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STEPHENVILLE - The Tarleton Texans (6-2) will close-out 2012 with a home contest against the visiting Ouachita Baptist Tigers (6-3), this Saturday, Dec. 29, at Wisdom Gym. Saturday's contest will be just the third meeting between the two teams and the first since 1998. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Stephenville.
 
QUICK HITS
• The Texans have won back-to-back games since falling to Angelo State (57-52) back on Dec. 5, in San Angelo.
• Tarleton is coming off a 64-53 win over Great American Conference member, Henderson State.
• Ouchita Baptist will be Tarleton's second-consecutive GAC opponent this season.
• Tarleton is already 2-0 against GAC teams this season. The Texans downed East Central 72-62 back in November before downing HSU before the Christmas break.
• OBU is coming off an 82-76 win over A&M-Commerce back on Dec. 18. The Tigers have won two-straight heading into Saturday's contest with the Texans.
• OBU has not won more than two games in-a-row so far this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• Saturday's game marks just the third meeting between the two schools.
• The series is currently tied at 1-1 with Tarleton winning the last contest, 61-40, back on Nov. 21, 1998.
• OBU won the initial meeting between the two squads when the series began back in 1982.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• Head coach Dennis Nutt is in his first season with the Tigers. Nutt played in the NBA for three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks (1986-88) and also played collegiately at Texas Christian University.
• Nutt served as men's basketball head coach at Texas State University from 2000 to 2006. He also has been an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina University, Arkansas State University and Westark Community College as well as a graduate assistant basketball coach at Texas A&M University. Most recently, he has been a consultant and fundraiser for Coker College and an NBA scout for the Charlotte Bobcats..
• Nutt is currently 6-3 with the Tigers and brings in an overall record of 76-100, which includes his record at Texas State.
• OBU went 16-12 overall and 8-8 in its first season in the GAC. The Tigers earned the No. 4 seed in the GAC tournament and went 1-1, falling 67-62 to Arkansas Tech in the semifinal round.
• The Tigers are averaging 74.3 points per game and currently rank 36th in the nation giving up just 60.0 points per game to opponents.
• OBU is shooting .455 from the field and allowing opposing teams to shoot just .379 from the floor. The Tigers shoot .356 from three-point range and .576 from the charity stripe.
• The Tigers average 37.0 rebounds per contest, but opponents pull down an average of 40.7 boards per game.
• Austin Mitchell leads the team with 13.7 points per game and has a team-high 28 three-pointers made this season.
• Michael Morris leads the squad with 6.2 rebounds per contest and also leads the team with 27 blocks. He ranks eighth in the nation in blocked shots (3.0), while the Tigers rank fourth in the nation as a team (6.6).
• The Tigers are 1-2 on the road in 2012-13, which includes going 0-1 in the state of Texas (69-56 loss to A&M-Commerce).
 
HOME SWEET HOME
• The Tarleton Texans are 323-57 (.850) overall when playing inside the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym under head coach Lonn Reisman.
• The Texans have posted a record of 197-24 (.890) at home under Reisman since the year 2000.
• Since joining NCAA Division II, Tarleton is 250-43 (.852) all-time at home.
 
TEXANS PICKING UP THE “D”
• Tarleton headed into it's game at Angelo State ranked 219th in the nation in field goal percentage-defense, allowing opposing teams to shoot 45.5 percent from the floor.
• Following its game with the Rams and a home game against ACU, the Texans moved to 110th in the nation allowing opponents to just 41.7 percent shooting from the field.
• Since the last NCAA rankings came out on Dec. 16, Tarleton ranked 104th.
 
MORE DEFENSE FOR THE TEXANS
• The Texans ranked 46th in the nation in scoring defense when the NCAA released its first set of national rankings back on Dec. 2, allowing opponents to score 62.4 points per contest.
• Tarleton ranked 22nd in the nation in scoring defense on Dec. 16, allowing opponents to score just 59.9 points per contest.
• The Texans head into Saturday's contest now giving up just 59.0 points per outing.
 
BIG NIGHT FOR PEGUES
• A'Darius Pegues (F, Jr, Louisville, Ky.) scored a career-high 12 points in Tarleton's 64-53 win over Henderson State the last time out for the Texans.
• Pegues tallied a team-best four blocks as well; another career-high for the first year Texan.
• Pegues heads into this weekend's game averaging 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
• He ranks second on the team with nine blocks this season.
 
