Feb. 22, 2008

CANYON, Texas - After beating Texas A&M-Kingsville to collect its sixth consecutive victory, the West Texas A&M men's hoops team returns to the First United Bank Center for a showdown against No. 12 Tarleton State on Saturday night in a battle for the top spot in the Lone Star Conference South Division.

In the last meeting between the Buffs and the Texans, Tarleton State emerged victorious in a narrow 76-74 overtime win on its home court in Stephenville, Texas, despite senior Robert Lee scoring a team-high 25 points.

Lee has led the Buffs in scoring in 13 games, notching 14 or more points in every game-high performance. He is the team-high scorer with an average of 17.1 points per game on 143-of-268 (.534) shooting from the floor, 31-of-82 (.378) shooting from behind the arc and 76-of-100 (.760) shooting from the free throw line in addition to lead ing the team in steals (35).

Also averaging double-digit scoring for the Buffs is senior Chris Hinz, who has tallied 10.8 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game. He and Lee are tied for second on the team in blocks (12).

The Texans enter this weekend's rivalry with a 21-3 overall mark and an 8-1 league record while being ranked No. 12 in the nation. Earlier this week, TSU collected a 66-63 victory over LSC South foe Abilene Christian and comes to Canyon looking to pick up its 22nd win of the season.