WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State is hosting UT Permian Basin as the two schools meet for the second time this season. UTPB held on to win the first encounter last month in Odessa, 79-76, after MSU came charging back from a 20-point first-half deficit. The Falcons make their seventh all-time appearance at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Thursday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 

MIDWESTERN STATE (10-13, 7-10) vs. UT PERMIAN BASIN (11-15, 5-12 )

Thursday, Feb. 9 | 7:30 p.m.
D.L Ligon Coliseum | Wichita Falls, Texas

Series History | UT Permian Basin leads, 9-7

LAST MEETING | Midwestern State fell behind by 20 points in the first half, then charged back to within a score late in the second half at the UTPB Gym Complex last month. UT Permian Basin appeared to have the game under control when DaJuan Jones buried a long 3-pointer to give the Falcons a 71-59 lead with 3:24 to play. That's when Midwestern State junior Pierre Sanders started to work his wizardry. First, the Hutto native knifed his way through the paint for a layup, then stole the inbound pass for another easy two. Sanders then produced another steal off of an inbound pass to set up Derrick Ogechi for a 3-pointer from the left wing to pull the Mustangs back to within six at 74-68. Midwestern State held the Falcons without a field goal the rest of the way, but the Falcons were able to connect on 5-of-6 free throws. That proved to be enough, but barely. Sanders would hit another jumper with 54 seconds to play to pull MSU to within five points, then Jermane Carter converted a layup and made a steal and a long pass to set up Gibson with a 3-pointer to narrow the deficit to 77-76 with 23 seconds to go. UTPB's Keyon Craddock hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining, and Gibson's 3-point look from the corner was short at the buzzer. UT Permian Basin held its largest lead of the game after Jalen King converted a three-point play with 1:35 left in the first half to give the Falcons a 43-23 advantage. Jermane Carter scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Sanders finished with 18 points and a career-high five steals. Derrick Ogechi splashed in three 3-pointers and scored each of his 13 points in the final 12 1/2 minutes of the game. Junior guard Jalen King poured in 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds to lead UT Permian Basin. Senior guard Azariah Seay drilled four 3-pointers closing the game with 18 points and six rebounds before fouling out in 33 minutes.

LAST TIME OUT | Midwestern State took a 30-27 lead into the locker room at halftime, but Amarion Cash tied the game with a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second half, and Midwestern State would never see the lead again as Western New Mexico pulled away for a 79-64 victory at Drag's Court on Saturday afternoon. There were five lead changes in the first half as Midwestern State overcame an early 7-2 deficit and took its first lead with 11:31 to play in the first half, when Logan Epes hit a 3-pointer for MSU. John Weger hit a free throw to complete a three-point play, and Midwestern State took its largest lead of the game, 26-19, with 3:19 to play in the first half. Pierre Sanders hit a pull-up jumper as time expired in the first half and finished the first 20 minutes with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting for the MSU Mustangs. DJ Heath and Tony Avalos combined to score 21 of 52 second-half points for Western New Mexico, which hit 17-of-36 shots in the second half and limited Midwestern State to 8-of-28 shooting from the field. Western New Mexico finished the game with 11 layups and four slam dunks and outscored MSU in transition, 17-0. Midwestern State committed 15 turnovers that led to 17 points for WNMU. MSU only scored five points off six WNMU turnovers.

TRACKING THE MUSTANGS | Midwestern State is 6-4 at home this season…Mustangs were 2-2 in recent four-game homestand…Justin Leslie is 311-178 (.636) in his 16th season as a head coach…MSU is 45-57 (.441) under Leslie, who is in his fourth season with the university…Mustangs are 27-19 (.587) at home during the Leslie era and have won 13 of their last 17 home games…MSU is 3-2 against the Falcons under Leslie, including a 1-0 record at home …MSU is 5-1 at home against UTPB in the all-time series…MSU is 13th in the LSC with 69.0 points per game and 15th with a 42.5 shooting percentage from the field… Pierre Sanders is the leading scorer with 12.6 points per game…Jermane Carter averages 12.4 points per game… Marquis Davison is scoring 10.0 points per game…Derrick Ogechi is averaging 9.7 points per game…Carter has 915 career points at MSU, averaging 12.9 points per game for his career…Midwestern State is 162 of 527 from beyond the arc (.307), which is 15th in the conference for 3-point shooting percentage…MSU is fifth in the conference with 22.9 3-point attempts per game…Mustangs make 7.0 3-pointers per game, which is eighth-most in the conference…Ogechi is 45 of 135 from 3-point range (.333)…Ogechi is eighth in the LSC with 45 total 3-pointers and 11th with 1.96 3-pointers made per game…Ogechi has the sixth-most attempts from beyond the arc in the LSC…Midwestern State is 11th in the conference with 11.9 assists per game…Sanders is 12th in the league with 66 total assists…MSU is 293 of 421 (.696) from the free-throw line, which is the 11th-best free-throw percentage in the LSC…Mustangs are 12th in the conference with 18.3 free-throw attempts per game…Carter is 68 of 1114 (.596) from the free-throw line…Carter has the seventh-most attempts from the foul line and has made the 14th-most free throws in the conference…Sanders is 66 of 78 (.846) from the free-throw line and has the eighth-best free-throw percentage in the LSC…MSU is eighth in the conference and 63rd in the nation, allowing 68.1 points per game…Midwestern State holds opponents to 41.9 percent shooting from the field — second-best field-goal percentage defense in the conference and 53rd in the nation…MSU is holding opponents to 31.6 percent shooting from 3-point range, which is the fifth-best 3-point shooting percentage defense in the LSC and 43rd in the nation…+0.9 scoring margin is 10th in the LSC…MSU is second in the conference and 71st in the nation with 37.26 rebounds per game…Mustangs are sixth in the league and 67th in the nation with 11.27 offensive rebounds per game…+0.9 rebound margin is ninth-best in the LSC…Jermane Carter is second in the conference with 193 total rebounds and second in the league with 8.4 rebounds per game…Carter is second in the conference and 33rd in the nation with 3.09 offensive rebounds per game…Carter has 510 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 fourth in the league with 39 total steals and third with 1.70 steals per game…Sanders has 97 career steals in 68 career games (1.43 steals per game) at MSU…MSU is eighth in the league with 12.9 turnovers per game and is forcing 11.52 turnovers, which is 15th in the conference…-1.4 turnover margin is 14th in the LSC…MSU blocks 3.2 shots per game — sixth in the conference…Carter is seventh in the LSC with 23 total blocks and Duncan Alevok is eighth with 22 total blocks…MSU leads the conference with 15.9 fouls per game…

