GAME NOTES: Statesmen Basketball at West Georgia/West Alabama (2.9-11.12)
Complete Weekly Release with notes, rankings, stats and standings in PDF

CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Statesmen (5-15, 1-8 GSC) of Delta State University continue Gulf South Conference action this week traveling to the University of West Georgia (18-5, 5-4 GSC) and to the University of West Alabama (6-16, 3-6 GSC).  Both games will be broadcast on the Statesmen Sports Network with Matt Jones, J.T. Webb and Clayton Coffman on the call.   

Delta State takes to the road to play against the Wolves of West Georgia on Thursday, Feb. 9, looking to pick up their second conference win of the season. The Statesmen and Wolves have met 35 previous times with the green-and-white leading the all-time series 23-12. The last time the two teams met the Wolves walked away with a 79-59 win over the Statesmen inside Sillers Coliseum.

Saturday, Feb. 11, the Statesmen travel to Pruitt Hall to take on the University of West Alabama. Delta State holds the lead in the all-time series over the Tigers 37-21. The green and white let UWA walk out of Sillers Coliseum with a 74-58 win back in January.

Since sophomore guard Aaron Cooper's return to action for the Statesmen, he has provided a spark for the offense. Cooper is 8-for-22 from the floor and 6-for-16 from behind the arc totaling 26 points and is averaging 26 of playing time in the three games since his return. Cooper is averaging 10.4 points per game on the season, and despite being out, is third on the team in assists with 37.

Marqueys Brown has filled the role his coaches have asked of him through 20 games this season. He is second on the team averaging 12.1 points per game and first in rebounding with (5.8). Brown is coming off a career game against Valdosta State where he scored 29 points, while also making the game saving block against West Florida in overtime as time expired.

Freshman guard Caleb Miskelly has settled into his role for the Statesmen providing key support off the bench. Miskelly is averaging 23.2 minutes of playing time and has 41 assists on the year which is a good for second on the team. The Flowood, Miss. native provided a spark defensively grabbing six rebounds for the green and white in the 72-70 overtime win against West Florida (2.4).

Terry Leake has stepped up his game since entering Gulf South Conference play averaging 18.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 30.4 minutes through the last nine games. Leake has also led the Statesmen in scoring in seven of the last 11 games

Mobile, Ala., native Cornel Knight has helped the Statesmen backcourt this season in a variety of ways. He's averaged 8.7 points per game, connected on nearly 28% from three-point land, has 2.1 steals per game and collected 5.7 rebounds per contest.

Jason Conner enters this week's contests with a 92-67 record in his six seasons as head coach of the Statesmen.  The Lakeland, Fla., native needs just eight wins to top the 100-victories plateau.

Through 40 seasons in the Gulf South Conference, Delta State is second in league history with 684 victories, 13 behind North Alabama (697). The Statesmen boast a .613 winning percentage during that time.

UP NEXT
DSU will travel to Huntsville, Ala., to take on the University of Alabama-Huntsville (2.16/ 7:30 p.m.) and then return to Sillers Coliseum to take on the University of North Alabama (2.18/6 p.m.). 

SNAPPING STREAKS
The Statesmen snapped a 13 game losing streak in a 72-70 overtime thriller against the University of West Florida. The Statesmen's losing streak lasted from to Dec. 3, when the Statesmen lost a decision at Southern Arkansas 86-64 all the way to Feb 2, when the green and white fell to Valdosta State 81-75. The longest losing streak by a Statesmen basketball team dates back to the '76-77 season under the tutelage of A.C. Williams where the Statesmen hit a 16 game skid.

LEAKE LEADS BY EXAMPLE
Terry Leake has stepped up his game since entering Gulf South Conference play averaging 18.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 30.4 minutes through the last nine games. Leake has also led the Statesmen in scoring in seven of the last 11 games.

LOOKING TO IMPROVE
The Statesmen are currently seventh in scoring offense and eighth scoring defense in the GSC 20 games into the season. DSU is averaging 64.9 points per game while allowing 77.1 ppg.

