KINGSVILLE, Texas – Since dropping their season opener, the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team has built up a head of steam in the form of five straight victories and now their task is to try and keep their win streak alive within the friendly confines of the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas, where the Javelinas will host the UT Permian Basin Falcons on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., then welcome in the No. 12 Angelo State Rams on Saturday for a 4 p.m. clash.
This makes six straight seasons in which the Hogs have put together a win streak of at least five games and the team's stat line during their current run includes a scoring margin of plus-16. The Javs have also outrebounded their opponents by an averaged of better than 10 boards per game and they own an average turnover margin of plus-6.6. They've averaged taking the ball away 18.6 times in their last five contests, including a season-high 23 forced turnovers in their most-recent victory, which came on Saturday over Missouri Baptist.
On offense, it has been a group effort for TAMUK, with eight different players having scored in double figures during their win streak. Among those who have joined that party more than once is freshman Marcus Jones (Cheneyville, Texas), who helped the Javelinas dispatch the Spartans by putting up a career-high 15 points. Jones is shooting an even 50.0 percent from the field so far in 2021-22 and is also second on the team with seven steals.
The Falcons have gotten off to a 3-2 start in their first season under coach Kyle Tolin, who came to Odessa after seven sensational seasons at Arkansas-Monticello. Tolin led the Boll Weevils to a pair of Great American Conference Championships during his time there, as well as a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament. Tolin is now guiding a program that last won a postseason game in 2018, when they appeared in both the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship game and the South Central Regional tournament title match.
Among the players at Tolin's disposal are two of the top 10 scorers in the LSC, in seniors Miles Daniels and Jordan Horn. Horn is coming off a 2020-21 season in which he earned All-LSC Second-Team honors and averaged 19.3 points per game. Daniels made the same move as his coach, coming over from Arkansas-Monticello and his average of 17.0 points per game puts him seventh in the conference. The Falcons are one of only two teams with multiple players in the top 10 in the LSC in scoring.
Coach Cinco Boone's Rams have yet to lose through six games and recently jumped six spots in the national rankings up to No. 12. They currently own one of the highest scoring offenses in the LSC, averaging 86.7 points per game, with their season-high of 110 coming in a win over Dallas Christian on Nov. 20th.
ASU has five players who've appeared in every contest and are averaging better than 10 points per game. At the top of that list is junior Devaughn Thomas, who started the season by piling up 47 points in his team's first two games. Arguably the hottest hand on the Ram roster entering December belongs to junior guard Tyrell Carroll, who scored 18 points in ASU's Friday victory over Missouri Baptist, then followed it up with 17 points one day later against Arkansas Tech. Carroll also owns an assist per game average of 5.0, tied for second-best in the LSC.
Both games can be followed live through Javelinaathletics.com, where there will be links to live video and live stats for both games and a recap will be posted on the site after the final buzzer. Fans can keep up with Javelina men's basketball throughout the season 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.
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