LAWTON – Coming off one of the biggest upset wins in program history, the Cameron men hit the road to take on another ranked opponent in West Texas A&M on Tuesday in Canyon, Texas.
After taking down the third-ranked Chaps of Lubbock Christian on Saturday, the Aggies must face No. 19/24 WT on their home floor to kick off their final week of road games in the regular season. CU still has a fighting chance of taking one of the final spots in the Lone Star Conference Tournament if the can win a majority of their remaining games.
STARTING 5
1. Cameron won their first conference game of the season on Thursday over Eastern New Mexico and then pulled off one of the biggest upsets in program history when they took down No. 3 Lubbock Christian in double overtime on Saturday.
2. Freshman big-man
Kenyon Holcombe was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 7.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks over the three-game span including four blocks against the Chaps with his final one coming in double overtime against LSC Offensive Player of the Week Parker Hicks.
3.
Brock Schreiner had a big offensive week for CU, scoring a season-high 29 points against the Lions and then 20 against LCU including his 1,000th career-point midway through the second half.
4. After a red-hot start to the season, West Texas A&M has had an up-and-down conference slate, going 7-5 since Dec. 31, and 2-2 in league play in the last two weeks.
5. Zach Toussaint and Larry Wise are ranked in the top-25 in the country in free throw percentage with Toussaint making 90.9 percent of his foul shots and Wise making 88.6 percent of his; as a team, WT is third in the nation with 410 made free throws this season.
ABOUT THE AGGIES
Cameron had their best week of the 2021-22 season last week, falling to Texas A&M-Commerce by just four points, beating Eastern New Mexico by one, and then upsetting the third-ranked Chaps in double overtime to close things out with a 2-1 week. They are now 4-14 overall this season and 2-9 in league play.
The Aggies are averaging just under 70 points per game while shooting 41 percent from the field and making almost 15 foul shots per contest, but they are still giving up almost 80 points to their opposition to go along with a .454 field goal percentage. They get out-rebounded by an average of 3.6 boards per outing and struggle forcing turnovers with just 11.2 takeaways per contest, six coming on steals.
Colt Savage leads the scoring efforts, averaging 15 points while shooting 48 percent from the field, 42 percent from three, and 84 percent from the charity stripe. He also grabs 5.4 rebounds per game while Schreiner adds 13.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
Connor Slater has scored in double-figures the last five games and is averaging 11.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 blocks per contest for the Aggies.
SCOUTING THE BUFFS
After starting the year 13-1, the Buffs have gone 8-5 since including a 7-5 conference record. They are averaging over 81 points per game and shooting 43.4 percent from the floor. WT averages 8.6 three-pointers and 15.5 free throws made per game. They hold teams to under 69 points per game but are giving up a shooting percentage of over 42 percent. They also average 4.7 more rebounds than their opposition and have a turnover margin of 5.1.
Toussaint leads the team with 15.2 points per game with Wise added 15 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per outing. Guard Julius Brown adds 13.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 2.0 steals while Kavon Booker averages 8.4 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Buffs.
THIS SEASON AGAINST WT
In their non-conference meeting back on Feb. 5 in the Aggie Gym, Cameron could not overcome a slow start, trailing 44-32 at the half and falling 85-72. They Buffs shot 48 percent from the field, 39 percent from three, and were 14-23 from the foul line. CU hit 40 percent of their shots from the field, went 8-28 from three and 12-19 from the charity stripe. The Aggies got a 20-point, nine rebound effort from Savage, while Schreiner added 16 points, Slater had 14, and
Nikolaos Argyropoulos scored 10 off the CU bench. Brown led WT with 23 points with Wise and Hayden Blankley each adding 16 and Toussaint scoring 10; Blankley also had 10 rebounds.
WHO HAS NEXT
Cameron visits Western New Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 18, for a rematch of an overtime thriller in the Aggie Gym back on Dec. 2. They then have a three game homestand to close out the regular season, hosting UT Tyler on Feb. 22, Texas A&M International on Feb. 24, and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Feb. 26 for Senior Day and CU's Homecoming.