TEXANS TO MAKE INITIAL NCAA APPEARANCE: Tarleton State makes its first-ever showing in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship this weekend as the Texans travel to Tahlequah, Okla., for the South Central Regional tournament.   The South Central Regional tournament is one of eight regional tournaments being conducted across the nation this weekend. The winners of each regional will meet up at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Ind., for the Elite Eight on March 20-23.   Tarleton, 25-7 on the year, received an at-large bid into the tournament after finishing as Lone Star Conference South Division champion and LSC Tournament runner-up. There were four at-large bids granted in this region and 28 nationwide.   The Texans, seeded sixth in this weekend's tournament, will meet No. 3 seed Incarnate Word in the tournament opener Friday at 5 p.m., followed by fourth-seeded Rockhurst (Mo.) going against No. 5 Missouri Western at 7 p.m.   Friday's Tarleton-UIW winner will challenge No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri in Saturday's semifinal round at 5 p.m., while the Rockhurst-MWSC will advance to meet host and top-seeded Northeastern State at 7 p.m.   Saturday's semifinal winners will square off Sunday at 6 p.m. for the championship.   TUNING IN TO THE TEXANS: All of this weekend's action will be broadcast live on KCUB 98.3 FM in Stephenville, as well as online by clicking HERE. Dr. Ron Newsome has the call, with the pre-game show starting approximately 10 minutes prior to tip-off.   ABOUT THE TEXANS: Tarleton's men have come a long way since starting the season with a 3-3 mark in the month of November. Since then, the Texans are 22-4 with just two overtime losses and two losses to highly ranked Northeastern State.   Among the Texans' traits are smothering defensive efforts and unselfish offensive performances. Tarleton features two of the best big men around and thus rebounds the ball well, but the Texans also like to fire away from 3-point range.   The Texans lead NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense (35.6 percent) and rank among the top seven nationally in three other statistical categories -- second in rebounding margin (+11.5), fourth in scoring defense (60.1) and seventh in scoring margin (+15.0).   Tarleton has nine players who see action regularly, but the starting five plus sixth man Greg Manderson will see the majority of minutes. Danny Jones rarely leaves the court.   Three players have started every game for the Texans -- Marcus Jacobs, Andy Hudson and Vincent Bridgewater. Jones has started the past 29 games, while ChavisMcCollister has been a starter in 22 straight contests.   The Texans have dished out 20 or more assists on 16 occasions this year, plus Tarleton has limited its opponents to less than 30 points in a stunning 36 of 64 halves this season.   This year's schedule has seen Tarleton clash with two teams that have qualified for this year's NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, with the Texans holding an 0-3 record in those contests. TSU lost 83-73 to Wingate (N.C.) before suffering a pair of setbacks to Northeastern State.   Tarleton's men have secured their fifth 20-win season under Reisman and their fifth winning season in the past six years. Their 25 wins are just one shy of the school record. The Texans have a 16-1 mark at home and are 16-3 against teams from the state of Texas.   ABOUT THE TARLETON COACHES: Lonn Reisman is in his 14th season atop the Tarleton State men's basketball helm, during which time he's racked up a 265-144 record.   Reisman has enjoyed unprecedented success at Tarleton since taking over a program that had only one winning campaign in the 27 seasons prior to his arrival. He's led the team to 11 winning seasons, 11 postseason appearances, five 20-win campaigns, four national tournament berths, three Texas Intercollegiate Athletics Asscociation titles, two Lone Star Conference Tournament runner-up finishes and one LSC South Division championship.   The Pittsburg State (Kan.) graduate has coached eight All-America selections and eight first team All-LSC picks at Tarleton. He's been named Coach of the Year seven times, including this year's award for being the top mentor in the LSC South.   Jason Hooten is completing his ninth season as Reisman's top assistant. Hooten played two seasons for Reisman, helping the Texans to a pair of 26-5 records and TIAA titles.   Graduate assistants Rodney McConnell and Chris Reisman are both in their first season with the Texans' coaching staff and both are former Tarleton players. Chris is the oldest of Lonn's two children. Student assistant Reggie Lewis is helping out for a third consecutive campaign.   