WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State returns to D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Thursday night to host Texas A&M-Kingsville, which has not visited the Mustangs since scoring a 77-66 victory in January of 2020.

Midwestern State (14-11, 8-11) is 10-4 at home this season and has won four of its last five games "under the dome."

The Mustangs are coming off a 92-87 triple-overtime loss at Angelo State on Saturday. Bakari LaStrap scored a season-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting and hit 3-of-8 shots from beyond the arc. Mason Gibson poured in 22 points, and Pierre Sanders finished with 14 points and five assists. Reggie Hill had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs, who have lost their last five road games.

Midwestern State has not been eliminated from the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament, but the Mustangs must win their remaining three games and will need help from other members of the conference to qualify for the event.

Midwestern State is the sixth-highest scoring team in the LSC with 81.4 points per game, but the Mustangs are allowing opponents to score 76.8 points per contest, which is 10th in the LSC.

Gibson is the leading scorer for MSU and eighth in the conference with 16.4 points per game. The 6-0 sophomore guard from Allen, Texas, is 97 of 130 (.746) from the free-throw line and has accounted for the seventh-most points from the foul line in the LSC.

Sanders is the second-leading scorer for MSU with 13.8 points per game. The 5-10 senior guard from Hutto, Texas, is third in the conference with 4.4 assists per game and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the LSC at 2.85, which is 15th-best in the nation. Sanders is one of 14 players in NCAA Division II to post a triple-double this season. In a 108-104 double overtime win against St. Mary's on Nov. 18, Sanders had 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds.

LaStrap is averaging 12.1 points and 3.5 assists per game this season. The 6-1 junior from Houston has scored in double-figures 16 times this season, including nine of the last 11 games. He is averaging 11.5 points in his 13 home appearances this season.

Will Shepherd is scoring 11 points per game for the Mustangs and is shooting 35.7 percent from beyond the arc this season (45 of 126). The 6-8 junior forward from Dallas, Texas, is shooting 40.5 percent from the floor (89 of 220) and 88.3 percent from the foul line (53 of 60).

Hill is the leading rebounder for MSU with 6.7 boards per game. The 6-8 junior forward from Melbourne, Florida, is averaging nine points per game and is shooting 48.3 percent from the field (72 of 149), including 34.8 percent from 3-point range (24 of 69).

Midwestern State leads the conference and is 17th in the nation with 40.4 rebounds per game, and the Mustangs are second in the league — 18th in the nation — with 13.3 offensive rebounds per game.

Duncan Alevok is the second-leading shot blocker in the LSC with 36 blocks this season, which is 45th in the nation, and MSU is blocking the most shots in the league with 4.5 per game, which is 19th among Division II programs. Alevok is responsible for 1.4 blocks per game.

The Mustangs are forcing the fifth-most turnovers in the LSC with 13.6 per game and eighth in the conference with 12.5 turnovers committed per game. The plus-1.1 turnover margin is eighth-best in the league.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with the Javelinas, 38-16, but TAMUK has won the last three encounters and four of the last five meetings. The Mustangs hit 15 3-pointers at the Steinke Center last season, but Dillon Gooding came off of the bench to score a game-high 19 points, and TAMUK held on for a 74-71 victory. Sanders scored 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting with three 3-pointers. He also dished out six assists and matched a season high with five steals in 37 minutes for the Mustangs.

Texas A&M-Kingsville (6-18, 4-15) is scoring 70.5 points per game, and its opponents are scoring 76.9 points per contest.

The Javelinas have lost six of their last seven games and are just 2-11 on the road this season. TAMUK is coming off a 1-3 homestand and suffered an 86-79 Senior Day loss to Dallas Baptist on Saturday. C.J. Smith, who has eclipsed over 1000 career points as a Javelina, scored 22 points to lead TAMUK. Kavon Booker had his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Smith is the leading scorer for TAMUK with 16.2 points per game and is shooting 42.3 percent from the field (124 of 293). Smith is 40 of 114 from 3-point range (.351). Kingsville is shooting 31.5 percent from beyond the arc as a team this season, which is 13th in the LSC.

The Javelinas boast the second-best 3-point shooting percentage defense in the LSC, holding opponents to 32.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Smith, a 5-9 senior from Mansfield, Texas, is averaging four assists per game, which is fifth in the conference, and he is second behind Sanders in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.64.

Smith leads the team with 45 steals, and the Javelinas are third in the league with 8.2 steals per game. TAMUK forces the fourth-most turnovers in the conference at 13.96 per game.

Booker is the leading rebounder for the Javelinas with 4.2 boards per game, and TAMUK is 15th in the league with 32.5 rebounds per game. The minus-7.9 rebounding margin is the worst in the LSC.

Kendrick Washington is a 6-5 wing from Humble, Texas, and has scored double figures in four of the last five games for TAMUK, including 14 against Dallas Baptist on Saturday. Washington had a season-high 15 in an 80-78 win over St. Mary's last month.

Omar Gonzalez is the 17th head coach in the history of the program in Kingsville. He took over last spring after working as an assistant for Johnny Estelle, who went 54-26 in five seasons and led the Javelinas to three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Justin Leslie is in his fifth season with Midwestern State and his 17th season as a head coach at the collegiate level. His career record is 327-192 (.630) and he is 61-71 (.462) at MSU. Leslie competed as a 6-8 center at Azusa Pacific from 1996-2001. He is one of just five players in Golden State Athletic Conference history to play on four conference championship teams.

Midwestern State plays its final home game of the season against Texas A&M International on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

--MSUMustangs.com--