KINGSVILLE, Texas – For the sixth time in two seasons, the No. 14 Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team will cross paths with the St. Edward's Hilltoppers and this will be the second straight year these rivals will meet in the Lone Star Conference Tournament semifinals, which will be held on Friday night at 6:45 p.m. at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas.
The previous five meetings between SEU and TAMUK have been decided by an averaged of fewer than five points, including a 71-68 nail-biter that went to the Hilltoppers in the 2020 LSC Tournament. That win allowed SEU to complete a three-game sweep of the Hogs a year ago, but it's the been the Javelinas who've come out on top in both regular season matchups in 2020-21.
When the teams met for the first time on Feb. 4th in Austin, the Hilltoppers raced out to a 38-11 lead, then watched the Javs erase that deficit and earn an 86-83 triumph. Two days later in Kingsville, SEU built another double digit lead in the first half and still led 82-79 with under 30 seconds to play, but four late free throws by Creighton Avery (Corpus Christi, Texas) put the home team ahead and they held on for an 83-82 win.
The Javelinas reached the conference semis for the second straight year thanks to more Avery heroics in the tournament's first round. In a 73-65 elimination of Angelo State, Avery posted TAMUK's highest point total of the Johnny Estelle era with 32 points, the most by any Javelina player in nearly a decade. It also marked the fourth time in Avery's junior year he's scored at least 20 points and these performances helped gain him recognition in the form of a spot on the All-LSC First-Team, the first Javelina player to earn that honor in 12 years.
Joining Avery on the all-league roster were juniors Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas) and Jordan Wilson (Blytheville, Ark.) and senior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas), three players who played critical roles in their team's two regular season wins over SEU. When the sides met in Austin, Flowers put up 16 points and Chayer collected 20, while Wilson pocketed a double-double, scoring 23 with 10 rebounds. Chayer added 20 more points in the Kingsville rematch, Wilson put up 11 and nine and both players were handed LSC Player of the Week awards for their efforts.
SEU's conference quarterfinal heroics came from forward Jake Krafka, who drained a game-winning three-pointer that clinched a 72-71 win for the eighth-seeded Hilltoppers over the tournament's No. 1 seed, Lubbock Christian.
The leading scorer for the 'Toppers in their upset was another forward, B.J. Maxwell, who finished with 21 points, the seventh time this season he's reached the 20-point threshold. Maxwell ended the regular season fifth in the conference in points per game and for his efforts, he was named to the All-LSC first-team.
Fans can tune in to all the action in Canyon live via Javelinaathletics.com, where there will be links to live video, live audio and up-to-the minute stats, followed by a complete recap 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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