COMMERCE— The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team will host West Texas A&M on Saturday. The game is free of charge to all fans as part of College of Business Fill the Field House. The game will follow the women's basketball team against WT at 2 p.m.
 
WHO: No. 19 Texas A&M-Commerce (13-4, 5-3 LSC) vs. No. 10 West Texas A&M (18-3, 6-2 LSC)
WHERE: The Field House in Commerce, Texas
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4 p.m.
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/b/147044
LIVE VIDEO: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/tamucommerce/
LIVE AUDIO: www.ketr.org
TICKETS: The game is part of College of Business Fill the Field House. Admission is free for all fans for both the women's and men's games, beginning at 2 p.m.
 
The Lions are coming off of a 84-61 loss to UT Permian Basin on Thursday. The Lions got down early and could not overcome the deficit.
 
"It was a tough game," said head coach Sam Walker. "You have to give them credit. They played very well and they shot the ball extremely well in the second half. We dug ourselves into a hole and it was hard to climb out of it. The great thing about basketball is that you don't get a lot of time to cry over the spilled milk. You just have to clean it up and get ready to play again."
 
The Lions have yet to lose back-to-back games this season. Walker said his team doesn't like to lose and their ability to bounce back from a tough night is one of their greatest assets.
 
"Our locker room has been the strongest part of our team," he said. "More than shooting the ball or rebounding the basketball. We've had some extremely good bounce-back games where we have come back. We haven't had a bounce-back game where we have had to play West Texas, so this one will be tough. They are coming in off of a loss too and they hadn't lost in a long time. So it is two teams that are trying to get back in that win column. That should make it a really exciting game."
 
WT is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation and No. 2 in the region. The Lions aren't far behind. A&M-Commerce is the No. 19 team in the nation and No. 3 in the South Central Region. While it is a matchup of top teams, Walker wants his players to look at it as they would any other game. His goal is for his team to keep improving and to worry about rankings come March.
 
"It's not just another game, but we've got to look at look at it that way," Walker said. "We need to win, they need to win. And the season isn't over for whoever doesn't win the game. It is the team that is playing well and that continues to get better through January and February and is playing their best basketball in March that is going to turn out to have a really good season. That's really our main focus. Let's get better at practice today and keep improving every time we step out on the floor."
 
The Buffs are leading the nation in three-point attempts and are one of the top shooting teams in the country. Walker feels like his team matches up well against WT, with their ability to guard on the perimeter. He views this as a strength versus strength matchup, and whichever team executes better will escape with the win.
 
"My dad used to say that the team who scores the most points usually wins. He's pretty much right about that with every game that has ever been coached," Walker said with a laugh. "But I think it is going to be a game of scoring. I think one team is going to shoot the ball a little bit better and that team will probably come out on top. Not to oversimplify it, but that's usually what it takes."
 
The game is free of charge to fans with the College of Business Fill the Field House promotion. Walker has enjoyed the event in previous years and is confident there won't be an empty seat.
 
"You better get there before the tip off of the women's game," he said. "When we did this last year, there wasn't a seat in the house. And I'll say that our women's team is off to such a good season and we invite everybody that is coming out to our games to come out to make sure they come to both games. It's two teams that have been highly competitive and both have done a phenomenal job of representing our community and our university."