 steals, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. The senior from Independence, La. scored at least 20 points in seven games this season including a high of 42 against Texas A&M-Commerce. He leads a quartet of players averaging in double figures joining junior forward Corey Shervill (11.7 ppg), junior forward Jake Krafka (11.6 ppg) and senior forward Dorian Lopez (11.1 ppg). Senior guard August Haas directs SEU's attack leading the Lone Star Conference in ranking sixth in NCAA Division II with 7.4 assists per game. As a team, the Hilltoppers lead the LSC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.58 / 9th in D2), assists per game (20.4 / 4th in D2) and 3-point field goals per game (12.0 / 10th in D2). St. Edward's is also second in the league in scoring defense (67.2 ppg / 25th in D2) and scoring margin (22.8 / 7th in D2). Andre Cook owns a 176-141 record (.573) in his 11th season as bench boss at St. Edward's. The 'Toppers advanced to the South Central Region finals with a 30-4 mark in 2018-19.
 
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 12 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 20.0-9.7 in points off of turnovers per game this season and 12.6-9.0 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 268-131 record (.672) 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 41.8 percent of his 3-point tries, while rating 11th in the league and 187th nationally knocking down 2.3 triples a game. Harris is 16th in the LSC in scoring at 14.8 points per game, but ranks as the seventh-best rebounder in the league pulling down 7.0 boards per game.
 
DARING DARIUS
Senior guard Darius Thompson is the Mustangs' second leading scorer at 14.4 points per game logging double figures in 10 of MSU's 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 19 of his last 51 shots from beyond the arc (37.3 percent) during his current eight-game run connecting on at least one triple. The Wichita Falls native connected on multiple 3s in six of those eight games which includes a season-high 18-point effort at Western New Mexico (12/14) and an 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 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 7.1 rebounds per game – the sixth 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 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 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 50 percent from the field and is 18-of-34 from the arc (52.9 percent) for the season.
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State takes on St. Mary's (Texas) Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.