ABOUT LAST WEEK'S LSC TOURNAMENT: None of Tarleton State's three Lone Star Conference Tournament games were close. The Texans led by as many as 31 points in the first-round win over Midwestern State and enjoyed a 19-point advantage in the semifinal victory over Southwestern Oklahoma. In the championship game loss to Northeastern State, Tarleton's men never led and actually trailed by as many as 24 points.   Tuesday's first-round game saw Tarleton use a pair of impressive scoring spurts to build a 31-point second-half lead en route to a 76-60 victory over North No. 4 seed Midwestern State. The Texans broke open a close game with a 22-7 scoring run late in the first half, and then Tarleton's men had the home crowd of 1,700 in a frenzy with a 20-3 second-half run that gave the Texans a 72-41 advantage with just 5:22 to play.   In Friday's semifinal win over Southwestern Oklahoma, it was a 14-0 second-half run that sealed a 73-59 victory for the Texans. Tarleton led by nine at the half but allowed the Bulldogs to get within three points before scoring 14 straight to put the game away. Danny Jones and Greg Manderson made four 3-pointers apiece to pace the Texans.   Northeastern led from start to finish in Saturday's title bout as the Redmen connected on nine of their first 16 attempts from 3-point range on their way to the 66-50 triumph. Tarleton shot below 35 percent for only the third time this season, while NSU's 52.3 field goal percentage marked the first time an opponent has cracked 50 percent all year.   Tarleton's Vincent Bridgewater averaged 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in the three games to earn all-tournament recognition along with Danny Jones, who averaged 11.3 points and 11.3 boards.   TEXANS ON THE ROAD: Tarleton has compiled a 9-6 record away from home this season, including a 2-2 mark on neutral courts and a 1-1 ledger at NSU's Jack Dobbins Field House. The Texans have won eight of their past 11 games on the road.   Tarleton's men are 93-100 away from home under head coach Lonn Reisman.   TARLETON MAKING FOURTH NATIONAL TOURNEY APPEARANCE: This weekend marks the fourth time a Tarleton State men's basketball team has participated in a national tournament, with the three previous berths coming at the NAIA Division II level.   Tarleton made three straight trips to the NAIA Division II tournament in 1992, 1993 and 1994. The Texans suffered first-round losses all three years.   TARLETON AGAINST THE TOURNEY FIELD: The Texans have competed against just one of the other five teams in this weekend's tournament, having lost both meetings with top-seeded Northeastern State this year. Tarleton lost 58-53 to the Redmen at home in January before falling 66-50 in Tahleuquah at last week's LSC Tournament.   The Texans are winless in four all-time meetings with NSU, but last week's game was the first one that has been decided by more than five points.   Tarleton never has played Northwest Missouri, Missouri Western or Rockhurst, but the Texans are 3-7 in all-time meetings with Incarnate Word. Coach Reisman has led Tarleton against UIW five times, winning the first two meetings and losing the last three.   BREAKING DOWN THE FIELD: Tarleton State is one of just 12 teams in the 48-team national tournament field with at least 25 victories this season. Fellow Lone Star Conference member Northeastern State has more wins (28) than any team in the tournament, followed by three teams with 27, three with 26 and five with 25.   The Texans have played more games (32) than any other team in this year's field, with North Central qualifier Nebraska-Omaha being the only other team to have played at least 30 games. UNO (23-8) competed in the season-opening Disney Division II Tipoff Classic along with the Texans.   TARLETON PART OF ELITE GROUP: Tarleton State is one of only four NCAA Division II member institutions to qualify both its football and men's basketball teams for postseason play this year. Other schools that managed to do that are Indiana (Pa.), Nebraska-Omaha and Valdosta State (Ga.).   The Texans made their first-ever showing in the Division II football playoffs last fall, reaching the quarterfinal round before finishing with a 10-3 record. This also is Tarleton's first-ever appearance in the Division II men's basketball playoffs.   TEXANS IN THE RANKINGS: The Texans are one of 14 teams in this year's national tournament field that has never been ranked in the NABC/Division II Bulletin Top 25 poll. It's not too uncommon, though, because five of the eight No. 6 seeds haven't been ranked.   