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Rams vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville Gallery
SAN ANGELO – The Angelo State men's basketball team returns to action at 4 p.m. on Saturday in a Lone Star Conference game against Incarnate Word at the McDermott Center in San Antonio.
The Rams (5-10, 2-5 LSC) will look to earn their third straight win after knocking off Texas A&M-Kingsville on Wednesday following a victory over Northwood University last Saturday. UIW (9-6, 5-2 LSC) has won five of its last six games after coming off a 93-76 loss to Abilene Christian on Tuesday which snapped a season-long five-game winning streak.
“Incarnate Word plays an up-tempo style and has guys who can knock down big shots,” ASU head coach Fred Rike said. “They are good at spreading out the floor and are going to be a tough matchup for us. We have to fight for rebounds and continue to play hard on defensive to limit their looks. We can't allow them to get in the paint.”
Angelo State is averaging 91.5 points per game in its last two games and has made 65 of 82 free throws (79 percent) in that span and 70 percent for the season. ASU leads the conference with a plus-5.14 turnover margin in LSC games and free-throw percentage throughout the year. The Rams are 0-6 on the road this season, but will look to build on their improvement and momentum and carry it over into a win against the Cardinals.
“We are shooting the ball better and are starting to run our offense better,” Rike said. “We still need to improve our rebounding, but I was excited to see our defensive effort against Kingsville. We did a good job of packing the paint and not letting them get to the basket when they wanted to.”
Jovan Austin comes into Saturday's game leading the Rams with 12.5 points per game this season and also tops the team in assists (54) and steals (36).
Antonio Dye is adding 11.7 points per game with
Chris Talkington contributing 11.4 and
Dakota Rawls 11.1. Rawls leads the team with 80 rebounds and is shooting 85 percent from the free-throw line on 41 attempts.
Bryan Hammond, who is averaging 8.7 points per game this season, has led the Rams in scoring the past three games. The junior continues to improve his game as he scored 14 points against UTPB, 22 against Northwood and 17 on Wednesday against A&M-Kingsville. He has also contributed 43 assists, 15 steals and 39 rebounds. Along with his point production, Rike sees Hammond making the entire team better through his approach on the court.
“He's not out there settling for jump shots anymore,” Rike said. “He's attacking the basket and is making his free throws. He's playing an aggressive style of basketball and is playing in an attack mode that makes our team better.”
Incarnate Word, which leads the LSC with 76.6 points per game in conference contests, is 4-1 in conference games at home this season and 5-3 overall inside the McDermott Center. The Cardinals, who are shooting 49 percent from the floor and 36 percent on 3-pointers this season, have racked up LSC wins over Cameron, Texas A&M-Commerce, Tarleton State, West Texas A&M and Eastern New Mexico. UIW possesses a plus-87 rebounding advantage and is averaging 4.6 blocked shots a game.
Dionelle Rucker leads the Cardinals with 17.8 points per game and has also added 22 assists, 19 blocks and 26 steals through the first 15 games of the year. The senior from San Antonio is shooting 55 percent from the field this season. Denzel Livingston is adding 11.1 points per game with Kyle Hittle contributing 10.8 and Anthony Horton and Lyn'Dale Brown each scoring 10.6 a game.
The Rams, who are 9-6 all-time against Incarnate Word and are playing on the Cardinals' home court for the final time as LSC opponents with UIW departing for the Southland Conference next season, will return home to face Abilene Christian at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Junell Center. Both games will be carried on 1260AM KKSA with Jeremy Bryant on the call.
Additional Fred Rike Quotes
On using Wednesday's win over Texas A&M-Kingsville moving forward:
“Getting a win over a team like them should give our guys some confidence moving forward. There is still a lot of work to do, but I like the way we're playing right now. We just have to keep it up and continue improving.”
On the Rams shooting improvement:
“We have some great shooters and now that we are spreading out the defense that is giving them some good looks. They're knocking down their shots when they have an opportunity. Jovan and Bryan are getting to the basket because those other guys are capable of hitting 3-pointers and they're getting good looks because Jovan and Bryan are attacking the basket.”
On the Rams success at the free-throw line this season:
“We are getting more attempts and they're getting more comfortable at the line. We made some tweaks to our offense and that is resulting in us getting more free throws. We just need to keep knocking them down.”
