The game was the Lone Star Conference South Division opener for both clubs.

   Midwestern State won for the ninth straight time to improve to 12-3 while the Javelinas lost their second straight to fall to 13-3.

   Davis scored 15 points to lead all five starters in double figures.

   Senior guard Rickey Huckaby (Mexia) tied a career-high with 23 points to lead Texas A&M-Kingsville. Sophomore point guard Wendell Mulkey (San Antonio East Central) scored a career high 17 points while Remi Yusuf (Houston Dobie) added 10.

   Huckaby and Mulkey combined to make 5 of 8 3-point shots.

   The Javelinas forced 27 turnovers, but Midwestern State made over 57 percent of their shots from the floor while the Javelinas made just 39 percent.

   “They are a great team,” said Javelina head coach Pete Peterson. “We forced a ton of turnovers, but I give credit to their defense. We’ve got to be tougher. Rickey showed up tonight and I’m real proud of him. I was proud of our effort. I’m not worried about our ballclub.”

   The Javelinas led by two at the half, 32-20, but the Mustangs out-scored the Hogs 46-41 in the second half, hitting nearly 62 percent of their shots.

   “We picked up the intensity down the stretch, we just didn’t get it done,” said senior Kia Griffin. “We could have been a little more aggressive on the trap. I can’t even describe how frustrating it is. Our defense wasn’t there tonight.”

   The Javelinas also struggled from the free throw line, hitting just 12 of 23 shots from the charity stripe. 

   The early stages of the second half were similar to the start of the first half as Midwestern State out-scored the Hogs 12-5 in the first four and a half minutes to grab a 42-37 advantage.

   The Mustangs hit 4 of their first 5 shots while the Javelinas could muster 3 made field goals in their first 7 attempts.

   The Midwestern State lead grew to seven, 50-43 with 11 ½ minutes left in the second half and expanded to eight, 55-47 two minutes later.

   Ricky Huckaby then hit three consecutive 3-point shots to cut the lead to four, 57-56 with 8 ½ minutes left.

   Huckaby’s steal and lay-up with 7 ½ minutes left gave the Hogs their first lead since early in the second half 61-60.

   But the Mustangs rallied right back, scoring the next four points to grab a 64-63 lead. 

   The Javelinas tied the game at 64, but Mustangs scored the next five points to grab a 69-64 lead. MSU had a chance to increase the lead, but committed their 25th turnover with 3:19 left in the game.

   After a timeout, Mulkey hit a floating jumper in the late to cut the lead to 69-66, but Midwestern came right back to make it 71-66 with under two minutes left to go.

   Reggie Love hit a 3-point basket off an inbounds play to make it 71-69, but MSU answered by again to increase the lead back to four, 73-69.

   Yusuf, who was on the verge of seeing his consecutive games streak of scoring in double figures snapped at 45, stole the ball, hit a lay-up, was fouled and hit the ensuing free throw with a minute left to tie the score at 73 with one minute left.

   The Mustangs jumped out to a 9-2 lead by hitting 4 of their first five shots while the Hogs made just 1 of their first 5.

   But things quickly turned around as the Javelinas went on a 12-2 to grab a 16–11 lead with 11:37 left in the first half. Texas A&M-Kingsville hit 5 of 6 shots from the floor during the run.

   The Javelinas forced the Mustangs into nine turnovers in the first eight and a half minutes of the game.

   Both teams struggled offensively over the next five minutes, scoring a combined nine points.

   Midwestern State regained the lead 20-19 on a 3-point basket with just over six minutes left in the half.

   The Mustangs build the lead to five, 25-20 with 4:13 left in the half as the Javelinas hit just one of their next 11 shots from the floor and made only 3 of 8 free throws.

 Eddie Lopez’s 3-point basket with just over three minutes left in the half gave the Hogs the lead back 26-25.

   The lead changed hands three times and there were two ties in the final three and a half minutes of the first half.

   Stephen Story’s lay-up with four seconds left gave the Javelinas a 32-30 halftime advantage.

   The Mustangs out-shot the Javelinas 50 percent to 39 percent, but the Javelinas actually made two more field goals and attempted 11 more shots thanks to forcing 18 first half turnovers.

   Huckaby led the Hogs in the first half with seven points.