MIDWESTERN STATE (12-14, 8-6 LSC)
vs UAFS (13-11, 7-5 LSC)

Thursday, Feb. 24 -- 7:30 p.m.
D.L. Ligon Coliseum
All-Time Series | Tied 4-4

WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State takes on Arkansas-Fort Smith in a Lone Star Conference battle Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

The game is broadcast via streaming video on the LSC Digital Network. No audio stream is available.

All video streams on the LSC Digital Network are also available on Over-The-Top (OTT) apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku by searching "LSC Digital Network."

GOING TO THE GAME? All fans at D.L. Ligon Coliseum must purchase tickets online, then present the QR code to can at the gate for admittance. No walk-up sales are available. Purchase your tickets at www.msumustangs.com/tickets.

THREE... DOT... THOUGHTS...

Midwestern State has won six of the last eight and seven of the last 10 to move into a tie for seventh in the Lone Star Conference standings with Angelo State... Midwestern State must now win both remaining regular season games and one game in the LSC Postseason Tournament to secure a .500-or-better record for the second consecutive season... The Mustangs have not posted back-to-back .500-or-better seasons since going 24-6 in 2015-16 and 14-14 in 2016-17... MSU is 1-3 in games decided by two-or-fewer points this season claiming a 63-62 win at UAFS (12/10) before falling 69-68 at UT Tyler (1/2), 75-73 at Angelo State (1/13) and 59-58 at Texas A&M-Kingsville (2/17)... In those four games, the Mustangs led into the final minute against UAFS, UT Tyler and Texas A&M-Kingsville and were within a point with 35 seconds to play against Angelo State... Seven of Midwestern State's last eight wins have been by double digits... Midwestern State is 7-4 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum this season and has won the last four games played on its home court... Midwestern State leads the Lone Star Conference in scoring defense (62.8 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.389) and is second in 3-point percentage defense (.320) during league play... The defensive run pulled the Mustangs to third in the league and 54th in NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense (.420) for the season... MSU has limited the opposition to less the 40-percent shooting in each of the last five games and in nine of the last 13 after not achieving the feat over the first 13 games... MSU has limited the opposition to less than a point per field goal attempt four times this season... Midwestern State has shot 40 percent or better in 13 of its last 15 games after shooting less than 40 percent in seven its first 11 games... Midwestern State has shot better than 50 percent from the field five times this season... The Mustangs have connected on 10 3-pointers in four of their last seven games after managing 10 3-pointers just three times in the first 18 games of the season... Midwestern State ranks 13th in the LSC in team field goal percentage (42.5 percent) and 17th in team 3-point field goal percentage (31.1 percent)... MSU stands third in the LSC and 33rd in NCAA Division II pulling down 12.4 offensive rebounds per game resulting in 294 second chance points in 26 games (11.3 per game)... 

MSU TRENDSETTERS

Jermane Carter // Senior // Forward // Lenape, N.J.

ranks 13th in the LSC in scoring at 14.7 points per game... leads the LSC and ranks 19th in NCAA Division II pulling down 3.4 offensive rebounds per game... is 12th in overall rebounds per game in the LSC collecting 6.0 caroms per game... rates third in the LSC in field goal percentage at 49.8... scored in double figures in 19 of 26 games this season...  booked 20-or-more points in six games... connected on 39.4 percent of his 3-pointers (26-of-66)... hit a 3-pointer in 14 games... earned LSC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the week preceding Jan. 31 after averaging 20 points and 7.5 rebounds in wins over No. 12 West Texas A&M and Cameron... erupted for career-high 28 points while completing his second collegiate double-double with 10 rebounds against No. 3 West Texas A&M (11/22)... went for 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting with a season-high four 3-pointers while pulling down seven rebounds in a 100-90 overtime win against No. 12 West Texas A&M (1/27)... scored 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds while shooting 7-for-10 from the floor with three 3-pointers in a win over Cameron (1/29)... scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with a season-best three dunks at Dallas Baptist (1/22)... connected on 9-of-18 shots with a 3-pointer to finish with 23 points and seven rebounds at Angelo State (1/13)... poured in a team-high 20 points on 11-of-18 shooting with a career-best four 3-pointers (on five attempts) in a 60-50 win over St. Edward's (1/6)... recorded his third career double-double and second of the season going for 17 points and 12 rebounds against Texas A&M-Commerce (12/31)... went for 22 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes against Northern State (11/16)... scored 21 of his game-high 22 points in the second half going 12-for-16 from the free throw line with six rebounds at Oklahoma Christian (12/2)... narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds in a win over Colorado State-Pueblo (11/13)... 10 of his 11 rebounds against Colorado State-Pueblo came on the offensive end of the floor... had another near double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds at  Cameron (11/30)... went 6-of-8 from the field and connected on a 3-pointer to finish with 15 points against Texas A&M International (2/19)... scored his 500th career point against Lubbock Christian (2/3)...

