KINGSVILLE, Texas -- Midwestern State embarks on its final road trip of the season as the Mustangs face Texas A&M - Kingsville at Steinke Center on Thursday night. MSU is seeking its first road win since defeating Lubbock Christian at Rip Griffin Center on New Year's Day. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 

MIDWESTERN STATE (11-14, 8-11) vs. TEXAS A&M - KINGSVILLE (17-9, 8-4)

Thursday, Feb. 16 | 7:30 p.m.
Steinke Center | Kingsville, Texas

Series History | Midwestern State leads, 38-15

LAST MEETING | Will Chayer's putback layup with 1.3 seconds remaining lifted Texas A&M-Kingsville to a 59-58 win over Midwestern State at the Steinke Center last year. Redshirt-freshman Amaechi Chukwu stepped up to carry the load the for the Mustangs, who overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to take the lead heading into the closing minutes. Chukwu matched a season high with 16 points including Midwestern's only two points -- on a pair of free throws -- in the final two minutes. John Weger grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Creighton Avery scored 16 points in 24 minutes off of the bench to lead Texas A&M-Kingsville.

LAST TIME OUT | Midwestern State hit 7-of-24 shots from the floor in the first half and trailed Angelo State by 17 at halftime. Despite shooting better than 53 percent in the second half, the Mustangs suffered a 69-55 defeat Saturday at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Angelo State used an 11-0 run to take a 15-4 lead with 13:09 to play in the first half. Midwestern State cut the lead to five points, but Guy Willie and Kevon Godwin combined to hit three consecutive shots from 3-point range, and the Rams led 28-14 with 4:33 remaining in the first half. Kevon Godwin opened the second half with a steal and an uncontested layup before assisting Guy Willie on a second-chance 3-pointer with 17:13 remaining as the Rams established their largest lead of the game, 48-27. Midwestern State hit 15 of 28 shots in the second half and outscored the Rams over the final 20 minutes, 34-31. Jermane Carter finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Luke Hamilton finished with 10 points and five rebounds in his second game back from injury.

TRACKING THE MUSTANGS | Midwestern State is 3-9 on the road this season and lost its last four games as the visitor… Justin Leslie is 312-179 (.635) in his 16th season as a head coach…MSU is 46-58 (.442) under Leslie, who is in his fourth season with the university…Mustangs are 16-35 (.313) on the road during the Leslie era…MSU is 0-2 against the Javelinas under Leslie, including a 59-58 loss at Kingsville last year…Midwestern State is 15-9 all-time in Kingsville…MSU is 13th in the LSC with 68.3 points per game and 14th with a 42.7 shooting percentage from the field…Pierre Sanders is the leading scorer with 12.8 points per game…Jermane Carter averages 12.4 points per game…Derrick Ogechi is averaging 9.8 points per game… Marquis Davison is scoring 9.7 points per game…Carter has 940 career points at MSU, averaging 12.9 points per game for his career…Midwestern State is 175 of 570 from beyond the arc (.307), which is 16th in the conference for 3-point shooting percentage…MSU is fifth in the conference with 22.8 3-point attempts per game…Mustangs make 7.0 3-pointers per game, which is eighth-most in the conference…Ogechi is 49 of 148 from 3-point range (.331)…Ogechi is ninth in the LSC with 1.96 3-pointers per game…Ogechi has the fifth-most attempts from beyond the arc in the LSC…Midwestern State is ninth in the conference with 12.0 assists per game…Sanders is 12th in the league with 76 total assists…Sanders has 204 career assists in three seasons (2.9 assists per game)…MSU is 310 of 448 (.692) from the free-throw line, which is the 11th-best free-throw percentage in the LSC…Mustangs are 13th in the conference with 17.9 free-throw attempts per game…Carter is 71 of 120 (.592) from the free-throw line…Carter has the seventh-most attempts from the foul line and has made the 13th-most free throws in the conference…Sanders is 77 of 91 (.846) from the free-throw line and has the ninth-best free-throw percentage in the LSC…MSU is eighth in the conference and 58th in the nation, allowing 67.8 points per game…Midwestern State holds opponents to 41.8 percent shooting from the field — second-best field-goal percentage defense in the conference and 49th in the nation…MSU is holding opponents to 31.3 percent shooting from 3-point range, which is the fourth-best 3-point shooting percentage defense in the LSC and 32nd in the nation…+1.6 scoring margin is 10th in the LSC…MSU leads the conference and is 64th in the nation with 37.50 rebounds per game…Mustangs are sixth in the league and 62nd in the nation with 11.36 offensive rebounds per game…+0.5 rebound margin is 10th-best in the LSC… Carter is third in the conference and 44th in the nation with 207 total rebounds…Carter is second in the league and 59th in the nation with 8.3 rebounds per game…Carter is second in the conference and 28th in the nation with 3.14 offensive rebounds per game…Carter has 524 career rebounds at MSU, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game over three seasons…Midwestern State is 13th in the conference with 5.6 steals per game…Sanders is third in the league with 42 total steals and second with 1.68 steals per game…Sanders has 100 career steals in 70 career games (1.42 steals per game) at MSU…MSU is ninth in the league with 12.9 turnovers per game and is forcing 11.44 turnovers, which is 15th in the conference…-1.5 turnover margin is 15th in the LSC…MSU blocks 3.2 shots per game — fifth in the conference…Carter is seventh in the league with 26 total blocks, and Duncan Alevok is eighth with 24 blocks…MSU leads the conference and is 80th in the nation with 15.6 fouls per game…

