Match Info	Opponent Info
Lubbock Christian vs. UT Tyler LCU: 10-6, 6-4 LSC | UTT: 8-6, 4-6 LSC Thursday, Jan. 19th | 7:30 P.M. Tyler, Texas | Herrington Patriot Center		ROSTER	SCHEDULE	STATS
West Texas A&M vs. UT Tyler WT: 11-5, 9-1 LSC | UTT: 8-6, 4-6 LSC Saturday, Jan. 21st | 3:00 P.M. Tyler, Texas | Herrington Patriot Center		ROSTER	SCHEDULE	STATS

A KEY FIVE GAME STRETCH

Thursday and Saturday's games against two perennial powers in the Lone Star Conference in Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M will begin what will easily be the most important five-game stretch of basketball for the UT Tyler men's basketball team this season. The Patriots sit 8-6 on the year, 4-6 in Lone Star Conference, and have positioned themselves in the thick of the race for one of eight available spots in the 2023 Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Championships on Mar. 3-5. UT Tyler has relied on stellar play on their home court inside the Herrington Patriot Center to the tune of a 6-0 home record, and will need to use that momentum over the next two weeks that will feature five games of Lone Star Conference play, all on the Patriot's home floor.

WHAT COACH WILSON IS SAYING

On his views on the upcoming five game homestand... "I don't really look at anything other than the next opponent. I don't want to be cliche when I tell you that we look at one game at a time, I'm obviously not really into coach speak, but I really just want us to go out and play a good basketball game against Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M and then go from there. What I would like to find out after the next game is that we have the ability to make enough shots to win a basketball game. I just don't want to make it anymore complicated than that."

On the keys to a successful weekend for his team... "Right now we're not making the shots at the rate we want to because as important as the skill is that you have, is the importance of the decision making that goes into putting the skill to use. So in other words, take some good shots and you might make one every now and then. So we need to take some better shots and as a coaching staff we have to do a better job schematically of putting our guys in a position where better shots can be taken, and our kids have to do a better job of executing."

On the advantages of being at home... "It's always nice to be at home with your family and fans. Our fans our great, we play in a great arena, and all that is wonderful and I don't want to knock any of that, because it obviously makes a difference to our players. But me as a coach, if you do the right things you'll get the right results, and if you do the wrong things, you'll get the wrong results so we're just going to focus on Lubbock Christian and doing the right things as often as we can."

SCOUTING THE CHAPS

Lubbock Christian enters Thursday night with a 10-6 record on the year and a 6-4 mark in Lone Star Conference play. The Chaps have alternated wins and losses in each of their last six games and rank eighth in the Lone Star Conference in both scoring offense (74.1 ppg) and scoring defense (67.1). The Chaps have been led all season by the LSC's second leading scorer in Rowan Mackenzie (19.8 ppg) and Russell Harrison (15.2 ppg). Mackenzie has been especially impressive in LSC games, averaging 20.4 points per contest. The Chaps average the second most three pointers made per game in LSC play (9.5) and rank fourth in the LSC in rebounding margin (2.5) in league play. Lubbock Christian is 4-0 all-time against the Patriots, all four of which contests have taken place inside the Herrington Patriot Center.

SCOUTING THE BUFFS

West Texas A&M was selected as the preseason LSC favorites following a fifth straight LSC Tournament title and a sixth straight trip to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The Buffs are 11-5 on the year entering their Thursday meeting with DBU, and 9-1 and tied atop the LSC standings. The Buffs have been balanced offensively with four different scorers averaging double-digits, but have been led all season by Preseason LSC Player of the Year selection Julius Brown, who leads the team with an average of 16.1 points per contest. Brown will be coming off of a 30 point performance in his most recent outing against Eastern New Mexico. The Buffs have averaged 86.2 points per game in league play, best in the Lone Star Conference, and have averaged 9.8 made three-pointers in their 10 LSC contests thus far. Saturday will be just the third meeting between the two programs with West Texas A&M holding a 2-0 all-time advantage in the series.

A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS

UT Tyler enters the weekend on the outside looking in for one of the top eight spots available in the LSC Men's Basketball Championships in a tie for ninth place in the league standings with a record of 4-6 in league play. Overall conference standings will determine the eight teams that qualify for the tournament field, with the winners of the East and West Divisions as determined by divisional record earning the top two seeds in the field.
 

Angelo State

5-1

.833

9-1

.900

13-3

.812

W4

8-0

4-1

1-2

West Texas A&M

5-1

.833

9-1

.900

11-5

.688

W3

8-0

3-2

0-3

St. Edward's

4-2

.667

8-2

.800

14-5

.737

W3

7-1

5-2

2-2

Texas A&M-Kingsville

6-0

1.000

7-3

.700

13-5

.722

W8

7-3

5-2

1-0

Lubbock Christian

3-3

.500

6-4

.600

10-6

.625

L1

5-2

3-3

2-1

Eastern New Mexico

3-3

.500

5-5

.500

10-6

.625

L3

8-0

2-5

0-1

DBU

2-4

.333

5-5

.500

10-8

.556

L3

6-1

3-5

1-2

St. Mary's

2-4

.333

5-5

.500

8-7

.533

W2

5-2

3-4

0-1

Midwestern State

4-3

.571

5-6

.455

8-9

.471

L2

4-2

3-7

1-0

Western New Mexico

3-3

.500

4-6

.400

10-6

.625

W1

5-2

4-4

1-0

Texas A&M International

3-3

.500

4-6

.400

11-7

.611

W2

8-3

3-3

0-1

UT Tyler

2-4

.333

4-6

.400

8-6

.571

L2

6-0

2-6

0-0

UT Permian Basin

2-4

.333

4-6

.400

10-9

.526

W2

5-3

1-4

4-2

UAFS

3-4

.429

4-7

.364

8-9

.471

L2

5-4

3-3

0-2

Oklahoma Christian

3-4

.429

3-8

.273

7-10

.412

L3

4-7

1-3

2-0

Cameron

0-7

.000

0-11

.000

2-15

.118

L13

1-6

1-9

0-0

COACH WILSON

Head coach Louis Wilson is in his fourth season at the helm of the UT Tyler men's basketball program in 2022-23, and eighth season overall as a head coach at the Division II level. The 2022-23 season will mark the 31st year of collegiate basketball coaching experience for Wilson, as he accumulated 23 years of experience at the Division I level as an associate or assistant head coach prior to his time in Tyler. He spent five years as head coach at Division II foe Adams State of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) from 2010-15, totaling a 95-46 record as head coach of the Grizzlies, and led the program to three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II National Tournament from 2010-13. Coach Wilson enters Monday night with a record of 44-45 in his four years as head coach of the Patriots.