Men's Hoops Ready for LSC Tournament

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Lone Star Conference Tournament
Game #29 • Neutral Game #3 • Western New Mexico • Thursday, March 5 • 8:30 p.m.

Notes & Connections
•    This is only the second meeting between the two teams on a neutral floor, as the Rattlers won 77-52 on Nov. 15, 2014 in Ignacio, Colorado.
•    The teams split the regular season meeting, with each team winning on its home court. The Rattlers won 80-76 on Dec. 4 in San Antonio, while WNMU won 85-76 on Feb. 21 in Silver City.
•    Senior Damani Claxton is a pefect 14-for-14 at the free throw line this season against the Mustangs. He made all 10 attempts two weeks ago and was 4-for-4 in December.
•    The difference in the two games was from beyond the arc, as the Rattlers held the Mustangs to a 6-for-24 night in San Antonio, while they hit 14-of-32 at home.
•    This is the first time WNMU has qualified for the LSC Tournament.
On This Date: March 5
•    StMU is 8-2 all-time on March 5, and surprisingly has never played a neutral-site game on this date.
•    The last game was in 2010, a 74-72 win over Newman in the Heartland Conference Tournament at Bill Greehey Arena.

 

Frisco Bound: St. Mary's Men's Basketball earned the five seed at the Lone Star Conference Tournament and will face fourth-seeded Western New Mexico on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. This is the second-straight season that the Rattlers have qualified for the tournament and the fourth time in the last five years.

In Search Of: The Rattlers are still searching for their first win at the Lone Star Conference Tournament. They've been knocked out in the quarterfinals in their first three appearances, falling to Texas A&M-Kingsville in both 2022 and 2023, and losing to St. Edward's last season.

Twenty Times Two: For the first time in the school's Division II era, the team has won 20+ games in back-to-back seasons. A year ago, the Rattlers finished 20-11, while this season's team is 20-8. The last time teams won 20 or more in consecutive years was 1996-97 and 1997-98 when Bubba Meyer's father, Buddy, was the head coach.

Hitting 50: Head Coach Bubba Meyer won his 50th game with the team's 80-73 win at Sul Ross State on Feb. 19. Meyer is in his third season as head coach with a 52-35 overall record. This season's team tied for the fourth most home wins with 14, matching the 1982-83 team that his father coached. The 1994-95 team was 16-1 for the record for home wins.

Ain't It Grand: Senior Damani Claxton scored the 1,000th point of his career in the win over St. Edward's on Thursday and now has 1,013. Claxton has scored 919 of those 1,013 points in two seasons at St. Mary's. His 919 points ranks as the fifth-most by a Rattler in the Division II era (2000-present), trailing Kevin Kotzur (2,004 points, 2010-13), Caleb Jordan (1,625 pts, 2019-23), Billy White (1,261 pts, 2002-05), and Tyler Caron (1,095 pts, 2021-24).

It's All About Balance: In Thursday's win over St. Edward's, six different Rattlers scored in double figures. It is the most in a game this season and the most since six players scored 10 or more in a 102-79 win against Bethany (KS) on Dec. 17, 2019. In the regular season finale at Cameron, five hit double digits in the scoring column in the 81-61 victory. Nine different Rattlers have led or tied for the team lead in scoring this season. Damani Claxton has led 12 times, while Justin Britt has led five times, Wayne Wiggins three times, Olaverr Camacho, Lawyer Jones and Eddie McPhee have all led twice, and Michael Grant, Sebastian Mendoza and JJ Walton have each led the team once.

Senior 1-2 Punch: In the win over St. Edward's on Thursday, both seniors Eddie McPhee and Wayne Wiggins notched career-highs in scoring. McPhee scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half, while Wiggins scored 15 of his career-high 19 in the second stanza. McPhee became the third Rattler to hit the 20-point scoring milestone in a game this season, joining Damani Claxton (7 times) and Justin Britt (twice).

Pounding the Paint: Five times this season, and in each of the final two games of the regular season, St. Mary's has scored at least 50 points in the paint. The Rattlers scored 50 down low against St. Edward's and then scored a season-high 52 points (of 81) in the paint against Cameron on Saturday. 

Perfection: Damani Claxton was a perfect 10-for-10 at the free throw line in the game at Western New Mexico, becoming the 15th player in school history to not miss at the line (minimum 10 attempts), and the first since Caleb Jordan on Dec. 19, 2018 against Texas A&M-Kingsville. He is also the fifth player in the Lone Star Conference this season to be perfect at the charity stripe with 10 or more attempts.

Quite a Handful: Senior Sebastian Mendoza became the first Rattler this season to make five three-pointers in a game, going 5-for-5 from beyond the arc in the win over UT Permian Basin. Mendoza scored a season-high 17 points in the lopsided win. He is the only player in the Lone Star Conference to have made all five attempts in a game this season.

Making them Count: St. Mary's has shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line in 12 games this season, and is connecting at a 75.6 percent clip for the season. That percentage ranks second in the Lone Star Conference and 38th in the nation, quite a change from last season's squad that shot only 62.7 percent and ranked 285th out of 290 teams in Division II. The 75.6 percent ranks fourth in school history and second in the NCAA Division II era (2000-present) behind the 2021-22 team that shot 75.8 percent.

Take Two, They're Free: A big reason for the change in free throw percentage are seniors Damani Claxton and Eddie McPhee. Claxton leads the Lone Star and ranks 38th nationally with his 87.2 percent. McPhee has made 52 of 59 attempts this season for 88.1 percent, but doesn't meet the 2.5 makes minimum to appear in the league stats. Newcomer Justin Britt also ranks 12th in the LSC with a 78.2 percentage. 

Francis Watch List: For the first time in St. Mary's history, a Rattler has made the top-100 Watch List for the prestigious Bevo Francis Award, presented to the top player in small college athletics, as senior guard Damani Claxton appears on the list. The award is in its ninth season. Amondo Miller and Antonio Pusateri from Lubbock Christian, and Fontaine Williams from West Texas A&M are also among the top 100.

Early Start Important: St. Mary's is 19-2 this season when leading at halftime, and only 1-5 when entering the locker room trailing at the break. The Rattlers are also 18-5 when out-rebounding the opponent and 2-2 when giving up more boards than they collect. 

LSC Leading: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in rebound margin (6.5) and scoring defense (65.6), is second in free throw percentage (75.6) and offensive rebounds per game (13.50), and third in blocked shots (3.7).