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STEPHENVILLE, Texas - The Tarleton Texans (14-7, 7-6 LSC) return home following a brief two-game road swing to take on the Incarnate Word Cardinals (12-9, 8-5 LSC) in Lone Star Conference action this Saturday, Feb. 16 in Stephenville. Tip-off between the two teams is set for 7 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym
 
QUICK HITS
• The Texans saw its season-high six-game winning streak come to an end with a 56-55 road loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville on Wednesday.
• Incarnate Word brings in a season-long three-game losing streak after falling to A&M-Commerce, 86-84, in San Antonio on Wednesday.
• Just one game separates the Texans and Cardinals in the Lone Star Conference standings. UIW is currently alone in third-place with an 8-5 conference record, while Tarleton comes in right behind them in fourth-place with a 7-6 mark in league play.
• Saturday's game marks the final regular-season contest between the two teams playing at the NCAA Division II level. The Cardinals will move up to NCAA Division I next season as a charter member of the Southland Conference.
 
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
• Head coach Ken Burmeister is in his seventh season with the Cardinals and brings in an overall record of 125-65 at helm of the UIW basketball program.
• Burmeister now has 16 years of head coaching experience. Prior to his taking over the Cardinal basketball program, Burmeister coached at UT-San
Antonio, Loyla Chicago and Trinity. The coach had taken a seven-year hiatus
away from basketball before returning to the court when accepting the UIW head coaching gig.
• The Cardinals are currently on a three-game losing streak after falling to A&M-Commerce on Wednesday. UIW's losing streak began with a 67-54 loss at Midwestern State and then followed it up with a loss to Cameron on the road, 69-60.
• Prior to the three-game skid, UIW had won eight of its previous nine contests.
• The Cardinal offense ranks first in the LSC, averaging 75.1 points per game heading into Saturday's game with the Texans.
• UIW also ranks first in the league in field goal percentage (48.8 percent) and steals per game (8.6).
• Despite out-rebounding the Texans back on Jan. 5, UIW ranks last in the LSC in rebounding margin (-6.7). Out of 286 teams ranked nationally, the Cardinals are ranked 270th overall, pulling down just 30.8 boards per game and allowing opponents to grab 37.4 boards.
• Dionelle Rucker leads the team in both scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg). Rucker's 16.9 points a game ranks second in the league behind ENMU's Rodney Blackmon who has a 17.2 scoring average.
• The Cardinals have a pair of players that have posted 75+ assists on the season. Lyn'Dale Brown leads the team with 79 assists and Mitchell Badillo has 78 assists.
• Denzel Livingston leads the squad with 26 blocks heading into the weekend.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• Saturday marks the 19th meeting between the two schools with the Cardinals leading the all-time series 10-8. This will be the sixth time the two teams have met as members of the Lone Star Conference. Tarleton leads the LSC series 3-2.
• UIW has a current two-game winning streak over the Texans, which dates back to last season.
• UIW currently leads the series 9-8 and won the last meeting between the
two teams, 62-51, in San Antonio.
• The Texans are 7-6 against the Cardinals under head coach Lonn Reisman. Also under Reisman, the Texans are 4-1 all-time when playing UIW inside Wisdom Gym.
 
WHILE YOU WERE AWAY...
• Both teams have gone 6-4 since last facing each other back on Jan. 5 in San Antonio. The loss to UIW snowballed into a four-game losing streak for the Texans, but Tarleton snapped out of it win six consecutive games.
• The Cardinals won five of its next six games following the five-point win over the Texans, but are now on a three-game skid.
 
SOMETHING HAS GOTTA GIVE
• The Texans lead the LSC in scoring defense, giving up just 58.3 points per game to opposing teams.
• UIW leads the league in scoring offense, averaging 75.1 points per contest.
• Despite both teams leading the conference in those respective categories, the Texans rank better nationally as the No. 5 team in the nation in scoring defense. UIW's 75.1 points per game just ranks 83rd overall in the nation in scoring offense.
• UIW shoots a league-best 48.8 percent from the field, while Tarleton limits opposing teams to 40.7 percent from the field.
• UIW shot 51.1 percent from the field in the first game of the series this season, while Tarleton shot 44.4 percent.
 
