SAN ANGELO, Texas – After authoring an undefeated season thus far, the No. 3/6 Angelo State men's basketball team enters conference play with a top 25 road showdown with No. 12 Tarleton State on Wednesday, Jan 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Stephenville.
The Rams closed out its non-conference schedule with a pair of wins over Drury and former No. 16 Rollins team in the Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada. ASU is currently sitting at 12-0 on the season under first year head coach Cinco Boone and have claimed the best start in program history. Angelo State is also one of only three remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA DII.
"We have a lot of respect for every program in the Lone Star conference," commented Angelo State head basketball coach Cinco Boone. "We feel like this is one of the top conferences in Division II and Tarleton State has been at the top of it for the last couple of years. They obviously knocked us out of the playoffs last year and ultimately reached the final four. We have a ton of respect for their program and know how difficult it will be to win at their place; however we are going in with some good confidence coming off a good first semester. We will definitely be ready to compete at a high level and be intense on Wednesday night in Stephenville."
ASU's last meeting with the Texans resulted in a NCAA Sweet 16 heartbreaking loss; however the Rams lead the all-time series 36-34. The Rams have not taken a game in Stephenville since the 2000-01 season, where ASU came away with a 64-47 victory over the Texans. Tarleton State will be entering Wednesday's match-up with an 11-2 record an on a two game winning streak. The last TSU win came in the form of a 71-61 victory over fellow LSC member Cameron. The Rams No. 1 scoring offense (95.3) will be matching up with a strong Texans defense which leads the conference in scoring defense (64.1), rebounds (31.0), and turnover margin (14.4).
Led by the trio of Allen, Bennett and Boykin, the team's potent offensive attack is presently ranked third in the nation and first in the Lone Star Conference in scoring and in scoring margin averaging 21.7 point differential per game. It is also No. 10 nationally and first in the LSC with 18.8 assists per game. Defensively, the Rams are No. 10 in the nation and third in the conference blocking 5.3 shots per game. ASU has also forced an average of 18.9 turnovers per game which places them seventh in Division II and first in the conference.
Stedman Allen leads the offensive scoring averaging 16.7 points per game and is .555 from the field so far this season, which places him third in the LSC in both categories. The senior forward is also second on the team hitting .724 from the charity line. Averaging 19.5 points and 10 rebounds for the tournamnet he earned a pair of double-doubles and was honored as the Holiday Hoops Classic tournament MVP.
Point guard, Tre Bennett, is second on the squad having recorded 16.3 points per game average. He has knocked down a team second .441 from the field, and leads the Rams sinking .373 from beyond the arc and .873 from the foul line. The senior also leads the team distributing the ball 4.9 times per game.
Completing the trio, Shelton Boykin has played a major role in the team's offensive success. He is averaging 15.4 points per game in which he is averaging a .535 from the field and .739 on free throws. He also leads the defense with 1.6 steals per competition.
Defensively the Rams will look to Omari Gudul and Thomas Tshikaya. Gudul, who were elected to the Holiday Hoops Classic all-tournament team, is leading Angelo State with an average of 2.5 blocked shots and 8.7 boards per game. His three double-doubles on the season is also a team high. Tshikaya follows closely behind averaging 6.6 boards and 1.0 blocks on the season. The native of France is also averaging 6.3 points and is one of four on the team to have recorded a double-double this season.
Jeremy Bryant will be on the call for this game which will be broadcasted on 1260 AM KKSA.
