KINGSVILLE, Texas - Riding a five-game win streak and continuing to receive votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll, the red-hot Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team will test their mettle once again, this time against the St. Mary's Rattlers in a home-and-home that will start on Thursday at 7 p.m. inside the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas, then move to San Antonio, Texas on Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. contest at Bill Greehy Arena.
"St. Mary's and Kingsville have always had a rivalry," said coach Johnny Estelle, "and always played every year. It's a tough game. I really like what I've seen from them so far on film. They haven't played as many games as us, but they have some talent like always and they're well coached. It should be a battle."
During their five-game win streak, the Javelinas have held the opposition to a scoring average of 57.6 and none of their opponents have reached 70 points. TAMUK has also held its last five foes to a shooting percentage of 38.1 overall and 21.4 percent on three-pointers. For the season, the Hogs average allowing only 62.9 points per game. Among teams that have played at least five games this year, that ranks third in Division II.
On offense over the team's last five games, juniors Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Ellis Jones (Houston, Texas) and senior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) have all been averaging in double figures and Avery and Jones are two of five Javelinas who've shot 50 percent or better during that stretch.
Jones has led a three-point barrage from the Javelinas so far this season. The Hogs are averaging 10.6 made triples per game compared to seven last season and 7.5 in 2016-17, when they hit a program-record 231 treys. The Javs shooting percentage on three-pointers of 37 percent is better than they've ever posted over a full-season during Estelle's tenure.
Trying to put the clamps on TAMUK's offense will be a St. Mary's team that has only played in three regular season games this year. The first four matchups on StMU's schedule were all postponed and after a non-conference meeting with Texas A&M-Commerce on Dec. 19th, the Rattlers didn't play their first LSC contest until Jan. 2nd. Thursday night's tilt will be St. Mary's first regular season game in nearly two weeks.
Coach Jim Zeleznak was fortunate to get back his leading scorer from 2019-20, junior Caleb Jordan, but the Midlothian native has played in only one game this year. The slack has been picked up by Miles McDougal and Tyler Caron, both of whom are seeing their first action for the Rattlers after redshirting a season ago. McDougal has scored in double in figures in every game for StMU, while Caron's 14 points on Jan. 3rd at A&M-Commerce propelled his squad to their first victory.
Zeleznak is trying to lead his bunch back to the postseason for the first time since 2014-15, when they won their third Heartland Conference Tournament Championship. Since taking over as head coach in San Antonio prior to the 2005-06 campaign, Zeleznak has racked up 222 career victories, third-most in program history. Against TAMUK, he and his team will be trying to avenge a pair of losses suffered at the hands of the Javs in 2019-20.
Fans can visit Javelinaathletics.com for links to live video and stats for both games and a postgame recap after the final buzzer. Fans can keep up with Javelina men's basketball by following @JavelinaMBB on Twitter and Instagram, liking Texas A&M University-Kingsville Men's Basketball on Facebook, subscribing to the Javelina Athletics YouTube channel and visiting Javelinaathletics.com. Watch your Javelinas live today on the Javelina Sports Network sponsored by Mendoza's Pharmacy.
