UT Tyler Set to Make First LSC Postseason Tournament Appearance on Tuesday Evening - University of Texas at Tyler Athletics (2024)

The Patriots will travel to Wichita Falls, Texas for a first-round match-up with no. 6 seed Midwestern State to get play in the 2022 Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Championships started

TYLER, TEXAS – The University of Texas at Tyler men's basketball team will open play in the 2022 Lone Star Conference Men's Basketball Championships on Tuesday night in Wichita Falls, Texas against Midwestern State.

The no. 6-seeded Mustangs and no. 7-seeded Patriots first round matchup is set for a 7 p.m. start, and will serve as one of four first-round games across the bracket scheduled for Tuesday evening. UT Tyler earned the no. 11 seed in the field with a 7-8 (.467) record in LSC play and finished the 2021-22 regular season with a 16-9 overall record.

IT'S MARCH MADNESS TIME

The Patriots have officially qualified for the postseason in the program's first season eligible at the Division II level after completing the mandatory three-year transition period this summer, and will now make their LSC Postseason Tournament debut this week. UT Tyler survived a brutal LSC slate of games this season to secure the no. 11 seed, and will now look to make a postseason run for the first time at the Division II level.

The winner of Tuesday night's game will advance to the quarterfinal round on Thursday afternoon at 12 p.m. against no. 3-seeded DBU at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. The winner of that contest on Thursday will advance to the semifinals on Saturday at 12 p.m., and then the winner of that game to Sunday afternoon's championship game at 1 p.m.

HOW TO WATCH IF YOU'RE GOING AND IF YOU'RE NOT

Tickets to the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship are available as single-session passes. Prices are $15 for adults and $12 for students. Each single-session ticket includes two tournament games and is redeemable for the specified session only.Tickets can be purchased at the Comerica Center Box Office or online through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com) now through the end of the tournament. Tickets purchased on Ticketmaster are subject to additional fees and taxes. No additional fees will be applied to tickets purchased at the Comerica Center Box Office.

All 11 men's basketball championship games will be broadcast exclusively on the LSC Digital Network atwww.lonestarconferencenetwork.comor the LSC Digital Network OTT app. Fans will be able to purchase an LSC Basketball Championship Day Pass for $10 that will provide access to all 2022 basketball tournament games broadcast that day and archived games from earlier rounds.

TIME TO PAD A RESUME

UT Tyler appeared in both of the first two editions of the NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings in the no. 8 and no. 9 spots, but will undoubtedly need to string together a couple of wins in this week's tournament to help pad their resume after a 1-2 record last week to close out the regular season.

The top eight schools in the South Central Region will compromise the regional tournament bracket set for March 12-15 at the top seed's host site. The winners of the Lone Star Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will receive automatic bids into the tournament field, while the last six spots will be filled with at-large selections.

The 64-team field for the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship will be made via an online selection show on NCAA.com on Sunday, March 6^that 10:30 p.m. CST.

The LSC occupied the first three spots in the second edition of the rankings, as Lubbock Christian (no. 1), West Texas A&M (no. 2) and Dallas Baptist (no. 3) sit in the no. 1-through-no. 3 spots in the rankings. Colorado Mesa moved into the no. 4 spot, while Texas A&M-Commerce slipped back into the no. 5 slot.

Black Hills State (no. 6), Angelo State (no. 7) and St. Edward's (no. 8) round out the spots ahead of the Patriots.

PATRIOT LEADERS

Seniors Micah Fuller (14.2 ppg) and Da'Zhon Wyche (12.4 ppg) finished as the two Patriots that averaged double-digit scoring figures for the 2021-22 regular season and will be the highlighted two scoring options heading into the postseason. Fuller closed out his Patriot regular season career last week by averaging over 19 points a game his final three regular season outings, and went for 23 and 24 points on Tuesday and Thursday against Cameron and UT Permian Basin.

Wyche has reached double-digit scoring figures in 10 out of his last 12 games entering Tuesday's visit to Midwestern State and led the team in the regular season with 128 made three-point baskets. Senior Soloman Thomas (9.7 ppg) and junior Milan Szabo (7.5 ppg) made up the other two primary scoring options for the Patriots in 2021-22, while Szabo led the team with 5.6 rebounds per contest.

FULLER IN THE RECORD BOOKS

Senior Micah Fuller has continued to cement his name at the top of the Patriot record books in a host of offensive categories, and recently rose to third all-time on the UT Tyler men's basketball scoring list with his 906^th career point as a Patriot. Fuller is just 16 points shy of jumping into the top three of the all-time scoring list, and would pass former teammate Darius Alford (2018-21) to ascend into that third place honor.

He recorded his 304^th made free throw last Tuesday against Cameron, surpassing Brandon Weasby for the most made free throws in a career. Fuller has averaged 13.3 points a game for his UT Tyler career, and has averaged 10 or more points a game in all three seasons he has competed as a Patriot.

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS

UT Tyler's first ever LSC Postseason Tournament contest will come against a very familiar foe in a Midwestern State team that earned the no. 6 seed in the field with a conference winning percentage of .625 (10-6). The Mustangs finished the regular season with an overall record of 14-14, but closed out the regular season winners of eight out of their final 10 games.

Midwestern State will be making their 21^st all-time appearance in the LSC Postseason Tournament, and have compiled an all-time record of 28-13 in the event. The Mustangs are playing their first LSC Postseason Tournament game inside their home arena at D.L. Lion Coliseum since 2007.

The Mustangs have won seven of their last 10 wins to close out 2021-22 by double-digits, and finished the 2021-22 regular season with the best scoring defense in the Lone Star Conference (63.0 ppg). Midwestern State limited opponents to the lowest field goal percentage (39.3 percent) for the season in the LSC, and has limited opponents to less than 40 percent from the field in 10 of the last 15 games.

Senior Jermane Carter developed into the go-to scoring option for the Mustangs this season, and ranks 14^th in the LSC with an average of 14.6 points per game. He also sits sixth in the league with an average of 6.1 rebounds a game.

Guards Terrell Wilson (13.4 ppg) and Pierre Sanders (10.8 ppg) join Carter with a scoring average in double-digits.

UT Tyler and Midwestern State met on two different occasions throughout the 2021-22 season, once in non-conference play, and once in conference play. The Patriots got the best of the Mustangs in both of those contests that took place back on Dec. 13 and Jan. 2.

UT Tyler scored 43 second-half points in the first win over Midwestern State, a 75-63 victory in Wichita Falls, including 18 points from senior Eysan Wiley. Wiley has been sidelined with an injury for the second half of the UT Tyler season, so the scoring in the postseason contest between the two programs will have to come from elsewhere.

Fuller and junior Paul Djoko then helped secure an LSC win for the Patriots over Midwestern State back on Jan. 2 in what would end up being.a 69-68 win for the Patriots. Fuller and Djoko combined to make a trio of late threes, including a make from beyond the three-point arc from Djoko with 16 seconds left that put the Patriots ahead for good.

The two wins this season have evened up the all-time series between the two programs at 3-3.