PATTERSON AUTO GROUP CLASSIC
 
Midwestern State vs. Our Lady of the Lake
Friday, Nov. 18, 2016 | 7:30 p.m.
D.L. Ligon Coliseum | Wichita Falls, Texas
Records: Midwestern State (3-0); Our Lady of the Lake (1-0)
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM
Watch: Mustangs Digital Network 
Listen: Mustangs Digital Network 
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com 
 
Midwestern State vs. St. Mary's (Texas)
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 | 6 p.m.
D.L. Ligon Coliseum | Wichita Falls, Texas
Records: Midwestern State (3-0); St. Mary's (1-2)
Radio: ESPN 95.5 FM
Watch: Mustangs Digital Network 
Listen: Mustangs Digital Network 
Live Stats: MSUMustangs.com  
 
ON THE COURT
Midwestern State plays host to the Patterson Auto Group Classic Friday and Saturday at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. The Mustangs take on Our Lady of the Lake Friday night at 7:30 p.m. before closing the weekend against St. Mary's (Texas) Saturday at 6.
 
PATTERSON AUTO GROUP CLASSIC SLATE
Friday, Nov. 18
Cameron vs. St. Mary's (Texas), 5:30 p.m.
Midwestern State vs. Our Lady of the Lake (Texas), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 19
Cameron vs. Our Lady of the Lake (Texas), 4 p.m.
Midwestern State vs. St. Mary's (Texas), 6 p.m.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
1- Midwestern State hosts its first classic since the 2000-01 season. MSU claimed a season opening win over West Texas A&M (76-69) before falling to Incarnate Word (75-59) in the U.S. Cellular Classic.
2- Midwestern State is 54-2 against non-NCAA Division I/II competition since becoming a full D2 member going into the 1997-98 season. The Mustangs have won the last seven against stated competition since falling 80-74 to Oklahoma Wesleyan on Jan. 1, 2014.
3- Midwestern State owns a 19-8 mark against the current membership of the Heartland Conference the start of the 1997-98 season, but has lost two of the last three to Heartland foes since the start of the 2014-15 season. Prior to that, MSU had won seven straight against the Heartland from 2009-14.
4- The Mustangs are 60-10 at D.L. Ligon Coliseum during the Nelson Haggerty era (since 2011-12).
5- Midwestern State leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 11th in NCAA Division II with 11 made 3-pointers per game.
 
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
* Midwestern moved up two spots to No. 8 in the Division II Media Poll and remains 20th in the NABC Poll.
* The Mustangs connected on 15 3-pointers in Monday's win over Adams State (Colo.). It was the most since Nolan Richardson's program record 10 triples paced MSU to a total of 19 as a team-- also a team single-game record -- against East Central (Okla.) on Jan. 5, 2009.
* Midwestern State has connected on 10-or-more 3-pointers in three consecutive games for the first time since the 2010-11 season (Dec. 11-16, 2010).
* MSU's program record of consecutive games with at least 10 made 3-pointers is seven straight set from Feb. 3-March 5, 1996.
* Junior guard Brandon Neel is shooting 61.1 percent from the field (11-of-18) averaging 9.3 points per game.
* Senior guard Sheldon Hagigal leads the LSC and ranks 11th in NCAA Division II with 4.67 3-point makes per game. Hagigal connected on a career-high seven triples on his way to a career-best 27 points Monday against Adams State.
* Junior guard Devante Pullum leads the LSC and ranks 32nd nationally dishing out 6.3 assists per game. He matched a season high with 18 points connecting on three 3-pointers while dishing out a season high seven assists against Adams State.
* Senior guard Pat Smith averages 8.0 points per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field with four 3-pointers for the season.
* Sophomore forward Nemanja Krtolica tallied his first points of the season Monday against Adams State after leading MSU with seven rebounds in his previous outing at Rogers State.
* Senior forward Magnus Richards tallied a season-high 14 points while shooting 7-of-10 from the field with four rebounds Monday against Adams State.
* Junior forward Igor Ibaka is shooting 50 percent from the field averaging 11 points and five rebounds per game.
* Junior forward Nick Powell is enjoying a breakout campaign scoring seven points per game leading the team by pulling down 6.3 board per contest.
* True freshman guard Logan Hicks is coming off of back-to-back double-figure performances hitting seven triples during the stretch scoring 19 points against Rogers State and 17 versus Adams State.
 
