ODESSA, Texas – Midwestern State still has a mathematical chance to make the LSC Postseason Tournament, but the scenarios are contingent upon the Mustangs picking up road victories at UT Permian Basin and Angelo State this week. 

The Mustangs visit the Falcons at the UTPB Gym Complex on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. and face the Rams at Junell Center on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.

Midwestern State (8-15, 6-10) followed up its second road win of the season at UT Tyler with back-to-back home losses to Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville. 

The Mustangs are coming off an 85-78 loss to the Javelinas at D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Saturday. TAMUK outscored Midwestern State in the second half, 54-36, after falling behind 38-21 with 5:33 remaining in the first half.

Jonathan Jackson led MSU with 18 points and was 6-of-9 from 3-point range. Jackson is shooting 65 percent from beyond the arc in his last four games, hitting 13-of-20 shots from long distance. Jackson is fourth in the nation in 3-point accuracy and leads the LSC at 46 percent (57 of 124) shooting from 3-point range. The senior from Sachse, Texas, is scoring 10.4 points per game.

Midwestern State matched a season-high with 12 3-pointers against the Javelinas, and the Mustangs are shooting 47.2 percent (25 of 53) from 3-point distance over their last three games.

Orlando Horton Jr. is the leading scorer for the Mustangs with 12.1 points per game, and he has scored double-figures in each of his last 10 appearances for MSU. Horton is shooting 48.7 percent from the field, and he made 65 of 82 free throws (.793), leading the team in free throws made and free-throw percentage. 

Terrance Ramirez, who scored 17 against TAMUK in his last game, is averaging 11 points a game for the Mustangs, who score 74.6 points per game.

Horton and Ramirez are combining for more than six assists per game. Horton leads the team with 3.5 assists per game, and Ramirez is second with 2.6 helpers per outing. 

Midwestern State is third in the LSC and 21st in the country with 32.2 points per game coming off the bench, and the Stangs are third in the LSC with 14.2 fastbreak points per game.

Davyon Butler is contributing 9.9 points per game, while Charles McClennahan, Jr. is scoring 8.9 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 4.7 boards per game. 

Teshaundre Cole, Jonathan Jackson and Kadon Jackson are all pulling down more than four rebounds a game for the Mustangs, who are ninth in the league with 35.9 rebounds per contest.
 

UT PERMIAN BASIN (9-15, 5-11)

Midwestern State is 11-11 in the all-time series with the Falcons and won the last three meetings, including a 96-86 victory on Dec. 5, when Ramirez scored a season-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Ramirez also dished out eight assists in the victory. McClennahan also scored a season-high with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

The Mustangs made 19 of 23 free throws (.839) in their win over UTPB 76 days ago, but recently MSU has struggled at the foul line, shooting just 57.1 percent (64 of 112) over its last five games.

Midwestern State is 3-7 in its 10 previous trips to Odessa but pulled out an 80-74 victory in overtime last season after trailing 23-5 with 11:46 to play in the first half.

UT Permian Basin lost four of its last five games and is coming off a 100-95 loss at St. Edward's on Saturday. Sharrod Taylor scored 28 points to lead the Falcons and was one of five players in double figures. 

The Falcons are the sixth-highest scoring team in the conference with 78 points per game, but they allow 81.4 points per outing, which is 14th in the LSC.

Tash Lunday is the leading scorer for UTPB with 16.8 points per game and he shoots 47.7 percent from the field, including 42.9 percent from 3-point range (18 of 42). Lunday is 134 of 160 from the free-throw line (.838). He has the second-most attempts as well as the second-most made free throws in the conference. 

UT Permian Basin is shooting the third-most free throws in the conference with 23.9 attempts per game, and their 73.6 conversion rate is sixth in the league. With 17.5 made free throws per game, the Falcons are fourth in the LSC.

Lunday is also the leading rebounder on the team with 8.2 boards per game for a team that is 10th in the conference with 35.5 rebounds a game.

Taylor leads UTPB in assists with 3.9 per game, which is sixth most in the LSC. Taylor also leads the team with 1.6 steals per game, and the Falcons force 12.8 turnovers per game.

ANGELO STATE (15-12, 6-10)

Midwestern State is 52-38 in the all-time series with the Rams and has won the last two meetings, but both games were at D.L. Ligon Coliseum, including a 77-70 victory in the conference opener on Dec. 3.

Terrance Ramirez paced Midwestern State in its first meeting with the Rams this season, scoring 25 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, hitting 7 of 9 from beyond the arc. MSU was 12 of 26 from 3-point range in the victory and scored 23 points off 15 turnovers.

The Mustangs have lost their last 10 visits to Junell Center and are 14-28 all-time when visiting Angelo State. The last victory for MSU in San Angelo was in January of 2013 when the Mustangs scored a 65-55 victory, led by Corbin Thomas, who had 10 points and 14 rebounds. Current head coach Jon Trilli was a graduate assistant on Nelson Haggerty's staff at the time.

Angelo State plays Lubbock Christian on Thursday night before Midwestern State visits on Saturday afternoon.

The Rams had a three-game winning streak before suffering back-to-back losses on the road to St. Edward's and St. Mary's last week.

The Hilltoppers beat Angelo State in overtime, 79-76, and the Rattlers won a 47-43 decision in San Antonio on Saturday.

Angelo State won its last two home games and is 7-3 as the host this season.

The Rams have the second-best scoring defense in the conference, allowing opponents to score just 66.6 points per game, but Angelo State is 14th in scoring offense with 68.8 points per outing. 

Angelo State averages 3.4 blocks per game, and Jhordan Ryan is third in the league with 1.3 blocks per game.

Jaqai Murray is the leading scorer for the Rams with 15.7 points per game, and Quadir Pettaway is scoring 11.4 points per outing.

Jordan Crawford is dishing out 3.9 assists per game, which is seventh in the LSC.

Murray and Ryan are both pulling down 6.6 rebounds per game, while Ja'Queze Kirby averages 6.4 boards per game for a team averaging 35.2 rebounds per game, which is 11th in the conference. Its plus-1.7 rebounding margin is seventh in the nation. The Rams are fifth in the league with 12.2 offensive rebounds per game, and Ryan leads the team with 2.9 offensive rebounds per game.

Midwestern State closes out the regular season with a pair of home games against Sul Ross State and Western New Mexico. The Lobos visit D.L. Ligon Coliseum on Feb. 26 with tipoff at 7:30 p.m.