1/21/2021 | Men's Basketball

COMMERCE - The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team returns to action in the Field House this weekend, hosting UT Tyler for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday.

WHO: UT Tyler at A&M-Commerce

WHERE: Commerce | The Field House

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 22 | 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 23

RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 3-3 on the season entering the weekend. UT Tyler is 2-7.

TELEVISION/LIVE VIDEO: Lone Star Conference Digital Network (Direct Link)

RADIO: Lion Sports Network | KETR-FM 88.9 (Streaming on KETR.org)

LIVE STATS: Click HERE

LIONS WELCOME LOCAL OPPOSITION

The Lions will host UT Tyler in a cross-over weekend series after picking up a split in divisional action against UAFS.

TAMUC is coming off of a 77-61 home victory over UAFS on Sunday afternoon.

The Lions used a hot shooting first half to build up an insurmountable 16-point halftime lead. A&M-Commerce shot 50 percent (15-of-30) in the first half.

Demarcus Demonia led A&M-Commerce with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Augustine Ene scored 16 points with five rebounds and Alex Peavy netted 10 points with six boards.

Devin Bethely passed out six assists. Bethely and Carius Key each swiped four steals.

The Lions picked up the win in the 100th career game for head coach Jaret von Rosenberg.

PERIMETER EXCELLENCE

The Lions' three-point defense was spectacular in the win over UAFS, as the visitors made only one three-pointer.

This marked the worst three-point performance by a TAMUC opponent since Cameron made one field goal in the 2017 LSC Tournament.

The Lions rank second in the LSC in three-point percentage defense, allowing opponents to make only 28.8 percent of long-distance attempts (34-of-118). This ranks 28th nationally.

DE-FENSE! DE-FENSE!

The Lions rank third in the LSC and 13th nationally in turnovers forced per game, with opponents turning the ball over 17.3 times per game.

TAMUC is fourth in the league in field goal percentage defense overall, with opponents making 42.5 percent of their shots.

The Lions rank third in the LSC in scoring defense, allowing only 71.3 points per game, which would be tied for the third-lowest opponent scoring average in school history.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK

Head coach Jaret von Rosenberg coached his 100th game as a collegiate head coach against UAFS in his fifth season.

Sam Walker is the program leader in games coached at 487 games with a 285-202 record.

Coach Rose becomes the eighth head coach to coach in 100 games at A&M-Commerce.

Rk	Coach	W	Record
1.	Sam Walker	487	285-202
2.	Jim Gudger	392	202-190
3.	Norman Pilgrim	278	152-126
4.	Paul Peak	252	134-118
5.	Jerry Matthews	225	99-126
6.	Dennis Vinzant	152	92-60
7.	Bob Rogers	147	113-34
8.	Jaret von Rosenberg	100	66-33

BETHELY LEADS LSC IN EFFICIENCY

Senior point guard Devin Bethely is the LSC's leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, dishing out 2.8 assists to every turnover committed.

This mark ranks 30th in the nation, with Michael Bradley of Mercyhurst averaging 10.0 A/TO in three games.

Bethely's 6.0 assists per game ranks second in the LSC. Lubbock Christian's Cameron Copley leads the LSC with 37 assists in six games.

LSC ASSIST/TURNOVER

Rk	Player	School	Ast	TO	A/T
1	Devin Bethely	TAMUC	36	13	2.8
2	Cameron Copley	LCU	37	14	2.6
3	Carson Hughes	DBU	28	11	2.5
4	Pierre Sanders	MSU	37	15	2.5
5	JoJo Murray	WT	33	15	2.2

LSC ASSISTS/GAME

Rk	Player	School	Ast	Gm	APG
1	Cameron Copley	LCU	37	6	6.2
2	Devin Bethely	TAMUC	36	6	6.0
3	Daniel Venzant	SEU	47	8	5.9
4	JoJo Murray	WT	33	6	5.5
5	William Heather	DBU	34	8	4.3

ALL-TIME vs. UT TYLER

This is the third all-time meeting between these two teams, with A&M-Commerce holding a 2-0 lead in the series.

The Lions were 80-69 victors in Tyler in the first-ever meeting.

A&M-Commerce is 1-0 at home vs. the Patriots with a 77-63 overtime win last February.

LOOKING AT LION HISTORY

This is the 27th time the Lions have played on January 22, with a 16-10 overall record on this date and 10-3 home record.

The Lions' first game on this date was a 28-26 win at Sam Houston State in 1929.

The Lions are 1-0 on this date under Coach Rose with a 92-56 win over Dallas Christian in 2018.

This is the 22nd time the Lions have played on January 23, with an 11-10 record overall and 4-1 home record.

The Lions have not played at home on this date since 2008.

A&M-Commerce is 1-0 on this date under Coach Rose with a 77-73 win at Western New Mexico last season.

D2SIDA REGIONAL RANKINGS

The second D2SIDA Regional Rankings of the season has been announced for games through January 17.

D2SIDA will rank six teams per region this season.

Rk	School (1st)	Rec	Votes
T1	Colorado School of Mines (3)	8-0	31
T1	West Texas A&M (2)	5-1	31
3	Dallas Baptist (1)	7-1	26
4	Colorado Mesa	9-0	20
5	Texas A&M-Kingsville	9-1	10
6	Lubbock Christian	6-0	6

RV: St. Edward's, 2.