KINGSVILLE, Texas – On March 14th, 2020, the fourth-seeded Angelo State Rams and the fifth-seeded Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas were scheduled to match up in the first round of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament. Nine months after the NCAA Tournament was called off, the Hogs and the Rams will finally meet again, playing first on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and again on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in San Angelo, Texas at the Stephens Arena at the Junell Center.
These squads enter this back-to-back looking very different than they did entering the regional tournament. They combined to graduate nine seniors, including four all-conference performers, and bring in 14 new players. One of the players back in uniform for the Rams is senior guard Paul Williams, who averaged exactly 10.0 points per game as a junior and tallied 15 in ASU's Saturday contest against Dallas Baptist. Junior Sam Baker stands as his team's leading scorer after two games, mostly thanks to a 20-point showing in the season opener.
In their first two matchups, Cinco Boone's Rams were given the unenviable task of attempting to slow down one of the Lone Star Conference's best offenses in DBU, led by first-team all-conference selection Chandler Jacobs. Jacobs put up a conference-best 48 points in his team's two wins, which came by scores of 101-75 and 93-86. This marked the first time since Feb. of 2018 the Rams allowed over 90 points in consecutive games. Against TAMUK, ASU will be looking to avoid the program's first 0-3 start since they started the 2010-11 season 0-6.
The last time the Javelinas started better than 2-0 was in 2017-18, when they won their first eight games. The final victory in that streak was a 76-69 triumph at home over ASU, but since then TAMUK's rivals from San Angelo have beaten the Hogs five consecutive times, including a season ending loss in the 2019 LSC Tournament.
The group attempting to end that streak includes the team's top two scorers in the lone meeting between the Hogs and Rams in 2019-20, senior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) and junior Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas). Flowers and Avery combined for 31 points at ASU's expense and junior Will Chayer also led the way on the glass with a game-high 13 rebounds, although the Rams emerged victorious, 80-73.
Leading the way in scoring for the Javs through two games in 2020-21 are three juniors who did not suit up for the coach Johnny Estelle last February in San Angelo: Jordan Wilson (Blytheville, Ark.), Sammy Brooks (Dallas, Texas) and Ellis Jones (Houston, Texas). Wilson's 16.0 points per game average is the ninth-best in the conference and is boosted by the 24 points he registered in his Blue and Gold debut against Arkansas-Fort Smith. One day later, it was Jones who lit the fuse in an 89-58 victory over Arkansas-Fort Smith, piling up 21 points, including six threes on a day where the Javelinas hit 17 treys to establish a new program record. The Javs will need more of the same from this group in order to find success in San Angelo.
Links to live video and stats for both of TAMUK's games can be found on Javelinaathletics.com and a postgame recap will also be posted online after the final buzzer. Stay current with TAMUK men's basketball throughout the season by following @JavelinaMBB and @JavelinaSports on Twitter and Instagram, liking Javelina Men's Basketball on Facebook and subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube Channel. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
