Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Links
Saturday, March 16	5 p.m.	(8) Angelo State	Canyon, Texas	First United Bank Center	Stats | Video | Game Notes

 
CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M men's basketball team faces a familiar opponent on Saturday, March 16 as the Buffs meet the Rams of Angelo State at 5 p.m. inside the First United Bank Center. Saturday's matchup between the Buffs (26-4, 20-2 LSC) and Rams (19-10, 14-8 LSC) is a rematch from the 2023 South Central Regional Semifinals.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
NCAA Digital has partnered with Hudl to utilize the Hudl platform to stream all eligible games from the 2024 Division II Men's Basketball Championship, including the regionals. All games will be webcast on www.ncaa.com, the Hudl platform and an OTT app – "NCAA Championships Pass."
 
Fans will have three viewing options: $9.95 per contest, $29.95 for all Division II Men's Basketball Championship games excluding the semifinals and championship game, and $49.95 for all Division II Women's and Men's Basketball Championship games, excluding the semifinals and championship games. The semifinals of the Division II Men's Basketball Championship will be carried on CBS Sports Network while the final will be carried on CBS.
 
NABC TOP 25 POLL
Nova Southeastern received all but one first-place vote for a total of 399 points followed by Minnesota State (381), Gannon (358), Northwest Missouri State (355, 1 fpv), and Fort Lewis (337). Colorado Mesa, Charleston, California (PA.), West Texas A&M, and Minnesota Duluth round out the top 10.
 
WT is one of five South Central regional programs ranked with Fort Lewis leading the way at No. 5. Colorado Mesa (6^th), WT (9^th), DBU (12^th), and Colorado School of Mines (23^rd) earned spots in the rankings. Eastern New Mexico and Lubbock Christian also received votes in the poll.
 
A LOOK AT THE NCAA REGIONAL BRACKET
WT, the Lone Star Conference regular season champion, takes on eighth-seeded Angelo State in the first-round while Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament champion Fort Lewis drew the No. 2 seed and will face the No. 7 seed, Lubbock Christian. Third-seeded, and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season champion, Colorado Mesa starts their NCAA tournament against the sixth seed and Lone Star Conference Tournament champions, Eastern New Mexico. Dallas Baptist and Colorado School of Mines will meet in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup. Quarterfinals for the Regional Tournament will be held on Saturday, March 16 with semifinals to follow on Sunday, March 17. The South Central Regional Championship game will take place on Tuesday, March 19.
 
SCOUTING (8) ANGELO STATE
The Rams ended the regular season with an overall record of 19-9 and 14-8 in Lone Star Conference play. Angelo State enters the NCAA tournament after a 103-84 loss to Eastern New Mexico in the opening round of the Lone Star Conference quarterfinals. The Rams are led by second-year head coach Vinay Patel who is in his 10^th season overall.  In Patel's tenure at Angelo State, the head coach holds a phenomenal 45-17 record at the helm of the Rams and a 166-112 record as a head coach.
 
On the season, ASU averages 79.9 points per game on 46.5 percent shooting from the field while holding opponents to 77.4 points. Three players average double-digit scoring for the Rams paced by Keyshawn Embery-Simpson's 18.6 per contest. Kevon Godwin follows with an average of 17.0 points with Trey Farrer behind at 11.5. Farrer also leads Angelo State's rebounding with 6.3 per contest while Godwin powers the offense with 108 total assists. On the defensive side, Willie Guy has generated 45 steals while DJ Basey leads with 32 blocked shots.
 
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series with Angelo State 58-26 including 35-6 in Canyon. Tom Brown is 19-5 all time against the Rams while Vinay Patel is 2-7 against WT in his career. WT swept the regular-season series with Angelo State after winning 88-73 in Canyon and 94-90 in overtime while in San Angelo.
 
W, 94-90 (OT) – San Angelo, 2024
W, 88-73 – Canyon, 2024
W, 69-59 – Canyon (NCAA), 2023
W, 64-63 – Frisco (LSC), 2023
W, 84-67 – Canyon, 2023
 
THE BROWN ERA
Head coach Tom Brown enters his 10th season at the helm of Buffalo Basketball, building the program into one of the elite NCAA Division II schools in the nation.  He has guided the Buffs to seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments including the Buffs first-ever NCAA Division II National Championship game in 2021. Under Brown, the Buffs are 262-61 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 81.1%.  Brown registered his 250^th career victory on Jan. 13, 2024, after the Buffs defeated UT Permian Basin, 77-69, to become just the second coach in program history to reach the 250-win plateau. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The West Texas A&M basketball saw their streak at the Lone Star Conference Tournament come to an end on Thursday night as the Cameron Aggies upset the Buffs in overtime, 93-89. Five Buffs reached double-digit scoring on Thursday night led by a team-high 25 from Kieran Elliott. Zach Toussaint (17), Ryland Holt (14), Ahamed (13), and Larry Wise (11) also ended their night in double figures. Elliott pulled in a game-high seven rebounds with a block while Mohammed dished out three assists.