BALANCING ACT
Da' Ron Sims leads the Gulf South Conference in scoring with 18.6 points and places sixth averaging 6.6 rebounds per contest. While Sims might lead in scoring teammate Lavon Gray leads the league in field goal percentage connecting on 65.2% of his shots. Quincy Hill places fourth in both the assists (4) and steals (2) category. Let's not forget about Ryan Godfry who connects on 42.7% of his shots from behind the arc.

WOLVES STOUT DEFENSE
The Wolves have the second best scoring defense in the Gulf South Conference only allowing 64.7 points per game to their opponents. West Georgia also leads the league in steals (9.9) and turnover margin (+3.87).

TIGERS STEP UP DEFENSE IN CONFERENCE PLAY
West Alabama is only giving up 69.7 points per game in Gulf South Conference play this season which is good for third. The Tigers defense is holding opposing GSC offenses to just 47.3% from the floor and 30.1% from behind the arc.

SAMUELS AND MENDENHALL
Steven Samuels and Alquan Mendenhall have only played for half the season for the Tigers but have quickly made an impact on the team. Since Gulf South Conference play began Samuels and Mendenhall leads West Alabama in scoring averaging 16 point and 10.7 points per game respectively.   Samuels through nine conference games is averaging 6.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.4 steals per game, while Mendenhall has connected on 33-of-86 (38.4%) of his shots from the field and is 27-of-69 (39.1%) from three point range.

MISKELLY MAKES MOST OF OPPORTUNITY
Freshman guard Caleb Miskelly has settled into his role for the Statesmen providing key support off the bench. Miskelly is averaging 23.2 minutes of playing time and has 41 assists on the year which is a good for second on the team. The Flowood, Miss. native provided a spark defensively grabbing six rebounds for the green and white in the 72-70 overtime win against West Florida (2.4).

COOPER'S BACK
Since, sophomore guard, Aaron Cooper's return to action for the Statesmen he has provided a spark for the offense. Cooper is 8-for-22 from the floor and 6-for-16 from behind the arc totaling 26 points and is averaging 26 of playing time in the three games since his return. Cooper is averaging 10.4 points per game on the season, and despite being out, is third on the team in assists with 37.

DISTRIBUTING THE WEALTH
Through 20 games this season, the Statesmen have had five different players lead the team in scoring. Marion Military Institute transfer Terry Leake has scored a team-best 34 points (vs. Alabama-Huntsville) while transfers Cornel Knight and Aaron Cooper, each have led the team during the season.  Also, Marquesys Brown has led the Statesmen in scoring five times and Arthur Jackson has tossed his name into the hat leading the team on two separate occasions. Leake and Brown are 10th and 16th, respectively, in scoring in the Gulf South Conference.

BROWN PROVIDING SENIOR LEADERSHIP   
Marqueys Brown has filled the role his coaches have asked of him through 20 games this season. He is second on the team averaging 12.1 points per game and first in rebounding with (5.8). Brown is coming off a career game against Valdosta State where he scored 29 points, while also making the game saving block against West Florida in overtime as time expired.

KNIGHT'S A JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES
Mobile, Ala., native Cornel Knight has helped the Statesmen backcourt this season in a variety of ways. He's averaged 8.7 points per game, connected on nearly 28% from three-point land, has 2.1 steals per game and collected 5.7 rebounds per contest.

DSU AMONG ALL-TIME BEST IN GSC
Through 40 seasons in the Gulf South Conference, Delta State is second in league history with 684 victories. The Statesmen boast a .606 winning percentage during that time.

SIZE KILLS
The Statesmen have been hitting the glass hard this season. DSU is fourth in the GSC in rebounding offense (36) and fifth in rebounding margin (+0.4).

LEAKE, KNIGHT AND THOMAS FORM SPECIAL BOND
Forward Terry Leake, Jr., guard Cornel Knight and assistant coach Marcus Thomas come to Delta State after spending the previous year at Marion Military Institute. Thomas coached the two players in the strict, order-following school in Alabama last season before making the way to Cleveland. Thomas ranks No.1 at MMI in career wins (56).