- Game notes

STEPHENVILLE - The Tarleton men's basketball team return home to host West Texas A&M (11-1, 5-0) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7 in Wisdom Gym.  The Buffaloes lead the all-time series 21-15, but the Texans won the most recent meeting, a five-point victory in Stephenville on Feb. 16, 2011.  WTAMU has not lost on the road yet this season (5-0).

LAST WEEK
    The Texans (12-1) went into Greyhound Arena and handed Eastern New Mexico their first home loss by a narrow 55-52 margin.  Tarleton shot 38.6 percent from the floor and was led by Chris Harrell's 21 points.  Shedrick Haynes added 12 points and four assists to the effort.  ENMU's last second shot attempt rimmed out and allowed Tarleton their ninth straight win.

THIS YEAR
    On the season, Tarleton is shooting 48.7 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from three-point land and 70.0 percent from the charity stripe.  The Texans are averaging 71.2 points per game and 30.5 rebounds per game.

HOLDING OFF OPPONENTS
    Opponent's are shooting just 34.2 percent overall and averaging 51.3 points per game against the Texans.  Tarleton is No. 1 in the nation in points allowed and No. 2 in field goal percentage allowed.

STATISTICAL LEADERS
    Chris Harrell continues to lead the Texans in scoring with 13.1 points per game and adds 16 steals defensively.  Fabian Wilson, Zach Nelson and Shedrick Haynes are all averaging double-digit points as well.  Haynes has been the main distributor with 3.9 assists each contest.

SIZING UP THE OPPONENT
    The Buffaloes are hanging with the Texans in the LSC standings and are 11-1 on the year.  WTAMU also is 5-0 in conference play, but Tarleton will easily be their toughest contest to date.
 
STOPPING THE BUFFALOES
    Overall, the Buffaloes are averaging 67.7 points per game and giving up just 56.2 points to opponents.  That's second to only Tarleton in the league and No. 3 in the nation.  As a team, WTAMU is shooting 51.2 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from three-point range.  They have struggled from the free throw line, shooting just 58.8 percent.

WHO TO LOOK FOR
    WTAMU is second to last in the conference in scoring offense, but is No. 2 in the LSC in scoring defense.  Both meetings between these two teams last season were below 50 points for either team offensively.  Fans can expect the same from this year's meetings.
    Kennon Washington is averaging 16.0 points per game while Donald Sims is adding 14.7 points and 8.9 boards per game.

AMONG THE BEST
    The Texans are ranked near the top of almost every statistical category in the conference.
    Tarleton is No. 1 in scoring defense (51.3 ppg) and No. 1 in scoring margin (+19.9).  The Texans are also No. 1 in field goal defense (.342), No. 2 in rebounding defense (30.5) and No. 3 in rebounding margin (+5.8).
    Individually, Chris Harrell is No. 13 in scoring (13.1ppg), while Fabian Wilson is No. 4 in rebounding (6.5)  and No. 5 in blocks (0.9).  Zach Nelson is third in the conference in field goal percentage (.620).  Shedrick Haynes is No. 1 in assist-to-turnover ratio as well (1.4).

NO. 1 DEFENSE
    Tarleton finished the 2010-11 season as the No. 1 defense in the nation.  That was not only at the Division II level, but also in Division I, III and Junior College ranks.  This year's team has big shoes to fill, but has held opponents in check thus far as opposing offenses have averaged just 51.3 points per game.  That is good enough for No. 1 in the nation again at the DII level.

REMAINING IN THE RANKINGS
    Tarleton was ranked No. 8 in the NABC/NCAA Division II Preseason Polls and No. 1 in the Lone Star Conference Preseason poll.
    The Texans are now No. 9 in the nation and No. 3 in the LSC standings.

REISMAN'S QUEST FOR 500
    Head coach Lonn Reisman is just five wins shy of getting his 500th victory at Tarleton.  He entered the season with a career record of 483-210.

DID YOU KNOW?
    The Texans and Buffaloes only scored 80 points combined in their first meeting last season (L, 44-36) on Jan. 26, 2011.  This season, Tarleton has already reached the 80-point plateau four times.  The Texans did hold an opponent to fewer points than either of those totals when they gave up just 33 points to West Alabama on Dec. 19.

Live stats and live video can be found on TarletonSports.com while the live radio feed is provided by KSTV 93.1 FM.

For results and more information regarding the 2011-12 Texan basketball season, check out TarletonSports.com.