WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State battles Tarleton State one more time Thursday night at Wisdom Gym. 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 one game behind Cameron for the 12th and final berth in the tournament with eight games to play.

 

Lone Star Conference Men's Standings
Team (Overall Record)	LSC Record
West Texas A&M (21-1)	13-1
St. Edward's (19-2)	13-2
Texas A&M-Kingsville (16-5)	12-3
Angelo State (14-4)	10-4
Lubbock Christian (13-6)	10-4
Dallas Baptist (15-5)	9-5
Texas A&M-Commerce (13-8)	9-6
Tarleton State (12-8)	8-6
UT Permian Basin (14-10)	7-8
Eastern New Mexico (6-13)	6-8
Oklahoma Christian (7-11)	6-8
Cameron (6-14)	5-9
Arkansas-Fort Smith (9-11)	5-9
St. Mary's (9-12)	5-10
Midwestern State (4-16)	4-10
Western New Mexico (5-16)	4-11
Texas A&M International (3-18)	1-14
Not eligible for postseason play
UT Tyler (6-14)	3-12

  
LAST TIME OUT
Midwestern State thumped Texas A&M International 99-58 Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The 41-point margin of victory was the largest for the program since the Mustangs rolled to a 112-68 victory over Eastern New Mexico in the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament quarterfinals on March 2, 2016 in Allen, Texas. The scoring output put was the highest since MSU tallied 123 points in an overtime win at Western Colorado. The Mustangs also drilled a season-best 15 3-pointers which matched the most since MSU canned 15 triples against Adams State (Colo.) on Nov. 14, 2016. Senior guard D'monta Harris led the charge with six 3-pointers on the way to his third consecutive 20-point performance with 26 points, while fellow senior Elijah Lee set season highs with 13 points and 10 assists.
 
YOU HAVE TO LEAD TO WIN…
Midwestern State has held an advantage in all 20 games this season and has led after halftime in 14 contests. The Mustangs have led for a combined 295 minutes this season or 36.4 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 Tarleton State meet for the 81st time on the hardwood Thursday night at Wisdom Gym. The Mustangs own a 47-33 edge in the series which dates back to the 1961-62 season. The Texans, however, have won the last seven meetings of the series including the last four in Stephenville. MSU's last victory in the series came 66-63 on Jan. 13, 2016 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs last win in Stephenville came on Jan. 14, 2015 – 78-76. Thursday night's matchup is the last between the teams as NCAA Division II members.
 
ABOUT THE TEXANS
Tarleton State has won nine of its last 11 games since the Texans were upset by UT Tyler – 58-47 – on Dec. 19 at Wisdom Gym. TSU had its season-best, six-game winning streak snapped with a narrow 74-72 loss at No. 10 St. Edward's last week. The Texans are 7-4 on their home floor this season. Senior forward Josh Hawley leads Tarleton averaging 15.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season. He tops the Lone Star Conference with 13 point-rebound double-doubles – the third most in NCAA Division II this season. Hawley leads the league with 7.3 defensive rebounds and is second in total rebounds per game at 9.5. Senior guard Randall Broddie scores 11.8 points per game scoring in double figures in 13 of his 20 starts with matching season highs of 20 points against Oklahoma Christian and St. Edward's. Chris Reisman owns a 33-18 record (.647) since taking the helm from his father – Lonn Reisman – two seasons ago.
 
DEFENDING THE ARC
Midwestern State ranks amongst the best in defending the 3-point arc. The Mustangs rank second in the LSC and 22nd in NCAA Division II limiting the opposition to 31.1 percent shooting from deep. Only eight of MSU's 20 opponents have shot greater than 32.1 percent. The Mustangs also rank in the top half of the conference in blocked shots per game (2.9 / 8th), defensive rebounds per game (25.9 / 3rd), field goal percentage defense (43.3 / 5th), free throw percentage (74.4 / 4th) and 3-point field goals per game (9.9 / 5th).
 
TRENDS
Midwestern State held leads in each of its 20 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 18.6-10.4 in points off of turnovers per game this season and 11.8-9.2 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 48th in NCAA Division II averaging 9.9 made triples per game while connecting on 35.1 percent from beyond the arc as a team. MSU drilled at least 10 3-pointers on 10 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 eight times this season. As a program, Midwestern State has made at least one 3-pointer in 545 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 270-137 record (.663) 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 five 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 has scored at least 20 points in each of his last three 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 11 games this season. He ranks fourth in the LSC in 3-point percentage (39.5), eighth with 2.55 3-point makes per game and leads MSU in scoring at 15.1 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 13 of his 16 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 14 of 16 games this season and is shooting 46.3 percent from the field. He has a knack for blocking shots with 14 in his 16 games.
 
TRAE BALL
Sophomore guard Trae Jones has connected on multiple 3-pointers in 10 games this season. He knocked down a career-best six triples to finish with a collegiate-high 19 points against Cameron (1/19). 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). Jones, who has tallied in double figures six times this season, averages 7.3 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 6.6 rebounds per game – the 11th most in the Lone Star Conference this season.
 
McBUCKETS MAKING AN IMPACT
Evan McCarthy brings a scoring punch for the Mustangs scoring 8.5 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 43.9 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from the arc (29-of-67).
 
UP NEXT
Midwestern State takes on Dallas Baptist for the first time in Dallas since 1990 Saturday afternoon at Burg Center. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.