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VALDOSTA, Ga. – Winners of six of its last seven, the UWF men's basketball team (11-5, 6-5 GSC) takes on Valdosta State (14-3, 9-2 GSC) tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET at The Complex on VSU's campus.
 
BIG WIN

• West Florida beat a top-25 opponent for the first time in nearly three years after the Argos shocked No. 24 Delta State, 83-78 at the UWF Field House on Saturday.
• Deangelo Legrier recorded his second double double of the season, posting team-highs in both points with 20, and rebounds with 10.
• Jason Laatsch posted 15 points and a team-high six assists while going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Laatsch's three-pointer with three minutes gave UWF a 73-72 lead over Delta State – a lead the Argonauts held on to for the remainder of the game.

THANK YOU, AUSTIN

• Just 20 seconds into UWF's contest against Mississippi College, UWF senior forward Austin Somerfield suffered a season-ending injury.
• Somerfield, the team's leading scorer and second leading rebounder, finishes his collegiate career with 333 rebounds – just 89 shy of cracking the program's top 10 career rebound list despite only having 41 games as an Argonaut under his belt.
• His career 49.5 field goal percentage is ninth best in UWF men's basketball history.

 
FILLING IN

• Moter Deng was inserted into the starting lineup against Delta State in Somerfield absence, and impressed for the second consecutive game by scoring a season-high 18 points on a 7-for-11 shooting night.
• After Somerfield went down against MC, Deng was his immediate replacement and posted 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting.
• Deng is converting at a 75 percent clip over his last two games and shooting 50% on the year.

 
LEGRIER HEATING BACK UP

• Legrier was benched for the start of the Mississippi College game, but since that point has ended his cold streak and emerged again as a focal point for the Argonauts both on the boards and scoring down low.
• Legrier went 14-for-18 (77.8%) from the floor in UWF's two games last week, scoring 35 points and collecting 18 rebounds. Legrier had 15 points and eight rebounds against Mississippi College in addition to his 20-point, 10 rebound double double against Delta State.
• Legrier's last two games ended a three-game cold streak for the senior from Orlando, where he averaged just 4.6 points per game and 4 rebounds per game. He also shot just 33.3 percent during that span – very uncharacteristic of his team-high 61 percent field goal percentage on the year.

 
WHAT A STRETCH

• UWF has won six of its last seven games, a stretch that the UWF men's basketball team has not seen since the 2007-08 season. The lone loss for UWF was a 66-64 road setback against Lee.
• UWF is outscoring its opponents 601-544 during that stretch – good for a +8.2 margin per game. West Florida is shooting 46.3 percent over its last seven games.
• Jason Laatsch has particularly thrived from both long distance and at the free throw line, as his 42.1 percent connection rate from three-point range and his 88.9 percent free throw percentage are both team bests.
• Legrier owns a 68.6 percent field goal percentage over his last seven and is averaging 13.7 points and 6.4 rebounds over the stretch.
• Marvin Jones is averaging 10.9 points per game while converting on 38.5 percent of his three-point attempts.
• UWF has a +3.0 turnover margin, a +2.1 rebound margin and a +2.0 assist margin over its last seven.

 
AMONG THE NATION/CONFERNECE
 
TEAM

• Offensive rebounding (14.73 orpg): 9^th in Division II/1^st in GSC
• Turnover margin (+3.33 pg): 33^rd in Division II/1^st in GSC
• Assist-to-turnover ratio (1.24): 53^rd in Division II/2^nd in GSC
• Assists per game (15.5): 77^th in Division II/2^nd in GSC
• Turnovers forced (15.73 pg): 63^rd in Division II/2^nd in GSC

 
INDIVIDUAL

• Rashaan Benson (2.24 assist-to-turnover ratio): 73^rd in Division II/1^st in GSC
• Rashaan Benson (4.9 assists per game): 54^th in Division II/1^st in GSC
• Deangelo Legrier (3.33 offensive rebounds per game): 35^th in Division II/2^nd in GSC
• Rashaan Benson (74 total assists): 91^st in Division II/2^nd in GSC

 
 
LAST TIME OUT

• Much like Monday night's contest, when UWF and VSU met for the first time in the 2016-17 season on Dec. 12 the teams entered as two of the hottest teams in the GSC. A 5-1 VSU team handed a 5-0 UWF squad its first loss of the 2016-17 season after topping the Argonauts 92-89 in double overtime.
• Rashaan Benson scored a season-high 22 points, while Deangelo Legrier contributed a career-high 16 rebounds.
• UWF shot 53.3 percent for the first half to gain a eight-point, but VSU was able to make adjustments and hold West Florida to a 38.2 percent clip in the second half.
• That loss for UWF is its only loss when leading at halftime, as the Argos are 7-1 this season when heading into the break with a lead.

 
SCOUTING VALDOSTA STATE

• Valdosta State currently leads the conference with an 88.6 points per game average and an +11.1 scoring margin.
• VSU has five active players scoring at least 10 points per game, including Jeremiah Hill who leads the team with 18.5 ppg.
• The Blazers own a +5.0 rebounding margin and have three active players averaging 5.0 rebounds per game. Saadiq Muhammad leads the team with 5.7 boards per contest.
• VSU has won six in a row – good for the longest active win streak in the GSC. The Blazers are most recently coming off a 24-point thrashing of Mississippi College, where VSU took a 103-79 decision. The 103 points for Valdosta State is its most in any conference game this year.

 
For information on all UWF athletics, visit GoArgos.com.