KINGSVILLE, Texas – The year's first objective has been achieved for the No. 10 Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team, which was crowned Lone Star Conference South Division Champions on Saturday, but the Javelinas are only allowed a short time for celebration with the Lone Star Conference Tournament beginning on Tuesday and the fourth-seeded Hogs will start the event at home with a matchup against the fifth-seeded Angelo State Rams, who they'll take on at 7 p.m. at the Steinke Physical Education Center in Kingsville, Texas.
The Javs against the Rams has been a familiar postseason matchup in recent years, with the two programs having met in the LSC Tournament four times in the previous six seasons. They were also scheduled to duke it out in the NCAA Tournament in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of March Madness.
In all four of those previous meetings in the conference tournament, the Rams have sent TAMUK packing, the narrowest of which was an 87-86 barnburner in 2016. ASU's defense was an enormous reason for their success in each matchup, holding the Hogs to a combined shooting percent for 40.8 across those four games. The Rams ability to get to the free throw line was also a constant theme. In two of those games, they took more than 40 foul shots and they averaged better than 35 in their four victories.
This time, however, ASU will be encountering a Javelina team very different from the ones they've eliminated in the past. The 75.6 points per game TAMUK averaged during the regular season is their highest under coach Johnny Estelle, as is their scoring margin of +11.8 and their shooting percentage of 45.1. The only caveat to those numbers is the Javs enter the postseason off their two lowest scoring performances of the season, having been held to 60 and 56 points by UT Tyler in consecutive contests.
TAMUK will also have the advantage of playing at the SPEC on Tuesday, a place the Hogs have turned into a fortress in recent years. They closed out the 2020-21 campaign with a perfect home mark of 10-0, the first time in program history they've ever accomplished that. Going back to the last two home dates on the 2018-19 schedule, the Hogs are 25-2 in their last 27 tip-offs at the SPEC.
The Rams will not only be attempting to drum up another excellent postseason performance against the Javelinas, they'll also be attempting to recreate the success they had when they hosted the Hogs on Dec. 18th. That night, Sam Baker went off for 27 points, ASU shot 57 percent from the field and they held their guests to a 36.4 clip in an 83-66 win.
Coach Cinco Boone's crew might also be hitting their stride at the right time, entering the conference tournament off three consecutive wins, one of which was a 92-60 thrashing of Texas A&M International on Feb. 26th. The Rams were led by Devaughn Thomas' 20 point, nine rebound performance and they posted their best shooting percentage of the year, both overall and from beyond the arc. Boone will be hoping his team can find that form again on Tuesday.
For wall-to-wall coverage of TAMUK's LSC Tournament opener, visit Javelinaathletics.com, where you'll find links to live video and live stats and be sure to check back after the final buzzer for complete postgame coverage. 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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