SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State basketball team will host Arkansas Tech at 3 p.m. on Saturday in a non-conference game at the Junell Center. The Rams (3-0) are outscoring their opponents by a 42.7 points per game average this season, but are 0-2 all-time against the Wonder Boys (1-2) who knocked them off last season 74-64 in Russellville, Arkansas. The loss was ASU's first defeat of the 2013-14 season and snapped a program-record 10-0 start.

Angelo State comes into the fourth game of the season shooting 53.2 percent from the field and has limited its opponents to 29.3 percent shooting. The Rams own a 133-105 rebounding advantage and have 26 more steals and 39 more steals than their opponents coming into Saturday's game. ASU is averaging 12 steals per game and have a 9-0 blocked-shot advantage.

"We have a lot of respect for the Arkansas Tech program," ASU head coach Chris Beard said. "They are well coached and have talented players. Six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances speaks for itself. We will have to play very well for 40 minutes on Saturday to have a chance to win. Each season for every team is a process. The teams that improve over the course of the season are the ones who compete for championships. Our team is doing some good things right now in this early season but we have several areas which must improve. We need to continue to develop our inside game both on offense and defense."

Chris Jones was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday afternoon and then went out and had 12 points, eight assists and four steals against McMurry. Jones is third on the team with 10.5 points per game and leads the team with 17 assists and 11 steals through the first three games of the season. Jones opened the season with 11 points and six assists against the Aggies and then had eight points and three assists against the Dustdevils.

Demario Mayfield leads the Rams with 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game this season after recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday in the ASU win over McMurry. Mayfield, a senior from Royston, Georgia, opened his career at ASU with a team-leading 15 points against OPSU and then scored nine against TAMIU. He hit four of his six 3-point attempts during the weekend and also added five assists in the two games. Marsell Holden guided the Rams to their win last Saturday with 18 points against TAMIU where he connected on three 3-pointers and also hit five free throws. Holden is averaging 11.3 points per game after scoring 14 points on Tuesday against the War Hawks on a night where he hit a season-high four 3-pointers in only 22 minutes of play.

Omari Gudul is averaging 8.7 points per game after scoring nine points in the past two games after opening the season with eight points against OPSU. Gudul, who is coming off a strong sophomore season at ASU, also had five rebounds against McMurry and TAMIU and shot 70 percent from the field on 10 shots last weekend. Gudul is shooting 73 percent from the field now after hitting four of his five shots on Tuesday. DeQuavious Wagner is adding 6.7 points per game and has also provided five assists and four steals, while Bilal Richardson has secured 15 rebounds (5.0 per game) and is averaging 8.0 points per game. Thomas Brandsma is averaging 3.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game after a four-point, three-rebound game against McMurry on Tuesday. Brandsma started his career at McMurry where he played his freshman season before transferring to ASU. Richardson opened the season with 10 points and four rebounds against OPSU before going for six points and six rebounds in the second game. He added eight points and five rebounds on Tuesday against McMurry and is now averaging eight points and five rebounds per game for the Rams.

Tommy Woolridge is averaging 3.7 points per game this season and led the Rams with 19 points against the Wonder Boys last season. Woolridge made three 3-pointers at ATU last season and also hit all six of his free throws in the game. He finished last season averaging 9.1 points per game and led ASU with 37 3-pointers as a junior.

Kyle Vasher has scored in double figures in two of three games this season after contributing 10 points on Tuesday, while Raijon Kelly is averaging 8.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Kelly scored a season-high 13 points on Tuesday against the War Hawks when he hit 6 of 8 shots from the field, including one 3-pointer. Brentine Taylor is at 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while Dakota Rawls is averaging 4.7 points per game and Jovan Yancy has scored 3.3 points per game through the first three contests of his freshman season. Taylor scored seven points and had four rebounds against the War Hawks.

Arkansas Tech is 1-2 on the season after earning a 69-62 season-opening win over Wayne State before dropping a 93-78 decision to Southwest Minnesota State last Saturday and then a 76-56 loss to Pittsburg State on Wednesday. The Wonder Boys are averaging 67.7 points per game and is shooting 41.9 percent from the field. ATU is 26 of 84 on 3-pointers this season and is averaging eight steals per game.

Clarence Willard leads ATU with 12.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Willard is a 6-foot-2 senior guard from Lubbock who played his high school basketball at Estacado before playing at Dodge City Community College and McLennan Community College. Tyler Friedel is scoring 8.3 points per game. Friedel, a senior from Victoria, has hit seven 3-pointers this season and Nick Wayman and Jay Murphy are each averaging just over seven points per game. Murphy lead the team with 19 assists to start his senior season.

The Rams will wrap up a five-game home stand to start the season with a 7 p.m. game on Tuesday against Oklahoma Wesleyan at the Junell Center.