WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State battles Texas A&M-Commerce in Lone Star Conference play Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

THE RACE FOR THE POSTSEASON
The top 12 finishing teams in the overall league standings advance to the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament set for March 3-8 culminating with the final three rounds at Comerica Center in Frisco. The division winners are guaranteed a spot in the field, but the seeding is set by the order of finish counting all conference games. Midwestern State enters Thursday night's matchup in 16th place in the LSC, but the Mustangs are two games behind Arkansas-Fort Smith for the 12th and final berth in the tournament with six games to play.
 

Lone Star Conference Men's Standings
Team (Overall Record)	LSC Record
West Texas A&M (23-1)	15-1
St. Edward's (21-2)	14-2
Texas A&M-Kingsville (17-6)	13-3
Angelo State (15-5)	11-5
Lubbock Christian (14-7)	11-5
Dallas Baptist (17-5)	11-5
Tarleton State (14-8)	10-6
Texas A&M-Commerce (14-8)	10-6
UT Permian Basin (15-11)	8-9
Oklahoma Christian (8-12)	7-9
Eastern New Mexico (6-15)	6-10
Arkansas-Fort Smith (10-12)	6-10
St. Mary's (10-13)	6-11
Cameron (5-16)	5-11
Western New Mexico (6-17)	5-12
Midwestern State (4-18)	4-12
Texas A&M International (3-20)	1-16
Not eligible for postseason play
UT Tyler (6-15)	3-13

  
LAST TIME OUT
Dallas Baptist shot lights out in a 102-72 win over Midwestern State Saturday afternoon at Burg Center. The Patriots shot 61.9-percent from the field and was 14-of-28 from the 3-point arc as Chandler Jacobs led the onslaught with 27 points with four 3-pointers. The Patriots erupted on an 18-0 run midway through the first half extended it to a 26-4 over an 8-minute stretch to take a commanding 36-14 lead with 6:58 to play in the first half. Senior guard D'monta Harris notched his sixth 20-point performance of the season scoring 20 points to pace the Mustangs, while senior guard Darius Thompson added 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Trae Jones fired in five triples to score 15.
 
YOU HAVE TO LEAD TO WIN…
Midwestern State has held an advantage in all 22 games this season and has led after halftime in 14 contests. The Mustangs have led for a combined 309 minutes this season or 34.7 percent of all games. Further, MSU has held leads in the final five minutes or overtime in 12 games and in the final minute of regulation or overtime on nine 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).
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
Midwestern State and Texas A&M-Commerce meet for the 94th time on the hardwood Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs own a 55-38 edge in the series which dates back to the 1947-48 season. It is the second longest running series in MSU men's basketball program history trailing only Midwestern's 103-game series against Wayland Baptist. The Lions matched their longest winning streak of the series with an 85-82 overtime victory earlier this season in Commerce. A&M-Commerce has won five consecutive games against MSU from 1952-59, then again from 1959-61. Overall, Texas A&M-Commerce has won seven of the last eight of the series including wins in their last two trips to Wichita Falls.  Midwestern State owns a 22-8 all-time edge over the Lions in games played at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs' last win against Texas A&M-Commerce came 78-57 on Jan. 26, 2017 at Ligon Coliseum.
 
ABOUT THE LIONS
Texas A&M-Commerce snapped a three-game slide with a 77-63 overtime win over UT Tyler Saturday afternoon in Commerce. The Lions scored the first 11 points in the overtime session and do not allow the Patriots to score a field during the extra frame. Texas A&M-Commerce ranks second in the Lone Star Conference with 677 3-point field goal attempts this season and are second with 4.1 blocked shots per game as a team. Senior forward Wayne Stewart ranks sixth in the league averaging 19.3 points per game and leads the LSC in field goal percentage at 63.1. Stewart has scored at least 20 points on 10 occasions this season including a season-high 30 against Arkansas-Fort Smith. He scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the first meeting with Midwestern State. Senior guard Deonta Terrell adds 13.2 points per game including 40 percent from the arc. Jaret von Rosenberg owns a 60-26 record (.698) in his third season at the helm at Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
DEFENDING THE ARC
Midwestern State ranks among the best in defending the 3-point arc. The Mustangs rank third in the LSC and 32nd in NCAA Division II limiting the opposition to 32.0 percent shooting from deep. Only nine of MSU's 22 opponents have shot greater than 32.1 percent. The Mustangs also rank in the top half of the conference in defensive rebounds per game (25.95 / 4th), free throw percentage (74.6 / 3rd) and 3-point field goals per game (9.9 / 5th).
 
