RETURNING HOME
The Tarleton Texans will return to Lone Star Conference South Division action at home on Wednesday, Feb. 16 against No. 23 West Texas A&M at 8 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.

ON AIR
Wednesday's game can be seen by all Tarleton fans through the TarletonSports.com/Showcase.  Texan fans can turn on the radio broadcast and listen to KSTV 93.1 FM. 

Fans can also join the LIVE CHAT with Tarleton Athletics and watch LIVE STATS via the Tarleton web site.

TARLETON=BASKETBALL
Out of 275 NCAA Division II basketballs schools, the Tarleton Texans and TexAnns are one of just six schools that are on top of their respective conference standings.  The Texans are atop the South Division men's standings while the TexAnns are atop their standings as well.

The other schools are Findlay, Bentley, Drury, Metro State and West Liberty.

BASKETBALL 2
The two Tarleton teams are a combined 36-6 this season, and they have the best combined winning percentage in the South Central region (.857).  Central Oklahoma is second with an .778 percentage (35-10), followed by Missouri Southern with a .773 winning percentage this season (34-10).

NATIONAL RANKING
Tarleton returned to the national poll this week conducted by the National Basketball Coaches Association to No. 25 in the country.  Tarleton has been absent from the poll since the Dec. 7 release when Tarleton was No. 17.  Tarleton has gone 11-2 since being left off the next poll on Dec. 14.

NATIONAL RANKING 2
Tarleton is one of only two teams in the country with both their men's and women's basketball programs ranked in the Top 25.  The men are No. 25 and the women are No. 19 (highest-ever ranking).  The other is Arkansas Tech (men are No. 13; women are No. 5).

FINISHING STRONG
The Texans have finished strong in the second half of the LSC division play since the 2001-02 season.  Tarleton is 41-13 in that span in the second half of division play, including a 9-3 record in 2008-09 and 2009-10.  Tarleton has went 6-0 in 2002-03 and 5-1 five different times.  
    
This season, the Texans are 2-0 so far in the second half for a total of 43-13.

STRONG AT HOME
The Texans are strong at home this season, going 13-0 so far in Wisdom Gym.  Tarleton has won 23 of its last 24 games in Wisdom, dating back to last season.  The Texans are on a 15-game home winning streak, dating back to Feb. 13, 2010.

WINNING AT HOME
The Texans have been tough to beat at home during Lonn Reisman's tenure.  Tarleton is 153-16 (.905) in the last nine-plus seasons, dating back to the 2001-02 season.  In Reisman's 22-plus seasons, the Texans have a 309-59 record in Wisdom Gym (.840).
    
The home record in the last eight seasons leads not only the LSC teams, but all of the NCAA South Central Region members, too.

HOME STREAK
The Texans are in the midst of a 15-game home winning streak – tied for the third best since the 2001-02 season.  The other time the Texans were on a 14-game home winning streak was in 2003-04. Tarleton had a streak of 33 (2004-2007) and 25 (2001-03) for the top two streaks in Wisdom Gym during that span.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE
The Tarleton defense is ranked No. 1 in the nation scoring defense, allowing opponents to score an average of 53.4 points per game heading into this week.  Tarleton is No. 6 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 37.9 percent from the field.
   
Thanks to the defense, Tarleton has the No. 4 scoring margin in the country with a plus-20.4 margin.

FORCING TURNOVERS
Tarleton is forcing lots of turnovers this season, but giving away less.  The Texans are No. 4 in the nation in turnover margin with a 5.7 margin in favor of the purple and white.
   
Part of turnovers is taking the ball away, and the Texans are No. 40 in the country in doing so, averaging 8.8 steals per game.

REBOUND THAT BALL
Heading into this week, the Texans are No. 10 in the nation in rebound margin (7.6).  The Texans have outrebounded every foe this season except Cameron, Texas A&M-Commerce, Abilene Christian and West Texas A&M.
   
Tarleton is outrebounding opponents by an average of 37.2 to 29.6.

LEADING THE TEXANS
Corin Henry leads the team with 12.9 points per outing.  Carrington Tankson (10.2) and Devon Hills (8.0) are second and third, respectively.  Wes Dipprey leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per game while Donta Smith is second with 4.1 boards per outing.  Henry tops the squad with 35 steals and 88 assists.

TANK YOU VERY MUCH
Carrington Tankson scored 28 points on Saturday in the win over Midwestern State.  He is the first Texan to score that many points since Marlin Cloudy did so at Angelo State on Jan. 17, 2009 - a span of 61 games.

PASS IT HERE
Corin Henry has 221 career assists heading into tonight's contest.  He passed Todd McCormick (1993-97) at 215 assists (93 games) for No. 14 on the Texans all-time list in the game at Incarnate Word.  Henry tied Chris Brown (1994-96, 33 games) at No. 13 with 221 against Eastern New Mexico on Feb. 12, and he needs five to tie Jim Moreno (1988-92, 121 games).

