WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State looks to pick up where it left off on Thursday night as Western New Mexico visits D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Saturday afternoon for a 3 p.m. clash with the Mustangs, who are coming off one of their most impressive performances of the season.

Twelve different players scored as the Mustangs fired in 14 3-pointers on the way to a 93-54 rout of Eastern New Mexico. Midwestern State held the Greyhounds to a season-low scoring output and limited ENMU to a season worst 26-percent field goal percentage.

The Mustangs improved to 13-9 on the season and to 7-9 in Lone Star Conference play.

"The team had a really good week together," said head coach Justin Leslie. "We have to have that contagious positive energy — where we bring it consistently. It's really hard to go out and be energetic when you're not making shots and you're not scoring."

The Mustangs had 19 second-chance points, 11 layups, two dunks and 15 fast-break points in the victory over the second-highest scoring team in the Lone Star Conference.

"We got some of those easy baskets that were a result of doing some of those hard things. What I'm most excited about is the fact that we had 18 assists," Leslie said.

The Mustangs were 34 of 73 from the field (.466) and led wire-to-wire with Mason Gibson back on the floor after missing the previous six games due to an injury.

Gibson, who scored six points in 20 minutes off the bench, is the leading scorer for MSU and ninth in the conference with 16.1 points per game. The 6-0 sophomore guard from Allen, Texas, is 82 of 106 (.774) from the free-throw line and has accounted for the eighth-most points from the foul line in the LSC.

"The spark to the rotation that he brings — the heady nature — getting him back in practice was a shot in the arm, " Leslie said. "Bringing him back in the fold, allowed us to put them in a tough situation where they had to decide how they were going to play."

Midwestern State is the fifth-highest scoring team in the LSC with 82 points per game, but the Mustangs are allowing opponents to score 77.6 points per contest, which is 10th in the LSC.

Pierre Sanders is the second-leading scorer from MSU with 14.3 points per game. The 5-10 senior guard from Hutto, Texas, is third in the conference with 4.6 assists per game and has the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the LSC at 2.76, which is 24th-best in the nation. Sanders is one of 10 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.

Will Shepherd is scoring 11.6 points per game for the Mustangs and is shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the arc this season (42 of 111). The 6-8 junior forward from Dallas, Texas, is shooting 41.8 percent from the floor (82 of 196) and 89.1 percent from the foul line (49 of 55). Shepherd has hit 29 of 30 free throws over his last 10 games.

LaStrap is averaging 11.4 points and 3.3 assists per game this season. LaStrap had 13 points and five assists against ENMU on Thursday night.

Reggie Hill is the leading rebounder for MSU with 6.2 boards per game. The 6-8 junior forward from Melbourne, Florida, is averaging 8.6 points per game and is shooting 49.2 percent from the field (58 of 118), including 35.7 percent from 3-point range (20 of 56). Hill had nine points and four rebounds in the win over the Greyhounds.

Midwestern State leads the conference and is 27th in the nation with 39.91 rebounds per game, and the Mustangs are third in the league — 23rd in the nation — with 13.14 offensive rebounds per game.

Duncan Alevok is the leading shot blocker in the LSC with 35 blocks this season, which is 31st in the nation, and MSU is blocking the second-most shots in the league with 4.7 per game. Alevok is responsible for 1.59 blocks per game.

The Mustangs are forcing the seventh-most turnovers in the LSC with 13.41 per game and eighth in the conference with 12.3 turnovers committed per game. The plus-1.1 turnover margin is eighth-best in the league.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with Western New Mexico, 15-3, and has won all seven meetings at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. MSU has won five of the last seven encounters, including a 90-77 victory in Silver City on Jan. 11.

"It's a grueling road trip for them. I'm not sure what their condition is going to be coming in Saturday, but that's beside the point," Leslie said. "We need to make Saturday about us. We just need to go out and continue to get better, and have tremendous energy when we step on the court."

MSU stands one game back of a three-way tie for eighth place behind UT Permian Basin, Oklahoma Christian, and Texas A&M International. All three teams are 8-8.

"There are a lot of other games we need to go our way, but I'm not going to make that the issue with our team right now. We've known all along we can play with anybody," Leslie said.

Opponents are scoring 84.8 points per game against Western New Mexico, which is the worst scoring defense in the conference, and WNMU is 12th in the league with 73.2 points per game.

Cortaviaus Seales is the leading scorer for WNMU and sixth in the conference with 17.1 points per game. Prosper Obidiebube is adding 11.8 points per game for the Western Mustangs, who have the fourth-most productive bench in the league with 28.3 points per game.

Obidiebube and Tanner Vogel are the leading rebounders for WNMU, which is 14th in the league with 32.81 rebounds per game. Obidiebube is pulling down 5.4 boards per game, and Vogel grabs 5.1 caroms per game.

LaMarqus Merchant is the only player that has started all 20 games for WNMU, and he is scoring 8.8 points per game while dishing out 3.8 assists per game. Merchant also leads the team with 1.5 steals per game and 31 steals overall.

Western New Mexico turns the ball over 14.4 times per game, which is the most in the LSC, and WNMU forces 11.67 turnovers, which is 14th in the conference.

Mark Bunker is in his first season as the head coach at Western New Mexico. Bunker was at Scottsdale Community College for nine seasons and took the Artichokes to back-to-back Region I Division II Championships in 2022 and 2023 for the first time in school history. The Artichokes finished 25-9 in Bunker's final season.

Bunker played collegiately at Scottsdale Community College, where he was a two year starter, team captain and appeared in the Junior College All-American All-Star Game as a sophomore. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Arizona State, and spent two years on the Sun Devils basketball team.

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 326-190 (.632) and he is 60-69 (.465) 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 travels to Odessa for a critical matchup with UT Permian Basin on Thursday night at the UTPB Gym Complex. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 

--MSUMustangs.com--