Terrell Wilson // Junior // Guard // Houston, Texas

ranks 20th in the Lone Star Conference in scoring with 13.3 points per game while averaging 2.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 28.1 minutes over 26 games this season... scored in double figures 19 times this season and in nine of his last 10 games...  scored 20-or-more points three times... connected on at least two 3-pointers in 13 games... made at least three steals in eight times this season... has 103 steals through 70 games for an average of 1.5 steals per game to put him fifth on MSU's all-time list.... needs eight steals to tie former All American Tony Forch (111 steals from 1978-80) for 15th place on the all-time list...  poured in a career-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting going 6-of-6 from the arc at UT Tyler (1/2)... booked 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting with three 3-pointers against Dallas Baptist (1/22)... went for 21 points with five assists and two steals in a win over Colorado State-Pueblo (11/13)... scored game-high 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting with four assists and three steals in a 75-61 win over Dallas Baptist (2/8)... went 6-of-7 from the field with three 3-pointers to finish with 19 points against Texas A&M International (2/19)... narrowly missed a double-double finishing with 17 points and nine rebounds while hitting three 3-pointers in a 100-90 overtime win against No. 17 West Texas A&M (1/27)... connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field including a 3-pointer for a team-high 17 points in a win at UT Permian Basin (1/15)... scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half against Texas A&M-Commerce (12/31)... scored his 700th career point at Lubbock Christian (2/3) and currently has 783 points...

Pierre Sanders // Sophomore // Guard // Hutto, Texas

averages 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 29.5 minutes over 21 games... scored in double figures nine times... missed five games due to injury from the Nov. 30 game at Cameron through the Dec. 16 game against Texas A&M-Commerce... poured in a career high 21 points and threatened a triple double by matching career bests with nine rebounds and eight assists in a 100-90 overtime win over No. 12 West Texas A&M (1/27)... matched a career high with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting burying three 3-pointers in a 71-49 win over Eastern New Mexico (2/5)... went for game-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting with two 3-pointers and two steals in a 75-61 win over Dallas Baptist (2/8)... poured in 17 points hitting four 3-pointers in a win at UT Permian Basin (1/15)... splashed in a season-high 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting with seven rebounds at Northern State (11/26)... finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in a win over Colorado State-Pueblo (11/13)... buried a season-high three 3-pointers and went 5-for-9 from the field to finish with 15 points and seven rebounds against St. Mary's (1/8)... buried a season-high three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points and five assists against Cameron (1/29)... 

Amaechi Chukwu // Redshirt-Freshman  // Forward // Denton, Texas

averages 7.2 points and 4.9 rebounds in 19.6 minutes over 25 games... averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in 20.3 minutes shooting 32-of-44 from the field (72.7 percent) scoring in double figures in five of six games from Jan. 13-Feb. 3... scored in double figures seven times... ranks 10th in the Lone Star Conference averaging 2.1 offensive rebounds per game... set a career-high with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and narrowly missed first collegiate double-double with nine rebounds against Cameron (1/29)... scored in double digits for the first time against Angelo State (1/13) then extended the run to three straight games with at least 10 points against UT Permian Basin (1/15) and Dallas Baptist (1/22)... went for 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds at Angelo State (1/13)... led MSU with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and went 4-of-5 from the free throw line to finish with 16 points and five rebounds at Texas A&M-Kingsville (2/17)... scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting with five rebounds versus No. 1 Lubbock Christian (2/3).... notched first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 5-of-7 from the field with a 3-pointer at UT Permian Basin (1/15)...  added second double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 75-61 win over Dallas Baptist (2/8)... scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting with six rebounds before fouling out in 28 minutes at Dallas Baptist (1/22)... 

