ABILENE, Texas – The McMurry men's basketball team will put its perfect 5-0 record on the line when it opens Heartland Conference play on the road against Newman University and Arkansas – Fort Smith. The War Hawks will take on the Jets on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and the Lions on Saturday at 4 p.m.
McMurry, coming off back-to-back wins over Cameron University and Texas A&M - Kingsville last weekend, are off to a 5-0 start for the second-consecutive season. The War Hawks are led offensively by Kenny Williams' 18.2 points per game.
Antonio Bell is averaging 14.2 points and
Takoby Jackson has 9.4 per contest.
In its first game of the week, McM will take on a Newman team that is also off to a great 5-0 start. In their last contest, the Jets took down Emporia State, 69-62, in overtime. In that game Newman was led by a 20-point night by Darrell Traylor.
As of 11/26, the Jets were outscoring their opponents by an average of 27.3 points while holding a plus 13 advantage in the turnover battle. Shamar Acuay leads the team with 17.8 points and he is joined in double-figures by Marquis Cuyler's 10.3 per game.
In the War Hawks' second game, the team will face-off against the Lions of UAFS. For Smith is currently 2-2 on the year and is led by a trio of players all scoring at least 13 points. Jelani Poston is averaging 13.8, while Dijon Farr and Corey Copeland are averaging 13.3 and 13.0, respectively.
As a team, UAFS is outscoring its opponents by 13.8 points per game and holds a 10.8 advantage per game on the boards. The Lions also are shooting 48 percent from the field through four games this season.
By The Numbers
5-0…McMurry has started 5-0 in a season just eight times over the course of the program's history. This is the first time since 1962-63 and 1963-64 that the team has had a 5-0 start in back-to-back seasons.
57.0…The War Hawks rank first in the Heartland Conference in opponents' points per game, holding their counterparts to 57.0 per contest.
35.5%...McMurry also ranks first in the conference in opponents' field goal percentage, allowing opponents to shoot just over 35 percent.
13.8…McM ranks number one in the Heartland Conference in rebounding margin.