RECORD WATCH 
Zach Toussaint is moving his way up the ladder in the program's 3-point career leaderboard.  The Johnsburg, Ill., product ranks second all-time with 368 threes after passing former Buff Jordan Evans (2015-2018) in the Buffs' win over Arkansas Fort Smith on Nov. 30. Larry Wise also moved into the top 10 of 3-point shots made, ranking seventh with 182 made threes. David Chavlovich (2014-18) is the program's all-time 3-point leader with 388. 
 
Toussaint and fellow senior Larry Wise both broke the 1,000-point mark last season. Currently, Toussaint ranks second with 1,757 after passing Qua Grant and Ryan Quaid during the Buffs' game against Cameron on March 7. Wise continues to move up the scoring list as the Waxahachie, Texas now ranks sixth with 1,594 points.
 
Toussaint is also the program's all-time games played leader after breaking the record on Jan. 27, 2024 against UT Tyler.  
 
ON THIS DAY: MARCH 16
Saturday's game marks just the sixth time the Buffs have played on this date and first since 2021. WT is undefeated at 3-2 on this date including three straight wins and a 3-0 record in the NCAA Tournament.
 
W, 101-92 – #10 Lubbock Christian, 2021
W, 77-61 – Texas A&M-Commerce, 2019
L, 71-73 – Missouri Western, 1990
L, 37-50 – Arkansas State Teachers, 1936
L, 31-40 – Southern Kansas Stage, 1932
 
BEVO FRANCIS TOP 25 WATCH LIST
On Friday morning, Small College Basketball announced West Texas A&M senior Larry Wise was among one of 25 players remaining on the 2023-24 Bevo Francis Award watch list. The honor is awarded to a deserving player whose university is affiliated within NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA Division I, NAIA Division II, USCAA and NCCAA.
 
The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Considerations will be season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character, and team achievements. This is an incredibly prestigious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.
 
On April 5th, the finalists of this year's award will be announced, followed by the Bevo Francis Award winner being crowned on April 8th.
 
TREVOR HUDGINS TOP 25 WATCH LIST
Small College Basketball announced West Texas A&M senior Zach Toussaint was named to the Trevor Hudgins Top-25 Watch List. Toussaint becomes the first Buff to be named to the watch list after the award was announced in November 2023.
 
The Trevor Hudgins Award will be presented annually to the senior who has had the finest overall four-year career within Small College Basketball. Considerations will be overall career statistics and achievements, team achievements, awards, and personal character. The player must have played his entire career at the small college level. This will be the highest award given to a four-year player within Small College Basketball.
 
LSC PRESEASON FAVORITE
WT was voted to repeat as Lone Star Conference regular season champs with 703 total points including 34 of the possible 45 first-place votes. Angelo State came in second in the preseason poll with 675 points and nine first-place votes. St. Edward's (600, 1 fpv) came in third followed by Lubbock Christian (564, 1 fpv) and DBU (522) to round out the top five. Texas A&M-Kingsville, voted to finish sixth, tallied 497 points with St. Mary's following at 443 and Eastern New Mexico at 377. Midwestern State (298) and UAFS (282) finish the top 10. Texas A&M International (278), Western New Mexico (216), UT Permian Basin (208), Oklahoma Christian, (183), UT Tyler (176), and Cameron (93) rounded out the poll.
 
THE LONE STAR
The 2023-24 LSC basketball schedule will feature 16 men's teams in two divisions with each team playing a double round-robin schedule within their division. Additionally, teams will play eight crossover competitions against teams from the opposite division for a total of 22 conference games.
 
The LSC Basketball Championships will feature an 8-team field in 2024 with seeding based on the 22 conference games. The East and West Division winners automatically qualify for the LSC Tournament but are not guaranteed a top two seed. The championships are set to take place March 7-8-9-10, 2024, at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
 
2022-23 REVIEW
The Buffs come off another successful campaign after finishing 27-7 in 2022-23 and claiming the program's sixth-consecutive Lone Star Conference Tournament title. In the LSC Championship game, Zach Toussaint drained a pull-up jump shot with three seconds left to give WT a 64-63 win over No. 19 Angelo State. After receiving the automatic qualifier, the Buffs were selected as the top seed in the region and hosted the regional tournament. After a 78-56 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville and a 69-59 win over No. 23 Angelo State, WT matched up with No. 21 Black Hills State for a spot in the Elite Eight. The game came down to the last tenth of a second as Damion Thornton's game-winner was waved off as the Yellow Jackets advanced with a 68-67 victory.
 
UP NEXT
A win would place the Buffs in the NCAA South Central Regional Semifinals on Sunday, March 17. WT would take on the winner of No. 4-seed Dallas Baptist and No. 5-seed Colorado School of Mines at 7:30 p.m.
 
FOLLOW THE BUFFS
Fans can follow and stay up to date on all the Buff action on online and on social media.  Follow the Buffs on Twitter (@WestTXD2Hoops), Instagram (@WTAMU_MBB), and Facebook (/WTAMUMBB).