SCOUTING THE SAINTS
* Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) entered the season picked to finish second in the Red River Athletic Conference. The Saints, who advanced to the NAIA Elite Eight last season, are ranked 14th in the NAIA Division I preseason poll.
* OLLU opened the regular season with a 97-92 win over Science & Arts (Okla.) Monday night.
* Our Lady of the Lake battled a pair of Division I opponents in exhibition play before falling to Rice (96-86) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (115-100).
* Senior Joe Jackson poured in 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in OLLU's season opening win over USAO. The 2016 NAIA second-team All-American averaged 20.1 points and 9.7 boards a game a season ago.
* Junior guard Maurice Jackson connected on three 3-pointers and scored 17 points against USAO.
* Senior guard Delepso Blanco chipped in 16 points, while junior point guard Darion Brown added 13 more for the Saints against USAO.
* Ryan Wall boasts a 69-26 (.726) in his fourth season at the helm at Our Lady of the Lady. The Saints have won at least 21 games in each season with Wall at the helm.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
* Midwestern State meets Our Lady of the Lake for the first time on the hardwood Friday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
* Our Lady of the Lake is in its 10th season as a member of the NAIA.
 
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
* St. Mary's (Texas) was picked to finish sixth in the Heartland Conference preseason poll after finish last season eighth with a record of 10-19 overall and 6-14 in league play.
* The Rattlers opened the season with a pair of losses at the Heartland-RMAC Challenge at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock. STMU fell to Colorado Mines (87-81) and Regis (Colo.) (84-80).
* St. Mary's claimed a win in its season opener Tuesday in San Antonio jumping out to a big lead and cruising to an 83-61 win over Lone Star Conference member Eastern New Mexico.
* The Rattlers whipped ENMU on the boards by a 48-21 margin while shooting 50.9 percent from the field.
* St. Mary's averages 81.3 points per game with five players averaging in double figures.
* Junior transfer guard Will Ferguson poured in 26 points hitting four triples in the season opener against Colorado Mines.
* Yanni Wetzell, the reigning Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year, is coming off of a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double against Eastern New Mexico. The Auckland, New Zealand native averages 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 59.3 percent from the field.
* Sophomore guard Skyler Brooks has scored in double figures in all three games this season including a season-high 16 in the season opener against Colorado Mines.
* Junior guard Freddie Williams, a transfer from Lamar State-Port Arthur, is coming off of back-to-back 17-point outings. He added 13 board against ENMU.
* Sophomore guard A.J. McGlown scored in double figures in the first two games of the year for the Rattlers, but did not play against Eastern New Mexico.
* Jim Zeleznak boasts a 188-132 record (.588) in his 12th season at the helm at St. Mary's. The Rattlers have advanced to the NCAA postseason five times with Zeleznak at the helm (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015).
 
ABOUT THE SERIES
* Midwestern State and St. Mary's meet for the 31st time on the hardwood Saturday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
* The series is knotted at 15-15, but Midwestern has won seven of the last nine since the start of the 2001-02 season.
* The Mustangs are 12-3 all-time against St. Mary's in games played in Wichita Falls and have won the last six at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
* St. Mary's last win under the dome came by a 78-76 score on Dec. 10, 1994.
 
THE HAGGERTY ERA
- Nelson Haggerty is in his sixth season at the helm for Midwestern State as one of the top young coaches in college basketball.
- Haggerty boasts a 124-36 mark (.775) leading the Mustangs to the NCAA Division II postseason in each of his campaigns at the helm and to  Lone Star Conference championships in four of his five seasons as head coach.
- Haggerty earned NABC South Central Region and Lone Star Conference coach of the year honors in his rookie season of 2011-12 piloting the Mustangs to their third consecutive Elite Eight showing. He repeated as LSC Coach of the Year while piloting the Mustangs to their fourth LSC title in his five seasons at head coach in 2016.
- With Haggerty on the bench (including two seasons as top assistant), MSU has advanced to three Elite Eights (2010, 2011, 2012) and to the NCAA Division II postseason six consecutive years.
 
NEXT UP
Midwestern State competes in the Holiday Inn-Airport Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Colorado Mesa on Nov. 25 and 26 in Grand Junction. The Mustangs open against Western State (Colo.) on Friday before battling the host Mavericks on Saturday.