LAST HOME GAME
The Tarleton Texans will close the regular season home schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 23 when they host Abilene Christian at 8 p.m. for Senior Night in Wisdom Gym.
ON AIR
Texan fans can turn on the radio broadcast and listen to KSTV 93.1 FM.
Fans can watch LIVE VIDEO via the Tarleton Showcase. Fans can also join the LIVE CHAT with Tarleton Athletics and watch LIVE STATS via the Tarleton website.
SOUTH TITLE
The Texans clinched sole possession at the LSC South Division title on Monday with the win at Midwestern State. The title is the men's fifth division championship (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2011).
TWENTY-WIN SEASONS
The Texans have claimed 12 20-win seasons under head coach Lonn Reisman. Tarleton has eight such seasons in the last 10 seasons, dating back to 2001-02.
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 Bentley, Drury, Bloomfield, Quincy and Arkansas Tech.
BASKETBALL 2
The two Tarleton teams are a combined 42-6 this season, and they have the best combined winning percentage in the South Central region (.875). Heading into the week, Central Oklahoma is second with an .780 percentage (39-11), followed by Missouri Southern with a .750 winning percentage this season (36-12).
NATIONAL RANKING
Tarleton returned to the national poll this week conducted by the National Basketball Coaches Association to No. 20 in the country. Tarleton has been absent from the poll since the Dec. 7 release when Tarleton was No. 17. Tarleton has gone 14-2 since being left off the next poll on Dec. 14.
NATIONAL RANKING 2
Tarleton is one of only three teams in the country with both their men's and women's basketball programs ranked in the Top 25. The men are No. 20 and the women are No. 16 (highest-ever ranking). The others are Arkansas Tech (men are No. 9; women are No. 4) and Bentley (men are No. 24; women are No. 20).
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 5-0 so far in the second half for a total of 45-13.
TIRED YET?
Tarleton is in the midst of five games in 11 days.
ON THE ROAD
However, the Texans have struggled in their six road games so far, going 6-4.
Earlier this season, the Texans played four games in nine days, including three on the road. During that road trip, Tarleton traveled approximately 1,021 miles in seven days through Oklahoma and Texas.
The longest stretch, however, is when Tarleton went to Portales, N.M. last weekend, returns Saturday night, then went to Canyon last Tuesday and returned Wednesday night. The Texans traveled over 1,500 miles in that stretch.
DEFENSE, DEFENSE
The Tarleton defense is ranked No. 1 in the nation scoring defense, allowing opponents to score an average of 52.2 points per game heading into this week. Tarleton is No. 4 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 37.3 percent from the field.
Thanks to the defense, Tarleton has the No. 3 scoring margin in the country with a plus-19.7 margin.
FORCING TURNOVERS
Tarleton is forcing lots of turnovers this season, but giving away less. The Texans are No. 5 in the nation in turnover margin with a 5.0 margin in favor of the purple and white.
Part of turnovers is taking the ball away, and the Texans are No. 39 in the country in doing so, averaging 8.7 steals per game.
REBOUND THAT BALL
Heading into this week, the Texans are No. 10 in the nation in rebound margin (7.7). The Texans have outrebounded every foe this season except Cameron, Texas A&M-Commerce, Abilene Christian, West Texas A&M and Midwestern State.
Tarleton is outrebounding opponents by an average of 36.7 to 29.4.
LEADING THE TEXANS
Corin Henry leads the team with 12.8 points per outing. Carrington Tankson (9.5) and Devon Hills (7.6) are second and third, respectively. Wes Dipprey leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game while Donta Smith is second with 4.3 boards per outing. Henry tops the squad with 43 steals and 102 assists.
PASS IT HERE
Corin Henry has 235 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 passed Jim Moreno (1988-92, 121 games) in the game at home against West Texas A&M. He passed LaShon Sheffield (230, 2004-06 in 68 games) for No. 12 and 26 to tie No. 11 Freddie Pierce (261, 1982-86, 94 games).
SOUTH PLAY
The Texans are led by Corin Henry with 13.3 points per game during South Division play followed by Carrington Tankson with 9.6 points per game apiece. Dipprey leads the team with 5.8 boards per game during South Division play as Tarleton is outrebounding foes 34.5 to 28.8 and outscoring them 62.8 to 52.1. Tarleton is averaging .445 from the floor, .354 from the arc and .660 from the charity stripe while holding opponents to .384, .303 and .592, respectively.
D-E-F-E-N-S-E
Tarleton is 12-2 this season when holding opponents to below .400 shooting percentage from the field.
OUTSCORING FOES
The Texans are outscoring foes 70.9 to 52.0. 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 .453 from the floor, .366 from the arc and .670 from the charity stripe while holding opponents to .374 from the field, .318 from the arc and .630 from the line.
NOW ON SPECIAL
Tarleton is outscoring opponents in points off turnovers (21.9 to 11.9) and points in the paint (31.6 to 18.2).
OFF THE BENCH
Tarleton is averaging 30.6 points per game off of the bench this season as the Texans are outscoring opponents from the bench by 14.3 points per game (16.3 for opponents).
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Abilene Christian is 9-15 overall and 1-11 in the LSC South Division. The lone conference win came in overtime at Angelo State (74-71).
Zach Williams leads the team with 12.3 points per game while Preston Davis is second with 9.8 points per outing. Giordan Cole's 5.8 rebounds per game is tops on the team.
The Wildcats are averaging .423 from the field, .310 from the arc and .655 from the line while opponents are shooting .477 from the floor, .372 from the arc and .698 from the charity stripe. ACU is being outscored 74.7 to 69.2, but the Wildcats are outrebounding 35.0 to 32.9.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The all-time series that started in 1962 is tied at 30 games apiece. Tarleton took a 64-45 win in Abilene on Jan. 11 to even up the series.
Tarleton is 15-2 in Stephenville against the Wildcats under head coach Lonn Reisman. Tarleton is 28-8 against ACU under Reisman.
LAST TIME UP
The Texans used a big first half to take a 34-17 lead as they went on to win 64-45 in Abilene on Jan. 11. Tarleotn was led by Corin Henry with 21 points while Wes Dipprey added 10. Dipprey had a double-double as he tallied 10 rebounds as well.
ACU was led by Preston Davis with 16 points and Giordan Cole with 12 while Dosh Simms led the squad with seven rebounds as the Texans were outrebounded 34-29.
Tarleton averaged .409 from the floor, .500 from the arc and .852 from the charity stripe (23-27) while ACU averaged .325, .182 and .591, respectively. Tarleton forced 24 turnovers by the Wildcats and scored 24 points off of those mishaps.
UP NEXT
Tarleton will return to action on the road at Angelo State as the Texans close the regular season at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26 in San Angelo.
TONIGHT IS…
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.
