Match Info	Opponent Info
UAFS vs. UT Tyler UAFS: 8-11, 4-9 LSC | UTT: 8-8, 4-8 LSC Thursday, Jan. 26th | 7:00 P.M. Tyler, Texas | Herrington Patriot Center		ROSTER	SCHEDULE	STATS
Oklahoma Christian vs. UT Tyler OC: 8-11, 4-9 LSC | UTT: 8-8, 4-8 LSC Saturday, Jan. 28th | 3:00 P.M. Tyler, Texas | Herrington Patriot Center		ROSTER	SCHEDULE	STATS

10 GAMES LEFT AND NEEDING RESULTS

After a slow opening half in last Thursday's meeting with Lubbock Christian, UT Tyler put forth three ensuing solid halfs of basketball despite a pair of losses against two of the best teams in the Lone Star Conference in Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M. UT Tyler outscored Lubbock Christian 36-31 in the second half of action on Thursday night and cut a once 25-point deficit to just nine with a little over a minute left to go, but couldn't overcome their early struggles offensively to lose for the first time on their home court in 2022-23. The Patriots were led by Milan Szabo, who notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to pace UT Tyler in both categories. The Patriots trailed by just five with three minutes remaining in the second half in a meeting with a West Texas A&M squad that entered the night tied atop the Lone Star Conference standings, but couldn't manage to slow down an efficient Buffs offense. Senior Rashun Williams finished his outing with 27 points and sophomore Kyle Frelow finished with a career high 14 points to pace a UT Tyler offense that shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) for the game. The Patriots now have 10 games remaining in the 2022-23 regular season, and sit two games back of the magic eight spot in the Lone Star Conference standings with a 4-8 record in league play. The top eight teams in the conference standings at season's end will qualify for the 2023 Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Championships on Mar. 11-14.

WHAT COACH WILSON IS SAYING

On last weekend's outings against Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M... "In the first half against Lubbock Christian we did not compete. I thought it was a disappointing effort overall and I think it was indicative of the kids hitting a wall and giving into some of the frustration. When the ball doesn't go into the basket it can demoralize you. We pressed on our guys in the second half to go out and play as hard as they possibly could and I think the kids tried to do that. It's not ideal to dig a hole the way that we did, but we did compete better. We played hard throughout the basketball game against West Texas A&M. Our effort, which is really all I cared about, was way more consistent throughout those 40 minutes."  

On what needs to change for his team to have success over the final 10 games of the regular season... "The score. That is what needs to change for lack of a better way to put it. I honestly have no idea what the standings are. I do know that we are not in first place, and that's really all I care about. We have to think micro and figure out a way in our decision-making process, to be more proficient on the offensive end of the floor. We are one of the top, if not the top, defensive teams in the league, but we are also having a hard time scoring the basketball so that's really all I care about. I just want us to go out and play as hard as we can play and try and be as proficient in decision making on the offensive end of the floor to take good shots and give ourselves a chance to score the basketball. If we do that, with one of the better defensive teams in the league, all of the other things will take care of itself."

SCOUTING THE LIONS

UAFS has fallen on hard times as of late and will enter Thursday's meeting with UT Tyler on the heels of a four-game losing streak. The Lions are 8-11 overall and 4-9 in Lone Star Conference play. Payton Brown currently leads the LSC in scoring with an average of 20.3 points per game, and is coming off of 30-plus point efforts in two out of his last three outings. The struggle for the Lions all season has been the lack of another proven proven scoring option as no other player averages double-digit scoring figures. UAFS ranks 14th in league play with an average of 64.4 points per game, and 13th in the LSC in conference games in turnover margin (-2.92). The Lions got the better of the Patriots in the meeting between the program's back on Jan. 1st in Fort Smith by an 83-75 margin in overtime. UAFS leads the all-time series 4-2 and won 85-72 in last year's contest inside the Herrington Patriot Center.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES

Oklahoma Christian will visit DBU on Thursday night prior to their trip to Tyler fresh off of snapping a four-game losing streak with a 79-72 win over Midwestern State. The Eagles are 8-11 and 4-9 on the year, and have four active players averaging double-digit scoring figures, led by Drew Tennial (15.5 ppg). The Eagles struggles have been primarily on the defense end of the floor, as they surrender the second most points per game in league action (75.5 ppg), but lead the league in blocked shots per game (4.15 pg). UT Tyler is 3-2 all-time against the Eagles, but dropped the first meeting between the two programs this season by an 87-76 double overtime final.

A LOOK AT THE CONFERENCE STANDINGS

UT Tyler will enter this week's play in a log-jam in the heart of the regular season standings of the LSC. The Patriots are two games back of eighth place and in a five-way tie with teams with four wins on the year, including both opponents this weekend in UAFS and Oklahoma Christian.
 

SCHOOL	CONF	CPCT.	OVERALL	PCT.	STREAK	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL
Angelo State	11-1	.917	15-3	.833	W6	8-0	6-1	1-2
West Texas A&M	11-1	.917	13-5	.722	W5	8-0	5-2	0-3
St. Edward's	9-3	.750	15-6	.714	L1	8-2	5-2	2-2
Texas A&M-Kingsville	8-4	.667	14-6	.700	L1	7-3	6-3	1-0
Lubbock Christian	8-4	.667	12-6	.667	W2	5-2	5-3	2-1
Eastern New Mexico	7-5	.583	12-6	.667	W2	10-0	2-5	0-1
St. Mary's	6-6	.500	9-8	.529	W1	6-3	3-4	0-1
Midwestern State	6-7	.462	9-10	.474	L1	5-3	3-7	1-0
Texas A&M International	5-7	.417	12-8	.600	W1	8-3	4-4	0-1
DBU	5-7	.417	10-10	.500	L5	6-3	3-5	1-2
Western New Mexico	4-8	.333	10-8	.556	L2	5-4	4-4	1-0
UT Tyler	4-8	.333	8-8	.500	L4	6-2	2-6	0-0
UT Permian Basin	4-8	.333	10-11	.476	L2	5-3	1-6	4-2
Oklahoma Christian	4-9	.308	8-11	.421	W1	4-7	2-4	2-0
UAFS	4-9	.308	8-11	.421	L4	5-4	3-5	0-2
Cameron	2-11	.154	4-15	.211	W2	3-6	1-9	0-0

DEFENDING AT A HIGH LEVEL

Despite the recent four game losing skid, UT Tyler has continued to defend the basketball at a high level. The Patriots have allowed just 67.0 points per game in LSC play, third-best in the league, and are limiting LSC foes to the fourth lowest field goal percentage. UT Tyler sports the fourth-best turnover margin in conference play (1.58), and averages the fifth-most steals per game (6.92) as well.

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 Thursday night with a record of 44-47 in his four years as head coach of the Patriots.