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ASU and UAFS, which are meeting for the first time on the basketball court, were originally scheduled to play last Saturday before the game was postponed due to travel concerns caused by severe winter weather throughout the region. They are two of 42 NCAA Division II teams with unblemished records this season.

"UAFS is a very good basketball team," ASU head coach Chris Beard said. "They are off to a good start this season. They are undefeated and nationally ranked for a reason – very good coach and talented players."

The Rams have already established the best start to a season in program history following a 13-point win over McMurry last Tuesday and would match the longest winning streak in program history at any point to a season with a win. The only other teams in program history with nine-game winning streaks were in the 1987-88 and 2000-01 seasons. ASU is just outside the NABC Division II rankings having received 26 voting points along with Alaska-Anchorage for the most points for teams not in the top-25.

The Rams are averaging 76.1 points per game and are ninth in the nation with a 54.7 shooting percentage. Fifteen players have competed for the Rams this season and the team is limiting opponents to 63 points and 37.4 percent shooting (14th best in the nation). ASU has a plus-16 turnover margin this season 29-13 blocked-shot advantage.

"Our team continues to be a work in progress," Beard said. "We have a long ways to go. We have shown the ability to be a good team during times in these first 8 games but still lack the consistency present in championship type teams."

Kenny Williams has led the Rams in five of eight games and is averaging 17.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in his senior season. Williams, a 6-foot-7 forward from St. Louis, has four double-doubles and has also contributed seven blocked shots. He is shooting 57.1 percent from the floor (56 of 98) and 88 percent from the free-throw line (22 of 25). He was named the Lone Star Conference's Offensive Player of the Week after the opening weekend where he scored 28 points against East Central and then 21 against Arlington Baptist.

Daniel Skinner and Bryan Hammond join Williams in double-figure scoring with Skinner at 11.8 points per game and Hammond at 10.4. Skinner has six double-digit scoring performances this season and one double-double (17/10) against York College. A junior guard, Skinner transferred to ASU this season from Jacksonville College and is leading the team with eight blocked shots and also contributing 5.4 rebounds per game. Hammond averaged 9.4 points for the Rams last season as a junior and has led the Rams in scoring in two games this season. He had a season-high eight assists last week against McMurry and leads the team with 39 assists this season.

Tommy Woolridge, a junior from Chicago, is averaging 7.0 points per game in his first season with the Rams and sophomore Reggie Sutton is averaging 5.9 points and Omari Gudul is at 5.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. Gudul is a 6-foot-10 sophomore who transferred from Ranger College. He has one double-double this season coming in a 13/12 game against York College.

Chris Talkington, who averaged 10.7 points last season as a junior, is coming off his strongest game of the season last week against McMurry. A senior from Grand Prairie who played two seasons at Nichols State with Hammond, Talkington scored 12 points with three 3-pointers against the War Hawks. Justin Walling also had a solid game against McM, scoring a season-high eight points on two 3-pointers.

Arkansas-Fort Smith, which was ranked No. 16 in the NABC poll which was released on Tuesday, enters the game with a 6-0 record and is averaging 91 points per game. The Lions are limiting opponents to 70.8 points per game and are limiting them to 42 percent shooting while they are shooting 51 percent from the field. Their wins have come against Central Baptist College, Ouachita Baptist, Henderson State, Missouri Southern, Northeastern State and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. 

Seth Youngblood leads the Lions with 16.8 points per game and has added 13 assists and four steals through the first six games. Youngblood, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Roland, Okla, is shooting 58 percent from the field. He is 26 of 45 on 3-pointers (57 percent) is averaging 2.3 rebounds per contest. Tramel White, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, is averaging 14.4 points and five rebounds per game with Jake Toupal at 13.7 points per game. Toupal is a 6-foot-3 senior guard from Broken Arrow, Okla. who is also averaging four rebounds per game. Alex Cooper completes the four UAFS players averaging double figures in scoring with 11 points and is also averaging three rebounds per game in his freshman season out of Mesquite High. Xavier McClish (9.2 points), Kenny Martin (9.5 points) and Dusan Stojanovic (9.0 points) have also been strong offensive players in the early portion of the season for the Lions. Martin, a 6-foot-10 sophomore from Arizona, leads UAFS with 7.7 rebounds per game. 

UAFS will play Ecclesia College on Saturday after playing the Rams for their final non-Heartland Conference game of the season. The Lions went 16-12 last season and were 10-4 in conference play.

UP NEXT: Angelo State will play three more games before the winter break following its game against UAFS. The Rams will host Oklahoma Wesleyan at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at the Junell Center before heading east to Arkansas where they will play Arkansas Tech on Thursday, Dec. 19 in Russellville, Ark. and then the University of Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday, Dec. 21 in Monticello, Ark.
"These next 12 days are very important to our team," Beard said. "We have four games, three on the road, against good competition. The focus continues to be to try and improve each day."