BELTON, Texas – McMurry University men's basketball took a huge step toward solidifying an American Southwest Conference post-season tournament berth on Thursday night and the team would like nothing more than to take another giant leap on Saturday afternoon at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
UMHB has already clinched the ASC West Division title and, as the No. 1 seed, will host the ASC tournament in two weeks. The War Hawks are coming off of a 109-99 win at Concordia-Texas on Thursday, the team's third 100-point game of the season.
The War Hawks (15-7, 11-7 ASC) will have a tall order versus the Crusaders (21-7, 17-1 ASC), ranked No. 8 in the nation for NCAA Division III. UMHB has just one blemish on its 2011-12 record and that was a 75-71 loss to McMurry in Abilene back on January 21.
In that previous meeting this season, MCM used some deft long-range shooting – along with tough rebounding – to propel the upset win of the then No. 6 rated Crusaders. The War Hawks'
Bryce Hill led all scorers with 20 points, hitting 7-of-15 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range.
Steven Jones added a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while
Dominick Walker had a game-high 15 boards.
McMurry's team held a 55-24 advantage over UMHB in rebounds and connected on 50 percent (9-of-18) from beyond the arc, overall.
McM leads the nation in rebound margin by averaging 14.6 more rebounds per game than its foes. The War Hawks are also No. 12 in scoring offense at 86.2 points per game and 17th in assists per game (17.3). McMurry is 24th in steals per game, as well, averaging 10.4 thefts per outing.
Senior point guard
Jaden Isler is 17th in the nation for assists, averaging 5.7 a.p.g. Guard
Bryant Taylor is 12th in assist-to-turnover ratio at a plus-2.88.
Hill is 12th in three point field goals made per game in the latest national statistics, canning an average of 3.2 shots from long range each outing. He is shooting 42.2 percent from long distance, which ranks 28th in the nation.
Jones leads McMurry in scoring (16.2 p.p.g.) and is second in rebounds (8.8. r.p.g.). Hill and Isler average 14.5 and 12.9 points per game, respectively. Walker's 9.6 rebounds per game tops McM.
