KINGSVILLE, Texas – There are 10 games remaining in the regular season for the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team and what will be a challenging final month of the year begins with a pair of road matchups, first against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. inside the Field House in Commerce, Texas, then the Javelinas will head to Tyler, Texas, where they'll play the UT Tyler Patriots on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Louise Herrington Patriot Center.
The Hogs have 45 days until the start of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament and the most recent D2SIDA regional poll had them ninth, just one spot out of the national postseason. Among the squads ahead of the Javelinas are the Lions and Patriots, meaning that a successful weekend on the road would provide a significant boost for the Blue and Gold's hope of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six years.
The path to accomplishing this sizable task starts in Commerce against a 12-4 Lions team that owns a 10-2 home record in 2021-22. Coach Jaret von Rosenberg saw his team cruise to a 10-1 start, but the Lions have since dropped three of their last five games, including a 74-68 loss to Western New Mexico their last time out.
No one on the Commerce roster has put together a more complete stat line than senior guard Alphonso Willis, who leads the team in points and steals and is second on the roster in rebounding and assists. Willis' play has been complemented by that of junior Demarcus Demonia, who in the LSC's top 10 in rebounding, and senior Clashon Gaffney, the conference's top shot blocker. Gaffney has swatted at least one shot in every game, with a season-high of seven that came on Dec. 11th against Oklahoma Christian.
The Patriots have hit a bit of rough patch in their season as well, managing only two wins in their last six tries, including 75-60 home loss to Dallas Baptist on Tuesday that puts their conference record at 3-4. One the reasons for UTT's slump has been turnover trouble, as they've averaged more than 16 giveaways per game over their last six. Even so, coach Louis Wilson's club still ranks in the top half of the LSC in a number of categories, including scoring defense, where they're fourth, and rebounding margin, which they lead the conference in.
UTT boasts one of the most formidable guard tandems in the LSC with Micah Fuller and Da'Zhon Wyche, who've combined for 387 points, 94 assists and 43 steals in 2021-22. Wyche has averaged 14 points per game in his last five appearances, including a 28-point night against Western New Mexico on Jan. 22nd. Fuller started the year by scoring in double figures in 12 of his team's first 14 games, including back-to-back 20-point performances on Jan. 13th and 15th.
During a week in which the Hogs played three times in six days, two different players set season-highs in scoring, starting with sophomore C.J. Smith's (Mansfield, Texas) 24 points in a win over Texas A&M International on Monday. On Saturday, senior Tre Flowers (Bryan, Texas) shot 6-of-11 and tallied 16 points to help his team top Oklahoma Christian.
The Javelina defense was anchored by junior forward Will Chayer (Corpus Christi, Texas), who collected his second career LSC Defensive Player of the Week award. The kid from Corpus Christi led the Javs in rebounding and also passed out a career-high nine assists in the win over OC. Those nine dimes were the most in a game by a Javelina player since Chauncey Thomas was also credited with nine on Feb. 20, 2020 against Tarleton.
Chayer, Smith and Flowers will all be trying to help the Javelinas win in two arenas that haven't been kind to the Blue and Gold of late. TAMUK's first and only visit to Tyler came during the 2020-21 season and the then-10th ranked Hogs suffered a one-point loss. In Commerce, the Javs will be attempting to snap a six-game losing streak at the Field House and pick up their first win in the Lions' building since a 76-65 triumph on Feb. 8th, 2012.
To keep up with all the action from both games, visit Javelinaathletics.com, where links can be found to live stats and live video, as well as a recap at the end of each contest. 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.
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