KINGSVILLE, Texas - After a long road stint to open the season, the Texas A&M-Kingsville men's basketball team finally returns to the SPEC for their first home game of the season as they welcome the Our Lady of the Lake Saints on November 22 with tip-off set for 4:00 p.m.
The Javelinas (1-3, LSC 0-0) are coming off of a tough road trip to the Rocky Mountains, going 0-2 on the weekend. The Hogs fell to Colorado Mesa on Friday, 75-91, then came up just short in a heartbreaker against Western Colorado in overtime, 68-69.
C.J. Smith was the leading scorer for the Javs over the weekend, bagging 15 points against Colorado Mesa and a season-high 21 points against Western Colorado. He also picked up three assists in each game alongside seven total rebounds over the weekend. Smith added six steals as well, bringing his season-total up to nine - fifth most in the Lone Star Conference.
Allen Singleton had a great performance against Colorado Mesa, nabbing five steals on the night alongside 14 points.
Jordan Henderson helped lead the Javelinas defensively against Western Colorado, finishing with two blocks and a steal to go with five total rebounds.
Topping the scoresheet just behind Smith on the weekend was
Isaiah Payne. Payne finished with 26 points over the two games (12 vs. CMU, 14 vs. WCU). He was also the team's leading rebounder against WCU with seven total rebounds, tied with
Kavon Booker.
This will be the Javelina's first meeting with OLLU since 2014, where the teams met twice.
SCOUTING THE SAINTS
OLLU comes to Kingsville on a three-game win streak and a 3-3 overall record. Their last time out, they defeated Texas Wesleyan, 79-72.
Trey Law is the leading scorer for the Saints with 98 points on the seasons, shooting 52.9 percent from the field, but also 0-of-5 from behind the arc.
Lonzo Rand and Paul Minjoth are OLLU's best shooters from three-point range, shooting 6-of-14 and 9-of-28 respectively.
The Saints have struggled on the boards so far this season, losing the rebounding battle by an average margin of -5.3.
OLLU comes into the game average 8 steals and 2.2 blocks per game, but also average 13.3 turnovers per game of their own.