No. 2-ranked Northeastern State, No. 6 Northwest Missouri and No. 12 Missouri Western are currently among the Top 25. Rockhurst was listed at No. 24 in the Feb. 4 poll, while Incarnate Word has never appeared in the rankings this year.   Tarleton is listed fourth among South Central Regional teams in the Dunkel Index. The Texans (50.5) are ranked behind Missouri Western (61.9), Northwest Missouri (61.5) and Northeastern State (53.7), but ahead of Rockhurst (46.1) and Incarnate Word (42.7).   Tarleton finished sixth in the South Central Regional poll, thus earning the No. 6 seedfor this weekend's tournament.   THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: In last week's LSC Tournament championship game, Northeastern State became the first opponent all season to shoot 50 percent or better against Tarleton. The Redmen also became the first team to outrebound the Texans since Southeastern Oklahoma on Nov. 29, 2001.   Despite NSU's breakthrough, Tarleton still leads all of NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense (.356) and ranks second in rebounding margin (+11.5).   PICK YOUR POISON: Four different Texans have logged 20-point games this season and a remarkable nine different players have scored at least 14 points in a game.   Vincent Bridgewater leads the way with a dozen 20-point efforts, while Danny Jones has seven and Chavis McCollister and Greg Manderson have two each.   Marcus Jacobs, Andy Hudson, Chris Arledge and Kevin Kuhl each have scored at least 14 points in a single contest, as did Albert Robinson who is no longer with the team.   RECORD-SETTING TEXANS: Tarleton State already has established four school records this season and is within striking distance of several more.   New team marks for the Texans include most rebounds in a season (1,390), most 3-point field goals made in a season (258) and most 3-point field goals attempted in a season (764). Individually, Vincent Bridgewater has set a school record with 80 blocked shots.   As a team, Tarleton needs just 13 blocked shots, 20 assists, 30 turnovers, 37 made free throws, 41 personal fouls and 126 points to match school records in those categories.   Danny Jones is just 12 rebounds shy of that single-season mark, while Chavis McCollister needs only seven steals to equal that single-season record.   UNSELFISH TO SAY THE LEAST: Tarleton has a very unselfish team this season as nearly 70 percent of its made field goals have been assisted (598 of 859). The Texans average a LSC-best 18.7 assists per game, and they've posted 20-plus assists on 16 occasions.   Tarleton had a season-high 34 assists in a 90-54 win over Central Oklahoma, and the Texans added 32 dimes in a 90-60 triumph over Angelo State.   Three different players have topped the 100-assist mark this year -- Marcus Jacobs with 158, Andy Hudson at 109 and Chavis McCollister with 102. Seven different Texans have dished out at least five assists in a game this year, topped by 11-assist efforts from both Jacobs and McCollister.   TEXANS MAKE IT TOUGH: Tarleton State leads the nation in field goal percentage defense, having allowed opponents to make only 634 of 1,779 field goals (.356) this year.   The opponents have shot 35 percent or worse in 17 games, including 10 efforts of less than 30 percent. Hillsdale Baptist converted on just 11 of 48 field goals to post the lowest percentage of the season (.229).   Northeastern State became the first opponent in 32 games this year to crack the 50-percent mark against Tarleton as the Redmen made 23 of 44 shots (.523) on their way to the LSC Tournament championship.   CLEANING THE GLASS: The Texans rank second among NCAA Division II teams in rebounding margin (+11.5), and they've outrebounded their opponents in 28 of 32 games this season.   Tarleton enjoyed a double-digit rebounding advantage in 18 contests, including seven games with a 20-plus margin. The Texans outrebounded Hillsdale Free Will Baptist by 37 on Dec. 20 (57-20) and Texas A&M-Kingsville by 30 on Feb. 21 (60-30).   The only opponents who have outrebounded the Texans this season are Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 17 (40-41), Southeastern Oklahoma on Nov. 29 (29-34) and Northeastern State on March 2 (24-39). Eastern New Mexico matched TSU's 38 boards on Feb. 16.   Danny Jones ranks as the top individual rebounder in NCAA Division II, getting an averaged of 12.7 boards per contest. Vincent Bridgewater ranks fifth in the LSC with 8.3 rebounds per game, while Andy Hudson, Greg Manderson and Chavis McCollister each average better than four boards per outing.   