CAREER NIGHT FOR UPCHURCH ALSO
• De'Andre Upchurch (G, Jr, Flint, Mich.) poured in a season and career-high 17 points in the 64-53 win over Henderson State.
• Upchurch went 6-for-12 from the field and was an impressive 5-for-10 from downtown.
• The Texan-transfer has scored in double-figures in six of Tarleton's eight games this season. He heads into the game on Saturday averaging 10.9 points a game.
 
FINAL TUNE-UP
• Tarleton's game against Arlington Baptist was the team's final tune-up before opening up the LSC schedule.
• The Texans moved to 10-4 in contests played before its first LSC game, since the year 2000.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
• When the newest national statistical rankings came out on Dec. 16, Tarleton ranked in the top-100 in six different categories.
• The Texans ranked 22nd in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just 59.9 points a game.
• Tarleton ranked 30th in personal fouls, averaging 15.7 fouls per contest. The Texans ranked 88th in turnovers, giving up just 14.1 turnovers per game.
• Tarleton ranks 52nd in rebounding margin (+6.0) and 68th in blocked shots (3.9).
• The Texans are shooting 46.4 percent from the field, which ranks 82nd in the nation.
 
HOW THE LSC IS STACKING UP SO FAR
• The Texans were picked to win the LSC. Tarleton currently sits in a tie for fifth-place in the conference at 1-1.
• MSU, who was picked to finish second, leads the league with a 3-0 mark in conference games. A&M-Commerce - picked to finish ninth - is currently in second-place with a 2-0 record.
• WTAMU's Donald Sims was named the LSC's Preseason Player of the Year; he currently ranks 11th in scoring (13.1 ppg), second in rebounds (7.7 rpg) and second in field goal percentage (.724).
 
OPENING UP THE LSC SCHEDULE
• Tarleton dropped its LSC opener for the first time since Jan. 14, 2009 with its five-point loss to Angelo State on Wednesday.
• The Texans are now 12-7 in LSC openers since joining the league in 1994.
• Tarleton moved to 2-2 all-time when opening up LSC play against ASU.
 
TEXANS PICKED TO WIN LSC
• The Texans were selected to defend its LSC Championship, earning the No. 1 ranking in the preseason poll released by the league office on Oct. 25, 2012.
• Tarleton received 12 of a possible 29 first-place votes in the poll.
• Midwestern State received 12 first-place votes in the poll as well, but Tarleton took the top spot earning 269 total points to MSU's 262.
 
TEXANS DEBUT 2012-13 SEASON AT NO. 17 IN NABC PRESEASON POLL
• The Texans finished the 2011-12 campaign at No. 9 in the nation and head into the new season at No. 17 according to a preseason poll released by the NABC on Nov. 2.
• Tarleton was the highest ranked LSC team in the preseason poll. MSU debuts at No. 23 in 2012-13 after finishing No. 5 last season.
• Including the 2012-13 campaign, Tarleton has been preseason ranked inside the top-25 seven times.
 
TARLETON IN SEASON-OPENERS
• Tarleton snapped a 10-game winning streak in season openers after falling 73-60 to Southwestern Assemblies of God in the 2012-13 opening game. Tarleton fell to 21-4 in season-openers under coach Reisman.
• Tarleton's last loss in a season-opener had come back in 2001 against Wingate (73-83).
 
REISMAN AMONG WINNINGEST ACTIVE COACHES IN NATION
• Lonn Reisman entered the 2012-13 season with a .702 winning percentage, which ranks 12th overall among active coaches in NCAA Division II.
• Reisman's .702 winning percentage ranks 26th overall among active coaches in both NCAA Division I and II.
 
TEXANS RANKED NO. 1 IN DEFENSE LAST SEASON
• The Texans finished the season ranked No. 1 overall in scoring defense for a second-straight year after allowing opponents to just 56.3 points per game in 2012-13. The Texans allowed just 53.3 points to finish no. 1 in 2010-11.
 
UP NEXT
• Tarleton returns to Lone Star Conference play next Wednesday, Jan. 2. The Texans will will ring-in the New Year with a home contest against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
• Tip-off between the Texans and Javelinas is scheduled for 8 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym.
• The Texans then hit the road for three of the next four games with the first contest coming on Saturday, Jan. 5, against Incarnate Word in San Antonio.