SAN ANGELO – The No. 17/24 Angelo State men's basketball team will hit the road this week to continue its Lone Star Conference slate as it faces No. 12/15 West Texas A&M on Thursday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. and then UT – Permian Basin on Saturday January 14 at 4 p.m.
The Rams, who now sit at 10-2, 2-2 LSC, will seek to bounce back after its first pair of losses last week. The team's defense continues to sit within the top ten in blocked shots per game (No. 6) and defensive boards per game (No.2). The Rams also lead the LSC in these categories. The offense is sitting fourth in the conference averaging 82.8 points per game. It is also second in the LSC hitting 47.8 percent of its short range shots and 37.8 percent of shots from beyond the arc.
West Texas A&M enters Thursday night's game with a 16-2 overall record and is currently sitting second in the LSC with a 4-1 conference record. The Buffs will be looking to build of its last victory, which was a quadruple overtime road thriller over Cameron. WTAMU is 9-0 in the First United Bank Center. The last time the Rams and Buffs faced off WTAMU downed ASU on the road, however the two teams split last season's series 1-1. The Buffs own the all-time series between the two, 40-21.
In its first official year as a Lone Star Conference member, UTPB has posted a 10-4, 2-3 LSC record. The Falcons are 5-0 at home and will be seeking to rebound from a two game slide, with losses to Cameron and Midwestern State. The Rams lead the all-time series with the Falcons, 7-6.
Quay King, Lorenzo Dillard and DeVonte' Pratt will head the ASU offensive attack for the week. King, who ranks second in the nation in 3-pointers per game with an average of 4.09, has led the team and the conference shooting the long ball. He is averaging 20.4 points per contest. Defensively, he sits third on the team grabbing 4.7 boards per game. Dillard follows posting an average of 15.3 points per game. Naturally, the point guard leads the squad with 57 total assists on the season. The junior leads the conference averaging 4.8 assist per match-up. Rounding out the group, Pratt marked a career high 16 points in the Rams last home match-up hitting a season best 7-11 short range shots. The senior captain also marked a season high nine boards to assist the defense in that game.
Anchoring the defense will be Thomas Tshikaya, Justin Hollins, Brandon Williams and Michael Thomas. Tshikaya has been a beast on the boards for the Rams as he is averaging a team leading 9.5 rebounds per game with a team most 85 total defensive boards. The Frenchman is also second on ASU with 18 total blocks on the season. Offensively, he is third on the Rams in scoring with 10.8 points per game. Hollins own the blocked shots category on both the tam in in the Lone Star Conference as he has rejected 26 total shots for an average of 2.2 blocks per contest.
Williams marked his first double-double of the season in the Rams last game. In his short time with the team he has proven to be one of ASU's top all-around players as he is not only second on the team averaging 5.5 rebounds per game with a pair of blocks and steal, but also is currently hitting 65.8 percent of his short range shots and 81.3 percent of his shots from the charity stripe. Finally, Thomas is averaging 4.1 boards per game and holds a total of 49 rebounds on the season placing him third on the team. The big man has also shown his versatility as he has assisted the offense knocking down 58.6 percent of his shots from close range.
Both games will be broadcasted live on 1260AM KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.