McCOLLISTER A RARE TWO-SPORT STAR: Chavis McCollister just might deserve a break at the conclusion of this year's basketball campaign. After all, the two-sport standout has been going full-spead ahead since mid-August.   McCollister, who came to Tarleton to play running back on the football team, helped the Texans to a 10-3 football record and their first-ever Lone Star Conference championship and initial NCAA Division II playoff appearance.   McCollister played in just seven football games due to several injuries, but he averaged 6.1 yards per carry and accounted for six touchdowns. He completed a pair of halfback passes and rushed for a TD in Tarleton's 28-24 first-round playoff win at Chadron State.   Chavis, a former high school quarterback at tiny Tenaha, holds the Texas high school record for career touchdown passes with 94. He rushed for 3,246 yards and 35 TDs in two years as a running back at Trinity Valley Community College.   He's been quite an addition to the Texans' basketball team as well, joining the squad in early December and earning a starter's role just three games later. He claimed second team All-LSC South Division honors aftrer averaging 9.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.1 steals.   TO BENCH OR NOT TO BENCH: Tarleton State has seen its bench players provide various levels of production this season, ranging from zero points in a win at East Central to 42 points in a victory over Southwestern Adventist. There has been five games in which the reserves scored less than 10 points and four contests in which they've tallied 30-plus.   The Texans' non-starters managed to score 20 or more points in six of the 12 LSC South Division games, and they've accounted for at least 10 points in 10 straight outings.   TEXANS BY FORTY: Tarleton has had 18 wins by at least a 40-point margin during the 14-year Lonn Reisman regime, but this year's 97-50 victory over rival Abilene Christian marked Tarleton's first-ever 40-point win over a NCAA Division II opponent.   This year's 40-point victories include a 106-40 decision over Southwestern Adventist, an 83-23 win over National Christian, a 83-41 triumph over Hillsdale Free Will Baptist and the 47-point pasting of ACU.   The four 40-point wins this year is the most in a season for a Reisman-led team.   DONE BY HALFTIME: When Tarleton trailed by 12 points in last week's LSC Tournament championship game, it marked only the sixth time all season the Texans have trailed at the half. However, four of those six halftime deficits have been double digits.   Conversely, Tarleton has led at halftime in 25 games this season. There have been 12 games this year when Tarleton's men led by at least 10 points at halftime, including seven with at least 20-point advantages.   Tarleton is 23-2 when leading at the half. The last time the Texans led at halftime and lost was Feb. 14 in a 73-69 overtime setback at West Texas A&M.   The Texans are just 1-5 when trailing at halftime, with the lone victory coming againstNew York Tech back in November. Tarleton has been tied at the half just once, and the Texans surged ahead for a 76-57 triumph over Texas A&M-Commerce in that contest.   DJ SAYS MAKE IT A DOUBLE: Danny Jones is enjoying a wonderful junior season as he leads NCAA Division II in two categories -- rebounding and double-doubles.   The 6-7 junior averages 12.7 rebounds per game and has posted a remarkable 22 double-doubles in 32 games.   Danny has pulled down double-digit rebounds in 25 games, topped by a 22-board effort against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Feb. 21.   Of the seven games in which he failed to reach double digits in rebounds, "DJ" tallied at least seven boards in four of those.   He's scored in double figures 27 times, topped by a 30-point showing against Angelo State on Feb. 2.   Of the five contests in which he failed to reach double digits in points, Jones scored at least seven in four of those.   BRIDGE CLIMBING THE CHART: Vincent Bridgewater has an opportunity to become only the sixth Tarleton State player to score 600 points in a single season.   Bridgewater, in his first year at Tarleton, has poured in 571 points through 32 games, an average of 17.8 per contest.   He leads the team with 30 double-figure scoring efforts and a dozen 20-point games.   The only outings in which he's failed to reach double figures were against National Christian on Dec. 13 and Texas A&M-Kingsville on Feb. 21. He scored eight points in both games, and Tarleton was victorious in both games.