TRENDS
Midwestern State held leads in each of its 21 games this season including double-digit second half advantages against Colorado State-Pueblo, Central Missouri, UT Permian Basin, Angelo State, UT Tyler, Cameron and Texas A&M International. The opposition has outscored the Mustangs 19.0-10.4 in points off of turnovers per game this season and 11.6-9.2 in second-chance points. Midwestern posted a season-high 22 points off of turnovers against Texas A&M International (2/1). The Mustangs had a campaign-best 14 second-chance points against Central Missouri and matched it against St. Mary's, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Texas A&M International.
 
RAINING 3s
Midwestern State connected on at least seven 3- pointers in all but one game this season. The Mustangs rank fifth in the Lone Star Conference and 50th in NCAA Division II averaging 9.9 made triples per game while connecting on 34.8 percent from beyond the arc as a team. MSU drilled at least 10 3-pointers on 12 occasions as a team including a season-high 15 treys at Texas A&M International (2/1). The Mustangs have attempted at least 30 3-pointers nine times this season. As a program, Midwestern State has made at least one 3-pointer in 547 consecutive games dating back to the 2001-02 season.
 
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 270-139 record (.660) 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 fifth 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 and again by Westminster's Jai Jai Ely against Chadron State on Jan. 10. 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. It is one of seven 20-point performances this season for the Pontiac, Mich. native. Harris ripped the nets for 20 points against Texas Wesleyan with four 3-pointers in the game prior to his outbreak at UCO. He scored at least 20 points in three consecutive outings going for six 3s and 22 points at Arkansas-Fort Smith (1/25), 22 points and three 3-pointers against Texas A&M-Kingsville and six treys and 26 points in just 25 minutes against Texas A&M International (2/1). Harris has connected on multiple 3-pointers in 13 games this season. He ranks second in the LSC in 3-point percentage (39.2), sixth with 2.55 3-point makes per game and leads MSU in scoring at 15.3 points per game.
 
DARING DARIUS
Senior guard Darius Thompson ranks second on the Mustangs in scoring at 14.6 points per game logging double figures in 15 of his 18 games. The Memphis, Tenn. native poured in a season-high 23 points on the strength of four 3-pointers against St. Mary's (Texas) (1/11) while adding six rebounds and four assists. Thompson boasts three double-doubles this season going for 21 points 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 then 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 16 of 18 games this season and is shooting 45.3 percent from the field. He has a knack for blocking shots with 14 in his 18 games.
 
TRAE BALL
Sophomore guard Trae Jones has connected on multiple 3-pointers in 12 games this season. He knocked down a career-best six triples to finish with a collegiate-high 19 points against Cameron (1/19), then connected on 5-of-10 from beyond the arc to score 15 at Dallas Baptist (2/8). Jones drained four triples to finish with 18 points at Western New Mexico (12/14), then buried four more treys to notch 14 points against No.7 St. Edward's (1/9). He also made four 3-pointers to book 14 points at Tarleton State (2/6). Jones, who has tallied in double figures eight times this season, averages 8.0 points per game.
 
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 6.4 rebounds per game – the 12th most in the Lone Star Conference this season.
 
McBUCKETS MAKING AN IMPACT
Evan McCarthy brings a scoring punch for the Mustangs scoring 7.8 points per game in his true freshman campaign. The Mansfield native has scored in double figures in seven games this season. He drilled four triples while going 5-for-6 from the field for a campaign-best 19 points against Angelo State (12/19) to ignite a four-game run of scoring in double digits going for 10 points against Lubbock Christian (12/21), 13 at UT Tyler (1/2) and 11 at Texas A&M-Commerce (1/4). McCarthy enjoyed a breakout against No. 7 West Texas A&M (11/14) canning three triples to finish with 14 points. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field – all 3-pointers – on his way to 12 points against Texas A&M International (2/1). For the season, McCarthy is shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from the arc (30-of-75).
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State battles UT Tyler Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.