TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team will take on Texas A&M-Commerce in a game designated as non-conference competition inside the Herrington Patriot Center on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
UT Tyler enters the game winners of two straight to extend their regular season record to 13-6 on the year, and 5-5 in Lone Star Conference play. The Patriots went on the road to defeat Oklahoma Christian in their lone game last week, a 73-65 victory prior to Saturday's game against UAFS being postponed due to inclement weather in the area.
The Patriots last competed inside the Herrington Patriot Center on Jan. 29
th against Texas A&M-Kingsville, and used a last second pair of free throw makes from senior
Micah Fuller to escape with a 63-62 victory. UT Tyler Athletics corporate sponsor Altra Federal Credit Union will be sponsoring a halftime shooting competition during Thursday evening's game.
LAST TIME OUT
UT Tyler battled the elements outside to make it to Oklahoma City and then the Eagles of Oklahoma Christian last Thursday night, and came away with victories against both, including a 73-65 win on the court. Senior
Soloman Thomas dropped a career-high 25 points in the win, 18 of which came in the opening half.
The Patriots turned 15 turnovers by the Eagles into 27 points, and finished the evening with their most steals in an LSC game this season with 11.
Oklahoma Christian answered a 35-31 lead from the Patriots at the half by storming out to a 47-45 lead with 12:16 left in the second half, but couldn't keep pace with a balanced UT Tyler offense over the final 10 minutes of action. The Patriots led by as many as 12 in the final minutes of the ballgame, and maintained a multi-possession lead for the final 6:25.
Thomas finished the night 10-for-19 from the field, and was joined by
Micah Fuller (14),
Da'Zhon Wyche (13) and
Paul Djoko (10) with double-digit scoring figures.
STAYING IN THE REGIONAL RANKINGS
UT Tyler moved up three spots to no. 7 in this week's edition of the D2SIDA South Central Regional Rankings, and have been ranked within the top 10 of the poll for nine consecutive weeks. The poll saw it's biggest shuffle to date this week as Lubbock Christian held onto the no. 1 spot despite their first loss of the 2021-22 season, but West Texas A&M and Texas A&M-Commerce each slid into the no. 2 and no. 3 spots.
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) had their best representation of the year in this week's edition of the poll, placing four of the six teams within the top 10. The Lone Star Conference occupies the top three spots, and has six of the top eight ranked teams within the region.
PATRIOTS IN THE MIX
UT Tyler has six games left on the 2021-22 regular season schedule, and has positioned themselves within the mix for one of the eight available spots in the South Central Regional Tournament. Two of those seeds in the field will go to the winners of the LSC Postseason Tournament and the RMAC Postseason Tournament by way of the automatic qualifiers, while the other six spots will be at-large bids based the regional advisory committees top 10 rankings.
The first of three editions of those rankings will be released next Thursday. Feb. 16
th prior to the official selection of the NCAA Division II National Tournament bracket on Mar. 6
th. The highest six ranked teams in the final edition of the regional rankings, not including the two automatic qualifiers, will earn an at-large bid into the South Central Regional Tournament field.
No better impression could be presented to the regional advisory committee prior to the first official rankings than a victory on Thursday over Texas A&M-Commerce for the Patriots, as the Lions currently sit in the no. 3 spot of the D2SIDA South Central Regional rankings, and sit 16-4 on the year.
The Lions have rattled off four straight wins, the longest current active winning streak in the LSC, and enter Thursday night's game tied for second with a league winning percentage of .727 (8-3). Thursday's contest will be the final of five games against LSC foes marked as non-conference games, establishing no bearing on the LSC standings, but will hold marked postseason implications for the Patriots as an in-region game against a highly-ranked squad.
A LOOK AT THE CONFERENCE STANDINGS
UT Tyler will follow Thursday's game with at least five more LSC games, and the possibility of an additional game against UAFS previously scheduled for last Saturday, leaving the door wide open for the Patriots to improve on their positioning into the LSC Postseason Tournament. The conference announced the seeding for the tournament set for Mar. 1-6 will be determined based on conference win percentage.
The Patriots are currently 5-5 in LSC games, and sit in a four-way tie for eighth place in the league standings with the .500 winning percentage. UT Tyler is still scheduled to take on three out of those four teams they are currently tied with (St. Edward's, Angelo State and UT Permian Basin), making for an absolute sprint to the end of the conference standings race.
The top four seeds in the LSC Postseason Tournament will receive a first-round bye into the tournament quarterfinals set for Thursday, Mar. 3 inside the Comerica Event Center in Frisco, Texas. The no. 5-no. 12 seeds will compete in the opening round games at the higher seed's host side on Tuesday, Mar. 1
st.
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
UT Tyler enters Thursday's game with Texas A&M-Commerce ranked third in the LSC in both scoring defense (64.2) and scoring margin (10.2). The Patriots have shot the fifth best field goal percentage on the year (46.5 percent) and have limited their opposition to the fourth lowest field goal percentage (41.5) this season.
In 10 Lone Star Conference games this season UT Tyler has limited their LSC foes to an average of 66.7 points a game, fourth best in the league in conference games. UT Tyler ranks third in league games with a 5.4 turnover margin, and average the fifth most combined team rebounds a game (35.1).
SCOUTING AND HISTORY WITH THE LIONS
UT Tyler and Texas A&M-Commerce met less than a month ago in a conference game in Commerce, a result that went the Lion's way with a 71-56 victory. The Patriots have never beaten the Lions in the five game series history, but will host Texas A&M-Commerce for just the second time in the series on Thursday night.
The Lions have the third best scoring offense (77.2) and fourth best scoring defense (66.6) in league games, and rank second in all of Division II basketball with an average of 6.0 blocks per game.
Five individuals average double-digit scoring figures on the year in Alphonso Willis (13.1), Jairus Roberson (12.2), Augustine Emes (11.4), Demarcus Demonia (10.4) and Carson Tuttle (10.0). Three different Lions average five or more rebounds per game in Willis (6.4), Demonia (6.3) and Clashon Gaffney (5.1), while Gaffney leads the LSC with an average of 3.0 blocked shots per game.
