ABILENE – The Tarleton Texans will try to hand head coach Lonn Reisman his seventh 20-win season in the last nine seasons on Tuesday, Feb. 16 when the purple and white travel to Abilene Christian for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at Kimbrell Arena on the campus of McMurry in Abilene.
The game against the Wildcats was moved from ACU's home arena, Moody Coliseum, because of the annual student production Sing Song. This will be the first time the Texans have played in Kimbrell Arena since playing McMurry there on Nov. 14, 1992 in a 72-50 win.
Tarleton is 19-5 overall and 7-2 in the Lone Star Conference South Division. The Texans are coming off a 56-52 home win over West Texas A&M on Saturday. The Texans were led by Corin Henry with 14 points and Donta Smith with six rebounds. The Texans shot just 33.3 percent from the floor while holding the Buffaloes to 37 percent from the field. Tarleton hit 29-of-42 free throws while the Buffs were 12-of-17 from the line.
This season, the Texans are led by Devon Hills with 12.8 points per game while Henry (11.2), Effran Bryant (10.8) and Jeremiah Wilson (10.3) are also averaging in double figures. Wilson tops the squad with 8.4 rebounds per game while Smith is second 6.9 boards per contest. Henry leads the team with 106 assists and 41 steals while Wilson has 38 blocks.
Tarleton is averaging .438 from the floor, .358 from the three-point arc and .685 from the charity stripe while opponents are shooting .370 from the field, .314 from the arc and .644 from the line. Tarleton is outscoring opponents 70.3 to 56.0 and outrebounding them 37.3 to 32.3.
In the South Division, Hills is averaging 14.7 points per game to lead the Texans while Bryant is second with 12.9 points per outing. Smith leads the team in division play with 7.8 rebounds per contest while Wilson is second with 6.9.
The Texans are averaging .461 from the floor in conference action, .697 from the arc and .697 from the stripe while opponents are shooting .382 from the field and .309 from the arc. During the last nine games, the Texans are outscoring foes 69.7 to 56.1 and outrebounding them 34.7 to 30.1.
The Wildcats are 8-15 overall and 1-7 in the LSC South Division, with their lone win coming at home against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Feb. 2, 79-72. ACU almost knocked off Midwestern State on Jan. 30, losing 78-77 on a last-second tip-in.
ACU is led by Eddie Thompson with 14.3 points per game while Giordan Cole (10.0) is also averaging in double digits. Cole leads the squad with 5.7 rebounds per game while Marcus Washington and Dosh Simms are tied for second with 4.7 boards per contest.
The Wildcats averaging .439 from the field, .310 from the arc and .652 from the line while their opponents are shooting .439 from the floor, .348 from the arc and .688 from the stripe. ACU is outscoring opponents this season 75.0 to 74.8 while outrebounding them 38.1 to 36.9.
The Wildcats are averaging .400 from the field and .331 from the arc during the South Division action while allowing opponents to shoot .442 from the floor and .354 from the arc. ACU is being outscored 79.1 to 68.1 and outrebounded 39.0 to 36.5 during conference play.
Thompson's 15.1 points per game during the South Division leads the team while Cole and Dustin Heiman are averaging 10.4 per game during that span.
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, the Texans won in Stephenville by 20 points, 83-63. Tarleton averaged .442 from the floor and 11-of-24 from the arc (.458). The Wildcats were nine-of-26 from the arc and hit .380 from the field.
Hills had 28 points and eight rebounds to lead the Texans to the victory while Bryant (12) and Smith (10) each had double digits. Smith had 15 rebounds to top all rebounders. Thompson had 24 points and Cole added 10 for the Wildcats while Simms topped the squad with eight boards.
Tarleton is just two wins shy of tying the all-time series record at 30, trailing 30-28. Tarleton has won 18 of the last 19 games between the two squads. In Abilene, the Texans are 12-6 against the Wildcats – though this will be the first time the Texans and Wildcats have met at McMurry.
The game will be broadcast on 89.7 FM on Tuesday.
