ALPINE, Texas -- Midwestern State won its first Lone Star Conference meeting with Sul Ross State at D. L. Ligon Coliseum last month, 88-62, and now makes its first-ever visit to Gallego Center to face the Lobos for the second time this season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night.

The Mustangs just concluded a 3-1 homestand with a 63-58 victory over West Texas A&M and improved their overall record to 15-5, and MSU is 10-4 in conference play. Midwestern State is percentage points behind UT Permian Basin fourth and three games behind St. Mary's, which sits atop the LSC standings. Dallas Baptist is 13-2 in conference play and Lubbock Christian is 13-3.
Midwestern State is hosting UTPB next week and closes the season with a home-and-home against Lubbock Christian, but the Mustangs must take care of business on their westward journey first.

The Mustangs rebounded from a 70-69 loss to Eastern New Mexico with a 63-58 triumph over West Texas A&M on Saturday. Will Shepherd hit a 3-pointer, blocked a shot and hit two free throws in the final minute to help Midwestern State secure the victory. Mason Gibson finished with 18 points and Reggie Hill matched a career-high with 14 rebounds against the Buffaloes.

Hill is the fifth-leading rebounder in the conference with 7.1 rebounds per game. Hill has started the last eight games for MSU and has scored 61 points and grabbed 62 rebounds in that span. The 6-8 senior forward from Melbourne, Florida is averaging seven points per game.

Gibson, who is the fifth-leading scorer in the LSC with 16.6 points per game, has scored double figures in 17 of his 19 appearances this season, and scored at least 20 points in six games.

Pierre Sanders is the second-leading scorer for the Mustangs this season with 12.9 points per game, and he is shooting 51.6 percent from the field (97 of 188). Sanders is shooting 47.5 percent from 3-point range (29 of 61) and is an 85 percent free-throw shooter (34 of 40).

The fifth-year senior guard from Hutto, Texas, is second in the conference with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.50, and he is sixth in the league with 3.8 assists per game.

Shepherd averages 9.4 points per game and is the second-leading rebounder for the Mustangs with 5.1 boards per game.

Bakari LaStrap, who missed the first eight games of the season due to injury, scores 8.8 points per game for the Mustangs with 3.1 assists and three rebounds per game. LaStrap shoots 43.5 percent from the field (37 of 85) and has hit 30-of-374 free throws (81.1 percent).

Jonathan Jackson hits 2.2 3-pointers per game and averages 8.7 points per game for the Mustangs. The 6-4 guard from Sachse, Texas, was 11-of-23 (47.8 %) from 3-point range on the four-game homestand.

The Mustangs are second in the LSC and 12th in the nation with a 3-point shooting percentage of 38.8, hitting 9.6 3-pointers per game, which leads the conference. MSU has hit at least 10 3-pointers in 11 games this season, including eight of the last 11 contests.

Midwestern State has an effective field goal percentage of 53.4 percent, which is fourth-best in the LSC. Effective field goal percentage accounts for the added value of three-point shots. MSU attempts the second-most 3-point shots in the LSC with 24.8 attempts per game.

Midwestern State is the fourth-highest scoring team in the LSC with 78.1 points per game while holding opponents to 67 points, which is the fifth-best scoring defense in the league. The plus-11.1 scoring margin is third-best in the LSC and 23rd among NCAA Division II programs.

The Mustangs are seventh in the nation and lead the league with a field goal percentage defense of 39.4 percent, and opponents are only hitting 29.5 percent of their 3-point attempts against the LSC's best 3-point percentage defense, which is 11th best in the nation.

Sanders and Gibson lead the Mustangs with 36 and 35 steals respectively, and MSU is fourth in the league with 8.9 steals per game. Midwestern State is forcing 13.5 turnovers per game while only committing 11.2 turnovers, which is third-fewest in the LSC.

Midwestern State is committing the fewest fouls in the LSC with 14.5 per game, which is the 29th-fewest among NCAA Division II programs.

The Stang Gang is fifth in the conference with 37.6 rebounds per game, and second in the league with 27 defensive rebounds per game.

Midwestern State is 6-1 in the all-time series with Sul Ross State, but before this season, the two schools had not met since MSU posted a 103-83 victory in November of 1991 in Brownwood, Texas. The first six encounters were all neutral site games. The Lobos lone victory in the series was an 89-87 victory in December of 1965 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Sul Ross State, which joined the LSC this season, is 3-17 overall with a 2-13 record in conference play. The Lobos have lost three straight games since defeating Texas A&M International at Gallegos Center, 82-79, in overtime. Sul Ross State is 2-10 at home this season.

The Lobos are scoring 67.3 points per game while their opponents scored 80.6 points per game, which is the most allowed by an LSC team this season. The minus-13.3 scoring margin is the worst in the league.

Ethan Yancy is the leading scorer for Sul Ross State with 16.8 points per game, and the 6-5 senior from Houston scored 20 points against Midwestern State in the first meeting. Since facing the Mustangs, Yancy has scored 23 on two occasions. He was 4-of-9 from 3-point range and played 42 minutes in an 82-79 overtime win against Texas A&M International. He was 7-of-15 from the field at Angelo State last week and scored 23 points in an 85-73 loss to the Rams.

Yancy also leads the team in steals with 27 in 19 games this season. Myles Amason is the leading shot blocker. The 6-11 sophomore center from Fort Worth, Texas, has 22 blocks in 20 games for the Lobos.

Bryce Harris is the leading rebounder for Sul Ross State with 5.8 boards per game. The 6-5 senior forward from Fort Worth grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds in a 98-69 loss to Dallas Baptist earlier this season.

Sul Ross State is getting outrebounded on a nightly basis 39.6 – 31.6. The minus-8 rebounding margin is 16th in the LSC.

Cam Clardy is dishing out 2.35 assists per game to lead Sul Ross State and he is scoring 13.5 points per game.

Midwestern State travels to Silver City, New Mexico, for a showdown with Western New Mexico on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. CST.