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M KINGSVILLE | TAMUK is 8-4 at home this season…Javelinas just completed a 2-2 road trip, following a 76-60 loss at Dallas Baptist…TAMUK has won three of its last four meetings with the Mustangs, including two victories at Steinke Center…Javelinas lost their last game at home to St. Mary's, 62-59, on Jan. 28th…Johnny Estelle is in his ninth season at TAMUK and is 133-109 (.550)…Javelinas are fifth in the conference with 73.8 points scored per game but 15th in the league with a 42.4 field goal percentage…C.J. Smith leads TAMUK with 12.1 points per game…Kavon Booker averages 11 points per game…Isaiah Payne is scoring 10.1 points per game and Jake Majors scores 10 points per game…TAMUK is sixth in the league with 11.6 assists per game…Smith is 15th in the LSC with 71 total assists…Javelinas are 194 of 580 (.334) from 3-point range...TAMUK is ninth in the conference in 3-point percentage and fifth in the league with 7.5 made 3-pointers per game…TAMUK is sixth in the conference with 22.3 attempts from beyond the arc per game…Smith is 39 of 116 (.336) from 3-point range…Jake Majors is 26 of 70 (.371) from long range…Kingsville is 398 of 529 (.752) from the free-throw line, which is the sixth-best free-throw percentage in the conference…Javs are eighth in the league with 20.3 free-throw attempts per game and fifth in the LSC with 15.3 made free throws per game…Dillon Gooding is 74 of 90 (.822) at the free-throw line and boasts the 12th-best percentage in the conference…Gooding has the 16th-most made free throws in the LSC…TAMUK is third in the league and 25th in the nation, allowing 65.4 points per game…Opponents are shooting 43.4 percent against the Javelinas, which is seventh-best field goal percentage defense in the LSC…+8.4 scoring margin is second in the conference and 45th in the nation…TAMUK is eighth in the conference with 33.62 rebounds per game…Kavon Booker is averaging 7.4 rebounds per game…Javelinas are second in the league with 12.08 offensive rebounds per game…Will Chayer is fifth in the conference with 2.69 offensive rebounds per game…Kingsville blocks three shots per game, which ranks eighth in the league…Booker is fifth in the league with 28 total blocks and 1.08 blocks per game…Chayer is ninth in the LSC with 22 total blocks and 11th with 0.85 blocks per game…Javelinas are sixth in the conference with 7.5 steals per game...Smith has 32 steals this season…TAMUK is 22nd in the nation, forcing 16.38 turnovers per game, which is second-best in the LSC…+5.4 turnover margin is sixth in the nation and second-best in the conference…TAMUK commits 19.5 fouls per game, which is 13th in the LSC…

UP NEXT | Midwestern State plays its final road game of the season as it travels to Laredo for a meeting with the Texas A&M International Dustdevils. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday at TAMIU Kinesiology and Convocation Building.