Jalin Brown // Senior // Forward // Denton, Texas

averages 5.7 points and ranks 11th in the Lone Star Conference pulling down 6.1 rebounds in 22.3 minutes across 26 games... grabbed at least seven rebounds in 11 games this season including a high of 15 rebounds against St. Edward's (1/6)... pulled down 9.5 rebounds over a six-game stretch from Dec. 13 against UT Tyler through Jan. 8 against St. Mary's... shooting 42.1 percent from the arc for the season (16-of-38)... connected on two 3-pointers in consecutive games going 2-for-2 at Texas A&M-Commerce (12/31) and 2-for-3 against UT Tyler (1/2)... accounted for a season-high 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting with two 3-pointers in a 69-50 win over Western New Mexico (2/10)... scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a win over Colorado State-Pueblo (11/13)... booked 10 points with five rebounds and three steals in a 100-90 overtime win against No. 12 West Texas A&M (1/27)... scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting with five rebounds at No. 1 Lubbock Christian (2/3)... scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 75-61 win over Dallas Baptist (2/8)...

HEAD COACH JUSTIN LESLIE is in his third season at the helm of the Midwestern State men's basketball program. The Mustangs battled to an 8-21 mark in 2019-20 but closed the regular season by winning four out of five games to qualify for the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament. MSU also closed the 2020-21 regular season with four straight wins advancing the LSC Postseason Tournament for the second straight year with an 11-8 overall record. Prior to MSU, Leslie posted a 266-121 overall record (.687) at Azusa Pacific leading the Cougars to nine 20-win campaigns, two Pacific West Conference titles, seven postseason tournament appearance and an NCAA Division II Elite Eight showing in 2015. Overall, Leslie owns a 297-164 mark (.644) in 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach including a 31-43 record (.419) at MSU.

SCOUTING THE LIONS

Arkansas-Fort Smith snapped a brief two-game slide with a 78-67 win over UT Permian Basin Saturday night at Stubblefield Center... The Lions are 5-6 in true road games this season... UAFS ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and 22nd in NCAA Division II in scoring defense allowing 64.5 points per game... The Lions rank second in the LSC and 39th nationally with a 1.32 assist-to-turnover ratio and are third in the LSC and 44th in NCAA Division II knocking down 37.7 percent of their 3-point attempts... Senior Matthew Wilson leads the LSC in scoring ranking 32nd in NCAA Division II at 20.3 points per game... Wilson shoots 41.5 percent from the arc knocking down 3.25 triples per game... Wilson scored 20-or-points in 14 games including matching season highs of 32 points against West Texas A&M (12/31) and Western New Mexico (1/13)... Senior forward Chris Rollins averages 13.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game... Rollins earned more free throws than any other player in the LSC knocking down 111 of his 153 charity tosses... Rollins scored in double figures in 19 of 23 games boasting a season high of 25 points against Henderson State (11/20)... Junior guard Evan Anderson averages 10.2 points per game and ranks fourth in the LSC dishing out 4.7 assists per game...

VETERAN UAFS HEAD COACH JIM BOONE boasts a 589-450-1 record (.567) in his 36th season as a collegiate head coach. Boone is 31-38 (.449) in his third season at Arkansas-Fort Smith. Previously, he spent 10 seasons at California (Pa.) (227-71 from 1986-96), seven at Delta State (128-85 from 2012-19), six at Tusculum (88-86 from 2005-11), five at Eastern Michigan (48-96 from 2000-05), four at Robert Morris (45-66 from 1996-2000), and one at West Virginia Wesleyan (22-8-1 in 2011-12).

ABOUT THE SERIES

Midwestern State at Arkansas-Fort Smith meet for the ninth time on the hardwood Thursday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs knotted the series at 4-4 with a 63-62 win over UAFS earlier this season at Stubblefield Center in Fort Smith (12/10) and has won the last two meetings between the programs. It will be the third meeting between the Mustangs and Lions at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. UAFS claimed a 64-63 win on Nov. 10, 2018, but MSU rebounded for a 79-71 victory on Feb. 20, 2020.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State faces Oklahoma Christian in the season finale Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.