SCOUTING UT PERMIAN BASIN | UT Permian Basin is 1-8 on the road this season and has a seven-game road losing streak...Falcons last road win was a 71-54 victory at Oklahoma Christian on Dec. 8…UTPB is 1-6 since defeating MSU, 79-76, on Jan. 14…Falcons only win since defeating Mustangs is a 74-72 triumph over Eastern New Mexico on Jan. 28…Kyle Tolin is 135-117 (.536) in his ninth season as a head coach…Tolin is 27-28 (.491) in his second season at UTPB…Falcons are 8-14 (.364) on the road since Tolin took the reins…UTPB is 1-1 against MSU under Tolin's guidance, but this is the Falcons first trip to Wichita Falls during the Tolin era…Falcons lost their last visit, 88-63, in February of 2021…UTPB is seventh in the conference with 72.2 points per game, but the Falcons are 14th in the league allowing opponents to score 73.5 points per game…-1.3 scoring margin is 13th in the LSC…Falcons are 10th in the league, shooting 44.4 percent from the field, while opponents are shooting 48 percent against UTPB, which is the 15th-ranked field goal percentage defense in the conference…Azariah Seay is averaging 16.4 points per game to lead the Falcons…Jalen King scores 13.2 points per game, and DaJuan Jones adds 12.3 points per game…Max Warren is shooting 64 percent from the floor…Falcons are seventh in the conference with 12.1 assists per game…Jones leads the league with 135 total assists (eighth in the nation) and 5.2 assists per game (24th in the nation)….UTPB is 150 of 442 (.339) from 3-point range, which is the ninth-best 3-point shooting percentage in the LSC…Opponents are shooting 34.6 percent from beyond the arc, which is 13th in 3-point shooting percentage defense among LSC schools…Falcons are 12th in the league with 5.8 3-pointers made per game and are 14th in the conference with 17 3-point shots attempted per game…Seay is 44 of 128 (.427) from 3-point range and has the 11th-most made 3-pointers in the LSC…Seay is seventh in the league in attempted 3-point shots…UTPB is 439 of 552 (.795) at the free-throw line…Falcons are fourth in the nation and second in the conference in free-throw percentage…UTPB makes 16.9 free throws per game, which is second in the conference and 13th in the nation…21.2 free-throw attempts per game is fourth in the LSC and 46th in the nation…Jones is 108 of 117 (.923) at the foul line…Jones leads the league in made free throws (27th in the nation) and has the second-highest free-throw percentage in the conference (sixth in the nation)…Jones has the fifth-most free-throw attempts in the LSC…Seay is 86 of 95 (.905) at the free-throw line and has the third-best free-throw percentage in the conference (13th in the nation)…Jalen King is 71 of 96 (.740) at the foul line…King has made the 13th-most free throws in the LSC and has the 10th-most attempts…Seay has the 11th-most free-throw attempts in the conference…UTPB is 15th in the conference with 31.62 rebounds per game and eighth in the league with 10.42 offensive rebounds per game…King is 12th in the LSC with 128 total rebounds (4.9 rebounds per game)…UTPB is 16th in the league with one block per game…Falcons average 6.2 steals per game, which is 10th in the conference…Jones leads the conference and is 29th in the nation with 43 total steals…Jones averages 1.65 steals per game, which is fifth in the league…UTPB forces 13.85 turnovers per game, 10th in the LSC…Falcons are ninth in the conference 13.2 turnovers committed per game…+0.7 turnover margin is ninth in the league…UTPB is 11th in the conference with 19 fouls committed per game…

UP NEXT | Midwestern State hosts Angelo State at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. The Rams had six players score in double figures last month at Junell Center in San Angelo and defeated the Mustangs, 89-74. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.