Date	Time	Opponent	Location	Venue	Live Links
Sunday, December 10	4:00 p.m.	Texas A&M-Kingsville	Canyon, Texas	First United Bank Center	Stats | Video | Game Notes

 
CANYON, Texas – Coming off a pair of Lone Star Conference victories, the West Texas A&M men's basketball team faces Texas A&M-Kingsville to the First United Bank Center on Sunday, Dec. 10. The Buffs (6-1, 2-0 LSC) and Javelinas (2-5, 0-2 LSC) are scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
A live stream will be available for the game provided by the West Texas A&M athletic communications department through the Lone Star Conference Digital Network. Fans can buy a yearly pass for $140 that grants access to all broadcasts for the LSC including previous years or a $30 monthly subscription. Live stats will also be provided for fans to stay up to date.
 
NABC TOP 25 POLL
The top four teams saw no change with Nova Southeastern sweeping all first-place votes once again. West Liberty, Central Oklahoma, and Cal State San Bernardino remained No. 2-4 with MSU Moorhead gaining control of the No. 5 spot. Minnesota State, DBU, and Ashland sit ahead of the Buffs in sixth through eighth with Chico State falling behind WT.
 
WT is one of five South Central regional programs ranked with DBU leading the way at No. 7. Colorado Mesa (15^th), MSU Denver (18^th), and Fort Lewis (20^th) earned spots in the poll. Angelo State, Midwestern State, and Colorado School of Mines received votes.
 
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE
The Javelinas started the season 2-3 in non-conference play before opening Lone Star Conference action with a pair of losses to Angelo State and UT Permian Basin. TAMUK is led by first-year head coach Omar Gonzalez who took over the program following the departure of Johnny Estelle. Gonzalez is no stranger to the LSC as he spent the previous six seasons in the Javelina program. Gonzalez has started his head coaching career with a 2-5 record.
 
C.J. Smith paces a TAMUK offense that averages 71 points per game as the senior guard averages 15.1 per contest. On the glass, former Buff Kavon Booker averages 5.7 rebounds per game to lead the team. Defensively, the Javelinas allow 77.9 points and 44.6 rebounds per game while opponents are shooting 44.9 percent from the field.
 
THE SERIES
WT leads the all-time series with a record of 57-26 including 14-3 under Tom Brown. In the series, the Buffs are 34-5 at home against the Javelinas. The two conference foes have competed in a series that dates back to 1939 although the Buffs have won the previous six meetings including a regular season and NCAA tournament win last season.   
 
W, 78-56 – Canyon (NCAA), 2023
W, 71-65 – Kingsville, 2022
W, 77-70 – Frisco (LSC), 2022
W, 87-78 – Canyon, 2022
W, 75-64 – Kingsville, 2020
 
LSC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second consecutive week, the Lone Star Conference named a West Texas A&M men's basketball player as the league's Defensive Player of the Week. After Larry Wise earned the honor last week, Ryland Holt earns the award for the first time in his career at WT.
 
Holt's defense helped No. 11-ranked West Texas A&M to a pair of Lone Star Conference victories over the weekend. Holt grabbed 15 rebounds in the wins with 10 coming on the defensive side of the court. The senior guard also blocked four shots while making four steals on defense to hold opponents to a 69.0 scoring average. On the other side of the court, Holt chipped in 25 points over the two games with five offensive boards.
 
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 242-58 since he took the reins in 2014 for an incredible winning percentage of 80.7%.  Brown registered his 200th career victory on Jan. 31, 2022, after the Buffs defeated St. Edward's, 82-72, to become just the third coach in program history to reach the 200-win plateau.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Buffs trailed Oklahoma Christian by two points at halftime, but that didn't stop WT from coming back to steal a victory on the road. After leading by as much as eight points, the Buffs watched the Eagles erase the lead before going on short bursts. Larry Wise was crucial down the stretch, making big shots and bigger free throws. Wise scored a game-high 20 points on 5-of-13 shooting and 10-13 from the free throw line. Ryland Holt also reached double figures with 16 points and eight rebounds to go along with two blocks and three steals. Zach Toussaint chipped in 12 points in his 26 minutes of play.
 
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 313 threes after passing former Buff Jordan Evans (2015-2018) in the Buffs' win over Oklahoma Baptist. 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 sixth with 1,466 after passing Jordan Evans in the Buffs' win over Oklahoma Christian. Wise also advanced on the leaderboard after scoring 20 points against the Eagles, passing Troy Burrus and Joe Thompson for 16^th.
 
ON THIS DAY: DEC. 10
The Buffs play on this date for the second consecutive year after playing Texas A&M International last season and 21st time overall in the history of program. WT is 10-10 on Dec. 10 and have won four straight games.
 
W, 71-62 – Texas A&M International, 2022
W, 82-55 – New Mexico Highlands, 2016
W, 61-45 – UT Permian Basin, 2011
W, 69-62 – Texas A&M-Commerce, 2005
L, 64-74 – Angelo State, 1991
 
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 divisional winners will receive the top two seeds in the tournament. 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
WT stays at home to face Texas A&M International on Tuesday, Dec. 12. The Lady Buffs are scheduled for 11 a.m. with the Buffs to follow at 1 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).