TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team will stay at home for a weekend of basketball inside the Herrington Patriot Center against Texas A&M International and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
The Patriots will take on Texas A&M International on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. UT Tyler will enter the weekend with an overall record of 11-5 on the year, and a 3-4 mark in Lone Star Conference play.
 
Thursday night will be Free Nacho Night inside the HPC courtesy of Fuzzy's Taco Shop, as 250 free pre-packaged nachos will be offered during the evening of basketball. Free autographed team posters for both men's and women's basketball programs will be offered throughout the day on Saturday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
UT Tyler kicked off a three-game homestand on Tuesday night in a rescheduled meeting with DBU previously scheduled for Dec. 31^st. DBU pulled away in the second half to claim a 75-60 victory over UT Tyler in the battle of the Patriots, and used a 22-3 run over the course of eight minutes of game time to move to 12-6 on the year.
 
DBU went on a 9-0 run in the final 2:24 of the first half and then started the second half on a 13-3 run in the first five minutes of action in the second half to effectively jump out of reach of the Patriots. Senior Soloman Thomas led the way with 13 points on the night, and finished the evening 6-for-15 from the field.
 
Da'Zhon Wyche was the other Patriot with double-digit points, scoring all 10 of his points in the first half.
 
PATRIOTS IN THE RANKINGS
 
The Patriots appeared in the no. 7 spot in the latest edition of the D2SIDA South Central Region poll, and have appeared within the top 10 of the rankings in each of the last seven editions of the poll. UT Tyler rose to as high as no. 3 back on Dec. 13^th in the week five edition of the rankings.

Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M both stayed put in the no. 1 and no. 2 spots respectively, while the Lone Star Conference occupied seven of the 10 available spots in the rankings for the third straight week.
 
CONFERENCE ONLY STATS
 
With the heart of the Lone Star Conference schedule quickly approaching, it is appropriate to look at how the Patriots stack up statistically against the rest of the league in Lone Star Conference games up to this point. The Patriots average 66.3 points per game in conference games, and surrender an average of 67.1 points per game.
 
UT Tyler ranks second in rebounding margin in conference games with a +6.4 margin in their seven league games, bettered only by West Texas A&M with a +7.3 margin. The Patriots average the fourth most offensive rebounds per game (11.6) in conference play, and have won the rebounding battle in all but one of their seven LSC games this year.
 
Wyche currently sits in a four-way tie for the best assist/turnover ratio (3.3), and ranks 11^th in the league with an average of 3.3 assists per contests. He has averaged 13.5 points a game in conference play, and went for a season high 28 points in last Saturday's 63-52 win over Western New Mexico.
 
The Patriots have shot 42.3 percent (155-of-366) from the field in conference play, and 33.3 percent (52-of-156) from beyond the three-point line.
 
SCOUTING AND HISTORY WITH THE DUSTDEVILS
 
Texas A&M International will make their way to Tyler for the first time in program history on Thursday night on the heels of three straight losses in their most recent outings. The Dustdevils are 10-5 on the year and 2-2 in LSC play, but will be reeling after consecutive defeats to Texas A&M-Kingsville, Oklahoma Christian and UAFS.
 
The Dustdevils began their season with six straight wins, but have gone 4-5 since Dec. 2^nd. The Dustdevils are led by a pair of standout guards in Greg Bowie II and Jermaine Drewey, who both average double-digit scoring figures.
 
Bowie leads the team with an average of 14.2 points a game while Drewey ranks first in the LSC in three-point field goal percentage, having connected on 42.9 percent (39-of-91) of his attempts this season. Bowie and Drewey have teamed up with forward La-Quiem Walker to provide a solid core trio for head coach Mac McConnell in his second season in charge of the program.
 
Walker averages a team high 5.3 rebounds a game, and ranks just behind Bowie and Drewey with 11.5 points a game. The Dustdevils rank ninth in the LSC in scoring offense (74.3 ppg), but sport the third best scoring defense (63.4 ppg) in the league.
 
UT Tyler and Texas A&M International have met just one time previously back on Jan. 11^th, 2020 in Laredo. The Patriots came away victorious in that one by a 64-53 final tally.
 
SCOUTING AND HISTORY WITH THE JAVELINAS
 
Saturday's foe Texas A&M-Kingsville will begin their road trip to Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday and UT Tyler on Saturday ranked ninth in this week's edition of the D2SIDA South Central Regional Rankings with a record of 10-4 on the year. The Javelinas have played just three Lone Star Conference games, posting a record of 1-2 in their match-ups with Texas A&M International, UAFS and Oklahoma Christian.
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville has gone 2-2 since the turn of the calendar year, and defeated Oklahoma Christian by a 74-67 margin in their latest action entering Thursday's meeting with Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
The Javelinas will once again present a solid defensive effort under head coach Johnny Estelle that has allowed just 65.0 points a game in their three conference contests. Forward Will Chayer is the reigning LSC Defensive Player of the Week after totaling 14 rebounds in the Javelinas games against UAFS and Oklahoma Christian.
 
C.J. Smith (13.6 ppg) and Derek Luna (10.4) are the two representatives from the squad averaging double-digit scoring totals for an offense that ranks 15^th in the LSC with an average of 65.0 points per game in league contests.
 
UT Tyler will have fond memories against the Javelinas on their home court, as they upset then-ranked #10 Texas A&M-Kingsville in the only meeting between the two teams in Tyler by a 61-60 final on Feb. 24, 2021. The win was the first ever win for the program against a Division II Nationally Ranked opponent.
 
Texas A&M-Kingsville got the better of UT Tyler in the other two games in the series history, returning the favor back on Feb. 27, 2021 in a 56-52 win and a 67-59 win on Jan. 9, 2020. Both of those games occurred in Kingsville.