The #19 ranked WTAMU men’s basketball played its second straight matchup against Texas A&M Kingsville on Feb. 5 this time from the First United Bank Center in Canyon.
Unfortunately for the Buffs, TAMUK came out hungry for revenge and got exactly that as the Javelinas stunned the Buff nation with a 77-73 victory.
“You’ve got to give credit to Kingsville,” head coach Rick Cooper said. “Those guys made shots and got stops. We got outcoached and outplayed and that’s my fault.”
“We weren’t creative enough offensively to get good shots,” Cooper said. “We missed some key free throws. It’s the difference in one team hitting theirs and one team missing theirs.”
WT came out of the gate stumbling as TAMUK raced out to a quick 6-0 lead at the 18:02 mark of the first half. The Buffs got to within four points at 9-5 with 16:50 remaining before halftime but that only seemed to spark Kingsville. TAMUK grabbed control of the contest with a 13-4 run to gain a 22-9 lead at the 12:58 mark of the first half. It took nearly the rest of the half but the Buffs managed to claw their way back into the contest before halftime closing to within three points at 35-32 with 1:47 remaining in the half. Kingsville took a 38-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.
WT came out in the second half desperate to reclaim the lead from Kingsville. Try as they might, it just seemed like the breaks weren’t going the Buffs way. TAMUK led by as many as nine points before the Buffs tied proceedings at 51-51 with 10:20 left in regulation. Kingsville however, made sure life continued to be difficult for the Buffs. With 4:17 left in the second half, Kingsville led 70-60. WT then embarked on a furious comeback which saw the Buffs tie the game at 73-73 with 29 seconds left in the contest. But, thanks to a controversial foul called against the Buffs, the ensuing free throws that followed sealed WT’s fate as they fell 77-73.
Leading the scoring on the night for the Buffs was senior LaDarius Hall with 19 points followed by junior Courtney Carr with 11 points.
Kingsville was paced by senior Antwan Mullins who led all scorers with 31 points on the night. The victory for the Javelinas is their first in Canyon since the 2002-03 season.
WT’s overall record now stands at 17-4 with a 4-4 record in LSC play while Kingsville improves to 7-13 overall and 2-6 in LSC play.
The Buffs will now embark on a road trip to face Abilene Christian on Feb. 9. Tip-off from Moody Coliseum is set for 7:30 p.m.
“What you have to do in LSC play is not quit and not make any pre-mature judgments about anything that is going to happen,” Cooper said. “We’ve got to play each game as well as we can and try to improve and fix things that are broken like turnovers.”
