Basketball Game Preview: Madisonville Mustangs vs. Rusk Eagles

The Madisonville Mustangs will take on the Rusk Eagles at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Madisonville has three straight wins, Rusk has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Madisonville is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They took down Center 68-53 on Tuesday. Given the Mustangs' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 397th, while the Roughriders are ranked 903rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Rusk lost to Palestine on the road by a 57-42 margin on Tuesday. That's two games in a row now that the Eagles have lost by exactly 15 points.

Madisonville is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight games, which provided a nice bump to their 12-9 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.4 points per game. As for Rusk, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-16.

Madisonville took their victory against Rusk in their previous matchup back in January of 2024 by a conclusive 60-35. In that matchup, Madisonville amassed a halftime lead of 31-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.