- Complete Game Notes (PDF)
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THE GAME
The No. 11-ranked Tarleton Texans (8-0) will make its first trip away from Wisdom Gym this season as the team travels to Las Vegas, Nev., to participate in the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic this Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 20-21.
 
The Texans will face a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents in the tournament, first taking on the Central Washington Wildcats (4-4) on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST) and then playing the No. 5-ranked Western Washington Vikings on Sunday at 5 p.m. (CST).
 
Covering the Game
Tarleton State Basketball will be broadcast live on KSTV (93.1 FM) throughout the season. Casey Hogan will have the call with Mike Young joining him for color commentary on mosts of the broadcasts. The games can also be found online at www.kstvfm.com for Saturday's contest.
 
A live video feed will be available this weekend by logging onto www.ustream.tv/channel/holiday-hoops-classic-2013.
 
Series Information
The Texans and Wildcats will meet up for just the second time in school history and first time since 2002. CWU won the first and only meeting between the two teams back on Dec. 14, 2002, downing the Texans 70-61 in Las Vegas, Nev.
 
Tarleton is 2-1 all-time when facing WWU, but Sunday's contest will mark the first time the two squads have met since 2003. Tarleton defeated the Vikings 94-82 in the first meeting, which was played in Stephenville back in 1999. The Vikings then defeated the Texans 74-73 a year later in Bellingham, Wash. The last time the two teams met, Tarleton won 95-90 in Las Vegas, Nev.
 
Last Time out for Texans
Despite shooting under 50 percent for the first time this season and giving up a lead to an opponent for the first time this year, the Texans came away with an 89-83 victory over McMurry Tuesday night in Stephenville.
 
Tarleton shot a season-low 37.3 percent from the field, which included a season-low 19.0 three-point shooting percentage and allowed McMurry to shoot 55.8 percent from the field, but the Texan defense did just enough - forcing 22 turnovers and committing just 24 personal fouls compared to McMurry's 35 fouls.
 
The Texans made 41 of its 54 free throw attempts, which included going 8-for-8 in the final minute of play.
 
Tashawn Mabry scored a career-high 20 points for the Texans coming off the bench and Chuck Guy poured in 11 points while adding five assists and six steals.
 
Scouting the Wildcats
Central Washington is 4-4 on the season and is coming off a 111-59 win over Quest this past Monday in Ellensburg, Wash. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak and extended its home win streak to three games.
 
Head coach Greg Sparling is in his 19th season with the Wildcats, donning a career record of 314-201 heading into this weekend's set of games.
 
The Wildcats, who are 56-30 over the past three seasons, won the GNAC Championship back in 2010-11, but then fell to Seattle Pacific, 76-63, in the first round of the West Regional. CWU would go on and finish the season with a No. 5 final national ranking.
 
The Wildcats are led by Mark McLaughlin's 25.7 points per game, which ranks first in the GNAC and third in the nation. McLaughlin, who also leads the team with 28 assists on the season, finished last season with 22.8 ppg, which ranked 9th in the nation at seasons end.
 
The Wildcats have three more players scoring in double-digits with J.B. Pillard (13.9), Kevin Davis (10.4) and Joshua Lord (10.0) each averaging double-figures so far this season. Pillard leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game and Davis follows with 7.1 boards per contest.
 
CWU is shooting 46.8 percent from the field, 29.1 from the arc and 71.1 percent from the charity stripe.
 
Scouting the Vikings
Western Washington ranks No. 5 in the nation with an 8-0 mark after downing Thompson Rivers 99-74 on Tuesday. The Vikings have played all eight of its games at home, which includes a 72-69 win over then No. 1-ranked Metro State.
 
Head coach Tony Dominguez is in his second season with Vikings and will bring an overall record of 39-3 into this weekend. Dominguez led the Vikings to a 31-3 record last season, won the West Regional Championship and made a trip to the NCAA Division II Final Four. WWU fell 107-97 to Drury in the National Semifinals in Louisville, Ky., last season.
 
Four of WWU's five starters are averaging double-digits in scoring with Richard Woodworth leading the way at 16.8 points per game. He is followed by Austin Bragg (15.5), Robert Harris (12.4) and Joey Schreiber (12.1). Jeffrey Parker averages 10.0 points for the Viking off the bench.
 
Bragg leads the team with 8.9 boards per game and 24 blocks, while Woodworth has a team-high 35 assists on the season.
 
The Vikings are shooting 49.7 percent from the field, 36.6 percent from the three-point line and 63.4 percent from the free throw line.
 
Texans in the NABC Poll
The Texans remained at No. 11 in this weeks NABC Top-25 Poll. Not a lot of movement was made from No. 1 to No. 15, but Lone Star Conference foe Angelo State downed the then No. 16-ranked team and made its debut at No. 22 in the poll. Midwestern State was the only other LSC team in the poll, staying put at No. 19 this week.
 
The Texans have been ranked inside the NABC Top-25 73 different weeks since making its first-ever appearance in the poll back on Dec. 17, 2002. Including this week, Tarleton has had a top-15 ranking in 57 of those 72 weeks.
 
Reisman's Hunt for 550
Head coach Lonn Reisman now has 538 career wins heading into this weekends slate of games. Reisman, who is in his 26th season with the Texans, needs just 12 more victories to earn his 550th career win. He would become just the 26th overall and ninth active NCAA Division II head coach to earn 550 wins. He would be the 83rd coach at both the D-1 and D-II levels to achieve the feat.
 
Reisman picked up victory No. 500 back on Jan. 21, 2012 when Tarleton defeated A&M-Commerce 78-53 in Stephenville.
 
Home Sweet Home
The Texans are on a current 15-game home winning streak that dates back to Jan. 2, 2013. The 15-game home win streak is currently tied for the fourth longest streak in school history. Tarleton's longest home win streak was a 33-game win streak that began on Jan. 22, 2005 and ran through Jan. 27, 2007.
 
The Texans are now 352-64 (.846) overall inside Wisdom Gym under head coach Lonn Reisman.
 
Start me Up
Tarleton is 8-0 to start the season for the first time in school history, since becoming a senior college in 1961. The Texans have had two 6-0 starts and the one 7-0 start under Reisman, but this marks the first season under his direction that the squad has jumped out to an eight-game win streak to begin a regular-season campaign.
 
Up next for the Texans
Following the Holiday break, the Texans will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 4, with a non-conference home game against South Dakota Mines. It will mark the first-ever meeting between the Texans and the Hardrockers. Tip-off will be set for 7 p.m.