CANYON – The Tarleton Texan men's basketball team will take its second-ranked defense into a key road game on Saturday, Jan. 23 at West Texas A&M in Canyon.  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

The Texans are ranked No. 2 in the county in NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense (.356) in the latest statistical rankings released Wednesday.  Tarleton was No. 5 in scoring defense (56.4).

Tarleton is coming off a 76-36 victory over Eastern New Mexico to improve to 14-3 overall and 2-0 in the Lone Star Conference South Division.  The Texans have won nine of their last 10 games.

The Texans held the Greyhounds to under 20 points in each half and it was the first time since Feb. 22, 1997 that the Texans held a South Division opponent to below 40 points.  The margin of victory was tied for the second largest against a division foe.  Tarleton defeated Abilene Christian by 47 (97-50) on Feb. 9, 2002 for the largest margin while it tied its 40-point win against ENMU on Feb. 27, 2008.

Tarleton is averaging .430 from the floor, .363 from the three-point arc and .689 from the charity stripe this season while holding opponents to .356 from the field, .302 from the arc and .652 from the line.  The Texans are averaging .463 fro the floor during South Division action while holding opponents to .311 during the two conference games.

The Texans are outscoring foes 71.4 to 55.2 overall and outrebounding them 38.8 to 33.2.

This season, Corin Henry leads the squad with 11.8 points per outing, 33 steals and 83 assists while Jeremiah Wilson (11.6) and Devon Hills (11.5) are also averaging in double figures.  Wilson leads the team with 9.5 rebounds per game and 28 blocks.  Donta Smith is second in rebounding (6.5) and blocks (12).  Effran Bryant is averaging 12.0 points per game during conference, but is just under double digits for the entire season with 9.8 points per contest.

After starting the conference schedule 2-0, the West Texas A&M Buffaloes fell at Midwestern State on Wednesday, 90-69.  The Buffs had defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville (65-57) and Abilene Christian (79-68). 

WTAMU is led by LaDarius Hall with 13.1 points per game while Nick Burns (12.8) and Joe Mincey (12.4) are second and third in scoring, respectively.  Bijan Dotson leads the team with 5.2 rebounds per game while Alex Davis is second with 4.4.

The Buffs are averaging .440 from the field, .325 from the arc and .719 from the line while opponents are shooting .445 from the floor, .333 from the field and .676 from the stripe.  WTAMU is outscoring foes 75.3 to 72.1 and outrebounding them 37.1 to 33.3.

The two teams have met 31 times, and the Buffs lead the all-time series 16-15.  The two squads split last season with Tarleton winning in Canyon 64-58 after dropping the home game of the series 69-59.  Tarleton is 5-9 in Canyon under head coach Lonn Reisman.

The game will be broadcast on KSTV 93.1 FM.