TEXANS IN THE LSC
• Tarleton has 16 players that are among the league leaders in nine different categories.
• The Texans have three players ranked inside the top-30 in scoring. Chuch Guy ranks 10th with 13.2 points per game, Coleman Furst ranks 19th with a 10.7 points per game average and De'Andre Upchurch ranks 22nd at 10.6 points a game.
• Guy ranks fifth in the league with 4.2 assists per contest. He has dished out a total of 89 assists this season.
• Jon Cathey-Macklin leads the LSC in blocked shots, averaging 1.5 blocks every night he takes the floor. He has a team and LSC-high 31 blocks so far this season.
• Cathey-Macklin ranks 10th in rebounding (5.6), while teammate Davene Carter follows at 11th in the league (5.4).
 
60 PERCENT OR BETTER
• The Texans shot just 55.2 percent from the free-throw line on Wednesday, falling to 3-4 overall on the season when converting 59 percent or less at the charity stripe.
• On the flip side, Tarleton has posted an 11-3 record when shooting 60 percent or better from the free-throw line.
 
CLOSE GAME WOES
• With Wednesday's one-point loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville, Tarleton dropped to 1-4 on the season in games decided by five points or less.
• Tarleton's other five-point or less defeats have come to Angelo State (57-52), UIW (72-67) and Eastern New Mexico (59-56).
• Tarleton's lone win in a five-point game or less came against Abilene Christian (75-70).
• All five games that have been decided by five points or less have come on the road.
 
TAKE THAT BACK TO THE REC
• Tarleton ranks second in the LSC and 31st in the nation in blocked shots per game. The Texans are averaging 4.3 blocked shots a night.
• Despite collecting three blocks on Wednesday, Tarleton fell out of the top spot to Midwestern State, who leads the league with 4.4 blocks a game. The Mustangs had four blocked shots in its win over ACU Wednesday.
• Jon Cathey-Macklin continues to lead the league with 1.5 blocked shots per game.
 
WINNING AT WISDOM
• The Tarleton Texans are now 329-58 (.850) overall when playing inside the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym under head coach Lonn Reisman.
• The Texans moved to 203-25 (.890) playing under Reisman inside Wisdom Gym since 2000.
• Since joining NCAA Division II, Tarleton is 256-44 (.853) all-time at home.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
• The last time national statistics came out, Tarleton ranked 5th in scoring defense. The Texans are giving up just 58.3 points per game to opposing teams. Cal-Poly continues to lead the nation giving up just 54.9 points per contest. Tarleton finished the past two seasons leading the country in scoring defense.
• Tarleton ranks 44th in field goal percentage-defense, as opponents shoot just 40.4 percent from the floor.
• The Texans rank 31st in blocks per game, averaging 4.4 blocks against opposing teams.
 
HOW THE LSC IS STACKING UP SO FAR
• The Texans were picked to win the LSC. Tarleton currently sits alone in fourth place at 6-5, following its win over the Rams on Wednesday.
• MSU, who was picked to finish second, is in first place with a 11-2 record in league play.
• WTAMU's Donald Sims was named the LSC's Preseason Player of the Year; he currently ranks 7th in scoring (14.3 ppg), first in rebounds (8.7 rpg) and first in field goal percentage (.689).
 
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.
 
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 D-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
• The Texans head out for a one-game road trip next Wednesday, Feb. 20, playing at Cameron in Lone Star Conference action. Tip-off between the Texans and the Aggies is set for 8 p.m. inside Aggie Gym in Lawton, Okla.
• Tarleton then returns home next Saturday, Feb. 23 to face Midwestern State in a crucial LSC match-up.