KINGSVILLE, Texas – Following consecutive victories, including a road upset of No. 14 St. Edward's on Saturday, the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team is ready to rip the lid off their 2018-19 Lone Star Conference schedule with a road swing that will include visits to a pair of league rivals.
Coach Johnny Estelle will first be taking his team to Stephenville, Texas, where the Javelinas (3-2) will collide with the Tarleton State Texans on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym. Two days later, the schedule pits the Hogs against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions and that matchup is scheduled to tip-off at 4 p.m.
TAMUK's 69-58 triumph over the Hilltoppers was their first win over a ranked opponent since they defeated 17th-ranked UT Permian Basin the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2017. The Javelinas jumped out to 41-25 lead in the first half and the offense benefitted from a 15-point night from junior Chauncey Thomas (Plano, Texas), as well as junior Kyren Block's (San Antonio, Texas) first career double-double. The Hogs also held SEU to a shooting percentage of 31.6 from the floor.
Strong defense has continued to be TAMUK's hallmark this season. The 36.1 percent the Javelinas have held their opponents to so far this season is the nation's ninth-best and only one team has shot better than 40 percent from the floor so far this season. The Hogs also have not allowed a team to top 60 points in regulation through five games and their average of 59.8 points per game allowed is 12th-best in Division II.
Scoring points continues to be a team effort for TAMUK, as seven different players have reached double figures in a game this year. That number includes the 16 points sophomore Jamell Bradley (Converse, Texas) scored in TAMUK's last home victory over Texas A&M International.
For the Texans (5-1), this will be the fifth straight game in the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym and Tarleton has won the last three, including a 94-70 throttling of Oklahoma Panhandle on Saturday. Over the last 10 years, TSU has been at least seven games over .500 at home every season, with last season, when they went 13-6 in Stephenville, being the only time they weren't more than 10 games over during that stretch. Tarleton has vanquished the Javelinas nine consecutive times at home, with TAMUK's last win in Stephenville coming in 2009.
The three-point shot has been the most lethal weapon for coach Chris Reisman's team so far in 2018-19. The Texans are hitting nearly 40 percent of their attempts from deep. Tarleton's bomb squad has been led by sophomore Preston Enloe, who has drained exactly half of his 34 attempts from beyond the arc. In his team's win over the University of the Southwest, Enloe canned six triples en route to a 20-point day. The Plano, Texas native has attempted only five shots from inside the three-point line through six games.
The Lions had the good fortune of returning first-team All-LSC selection Reggie Reid, who was named the conference's preseason player of the year prior to this season. Last year, Reid was at his best when the Lions encountered the Javelinas. In Commerce, he tallied 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting, but he was even better when the rivals met in Kingsville more than a month later. Reid tallied 27 points in the rematch, hitting 8-of-13 and sinking nine foul shots in an overtime victory for A&M-C.
So far this season, Reid is one of four Lions averaging double figures in scoring this season, as he's joined by guard Willie Rooks and forwards Tyree Robinson and Trey Conrad. Both Rooks and Robinson have put up 20 points in a game this year, while Conrod put up 14 in A&M-Commerce's most recent contest, against MSU Denver.
Links to live stats and video for both games will be available on Javelinaathletics.com and you'll also be able find a complete recap of each contest on the same site. Fans can keep with Javelina basketball throughout the year by following @JavelinaMBB on Twitter, @Javelinasports on Instagram, liking Javelina Men's Basketball on Facebook and subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel.
