THE RUNDOWN

The No. 12 ranked DBU Patriots (18-3, 10-2) took down the West Texas A&M Buffs (12-6, 7-5) by a 19-point margin on Thursday night, lighting fireworks for the home crowd from tip-off to the final horn. The Patriots hushed the Buffs' leading contributors across the entire box score, paving the way to the group's fourth straight tally in the left-hand column. In those four victories, DBU has eclipsed the 90-point threshold three times, while not allowing any of their opponents to garner 80 of their own. Tonight, Cameron Kahn summited the top of the program's all-time points mountain, leapfrogging former teammate Chandler Jacobs (2022). Kahn now sits at a monstrous 1,937-point total for his career.

The Patriots sprung to a 6-0 lead after the opening tip and wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the evening. While the game never got out of hand, DBU played at their patented high-motor pace, maintaining control of the entire game. The Patriots out-played the Buffs in a lot of areas tonight, but most notably so was on the offensive glass. Jackson McCabe would haul in a team-leading five offensive rebounds tonight. DBU totaled 18 offensive boards to their counterpart's eight, leading to a +5 second chance point differential.

The Buffs were able to stay in this contest due to elite shooting from the perimeter: WTAMU outshot the Patriots from three-point land by nearly a 20% margin. DBU shot a measly 25% from beyond the arc tonight, but it wouldn't affect the outcome of the game. Cameron Kahn would lead the way for the Patriots with 22 points, the product of a stellar performance inside. Kahn would finish one rebound short of a double-double. DBU brought in 11 more boards than WTAMU, as Kahn, Xavion Brown, and Jackson McCabe led the troops. Brown and McCabe would also rock the rim multiple times in the second half, bringing large waves of life to The Burg Center with each hammering.

Trevor Frank drained a floor-leading four three-pointers and poked a team-leading four steals. Ricky Lujan was perfect from the charity stripe tonight, contributing three steals. DBU was able to hold the Lone Star Conference leader in steals per game, WTAMU's Jailyn Sledge, to zero swipes. The Buffs' Ahamed Muhammed, the LSC's points-per-game leader, was held to a microscopic eight points by the Patriots' defense.

FOUR THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

- Cameron Kahn now holds the program record for points in a career with 1,937.

- 18-3 is good for the second-best start through 21 contests in program history (2023-2024)

- Tonight's game saw DBU's highest point total since homecoming (11/23 vs. Mississippi College).

- Xavion Brown set a season-high in points with 16 tallies.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

+9 - DBU's forced turnover differential against WTAMU (23-14).

0 - None of WTAMU's first 25 points came from inside the paint.

+48 - The Patriots finished tonight's contest with 48 more points in the paint than the Buffs (64-16)

+28 - DBU had 28 more shot attempts than WTAMU this evening (80-52)

POSTGAME INTERVIEW

COMING UP NEXT

DBU hoops will continue their prolonged homestand against Eastern New Mexico (11-6, 6-5) on Saturday afternoon.