SOUTH PLAY
The Texans are led by Corin Henry with 13.7 points per game during South Division play followed by Carrington Tankson with 11.1 points per game apiece.  Dipprey leads the team with 6.7 boards per game during South Division play as Tarleton is outrebounding foes 35.1 to 29.2 and outscoring them 66.8 to 55.4.  Tarleton is averaging .403 from the floor, .403 from the arc and .656 from the charity stripe while holding opponents to .398, .333 and .613, respectively.

OUTSCORING FOES
The Texans are outscoring foes 73.8 to 53.4.  The Texans'  biggest win of the season came against Arlington Baptist – 108-30 (78 points).  The smallest margin of victory is four at home against Texas A&M-Commerce (70-66).

SHOOTING TEXANS
The Texans are averaging .456 from the floor, .385 from the arc and .669 from the charity stripe while holding opponents to .379 from the field, .334 from the arc and .643 from the line.

NOW ON SPECIAL
Tarleton is outscoring opponents in points off turnovers (22.3 to 11.1) and points in the paint (33.0 to 18.4). 

OFF THE BENCH
Tarleton is averaging 31.7 points per game off of the bench this season as the Texans are outscoring opponents from the bench by 16.0 points per game (15.7 for opponents).

IN THE CONFERENCE
The Texans are first in the LSC in scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage defense, three-point field goal percentage, rebounding margin (+7.6), offensive rebounds (13.7), defensive rebounding percentage (.726) and offensive rebounding percentage (.398). Tarleton is second in turnover margin (+5.67) and rebounding defense, and third in rebounding offense (37.1) and in assist/turnover ratio (1.0).

SCOUTING THE BUFFALOES
The No. 23 Buffaloes are coming off an 81-61 win at home over Angelo State on Saturday.  The Buffs have won their last two games to improve to 19-4 overall and 6-4 in the Lone Star Conference South Division.
   
LaDarius Hall leads the team with 13.3 points per game while Rod Little is second with 10.1 points per outing.  Jacquiese Holcombe leads the squad with 5.6 rebounds per outing followed by Courtney Carr's 4.8 average.
   
The Buffs are averaging .493 from the field, .334 from the arc and .712 from the line while opponents are shooting .415 from the floor, .320 from the arc and .649 from the stripe.  WTAMU is outscoring opponents 71.1 to 61.9 and outrebounding them 34.7 to 28.9.

ALL-TIME SERIES
West Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 21-14. Tarleton had claimed the last four meetings, including an 82-68 win in Bartlesville, Okla. in the second round of the LSC tournament last season on March 5, 2010 before dropping the 44-36 game earlier in Canyon (Jan. 26). Tarleton is 10-6 in Stephenville against WTAMU under head coach Lonn Reisman.

LAST TIME UP
Tarleton played possibly its worst game of the year, averaging 19.6 percent from the floor in the loss, but the Texans still had their chances to win.  Tarleton made just three-of-16 three-point shots and nine-of-46 total field goals.  No Texan was in double figures.
   
Wes Dipprey led the team with seven points and he, Donta Smith and Warren Webb all shared the lead with four rebounds.
   
The Buffs had no player in double digits, but wee led by LaDarius Hall with nine points and Jacquiese Holcombe with nine rebounds.
   
WTAMU outrebounded Tarleton 39-27 and averaged .342 from the field, .214 from the arc and .882 from the line (15-17).  Tarleton led 16-14 at the half, but the Buffs outscored the Texans 30-20 in the second period to take the 44-36 victory.
   
THE DOWN LOW IN CANYON
Tarleton was held to its lowest output ever under head coach Lonn Reisman, scoring just 36 points.  The previous lowest was 40 points against WTAMU in a 67-40 loss on Feb. 18, 1995.  The loss to the Buffaloes was the lone loss for the Texans in the first half of LSC South Division play.

PLAYING THE RANKED
Tarleton is 2-2 this season against ranked teams after losing at then-No. 18 Central Oklahoma, defeating then-No. 9 Incarnate Word and then losing to then-No. 20 West Texas A&M.  Tarleton returned to the win column with a win over then-No. 21 UIW.  Since joining the NCAA Division II, Tarleton is 22-29 when the opponent is ranked and the Texans are not.

When both teams are ranked, the Texans are 6-6 overall.

When Tarleton is the only team ranked, the Texans are 112-28 overall, including a 110-26 mark when in the Top 20 and a 73-14 mark when in the Top 10.

TONIGHT IS...
The Feb. 16 game at home against West Texas A&M is Toms Night with a raffle and the painting of Toms Shoes.  It is also Military Appreciation Night and Tarleton ROTC Recognition. 

UP NEXT
The Texans will return to the road for a game at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m.

COMING UP AT HOME
The Feb. 23 game at home against Abilene Christian is the annual Tarleton Athletics Cookout.  It is also Dublin Night where all fans from Dublin will get in free with proof of residence.  That will also be Senior Night where the Texans and TexAnns will honor the 2010-11 seniors.