ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University Men's Basketball will play its first American Southwest Conference games outside of Abilene this week, as the War Hawks visit Concordia University Texas and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
The War Hawks will tip off at Concordia at 7:30 p.m. Thursday before traveling to UMHB for a 3 p.m. tipoff Saturday. Live stats and video links will be available on mcmurrysports.com.
NOTES:
LAST WEEK: McMurry split its home conference matchups for the second straight week, defeating Howard Payne University 98-96 in overtime, before falling to ASC West Division leader Sul Ross State, 90-65.
CAREER NIGHT: Senior forward Mike Williams Jr. scored a career-high 32 points on 12-of-13 shooting in the 98-96 win over Howard Payne. He was also 8-for-10 from the line and added six rebounds.
3 & D: Saturday's contest with UMHB will feature the top two teams in the ASC in defensive three-point percentage. The Cru lead the league at 30.0 percent while McM is second at 30.8 percent. Additionally, the teams are tied for second in the league in field goal percentage defense at 41.2 percent.
SCORING LEADERS: McM continues to boast a balanced attack, with seven players averaging at least 8.9 points per game and four averaging double figures. Williams paces the offense with 13.5 points per game, while Cody LeBlanc (10.4), Khalil Butler (10.4) and Dedrick Berry Jr. (10.1) each contribute double digits.
AMONG THE ASC: Williams and Butler are tied for fourth in the ASC in rebounding at 7.6 boards per game. Williams is also fifth in blocks (1.3), while guard Colin Taylor is 10th in assists (3.0) and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1). Taylor is fourth in free throw percentage at 84.4 percent. Berry is fourth in three-point percentage at 47.7 percent.
SCOUTING CTX: Concordia is still looking for its first ASC win of the year, and sports a 5-9 overall record heading into Thursday's contest. Philip Meikle tops the CTX lineup with 14.6 points per game, and leads the Tornados in steals, a category in which Concordia leads the conference.
SCOUTING UMHB: After starting the year 10-1, including 2-0 in the ASC and receiving votes in the d3hoops.com top 25, the Cru has lost three consecutive games. Guard Sam Moore paces the offense with 19.6 points per game, which is fifth in the ASC. Guard Casey Armour is seventh in the league with 7.1 boards per game.
THE SERIES: The War Hawks split last season's meetings, with both teams winning at home. McM leads the all-time series 29-11. McMurry split with UMHB last season, as well, and leads the series with the Cru 33-28.
