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CANYON, Texas - The Tarleton Texans (17-8, 10-7 LSC) will conclude the 2012-13 regular-season on the road this Saturday, Mar. 2, facing the West Texas A&M Buffaloes (16-9 8-9 LSC) in Canyon. Tip-off between the two teams is set for 6 p.m. inside the First United Bank Center on the campus of WTAMU.
 
QUICK HITS
• The Texans lock in No. 3 see in Lone Star Conference Tournament, which is set to begin next week in Allen.
• With Tarleton's 71-58 win over Eastern New Mexico on Wednesday and Incarnate Word's loss to Abilene Christian, the Texans secured the No. 3 seed in the tournament and know that it will face the No. 6 seed on Thursday, Mar. 7, at 2:30 p.m. Tarleton's opponent will be decided on Saturday.
• Chuck Guy scored 20 points or more for the eighth time this season and for the sixth time out the past eight games. He had a team-high 21 points on the evening.
• Tarleton had three players in all score in double figures as Damion Clemons poured in 11 points and De'Andre Upchurch added 18 points for the Texans.
• The Texans shot 72.1 percent from the free throw line, which included going 5-for-5 from the charity stripe in the first half. Tarleton has shot 70 percent or better from the free throw line in eight games this season. They have won six of those eight contests.
• Jon Cathey-Macklin, who earlier in the week was named the conference's defensive player of the week, came just a rebound and two point shy of recording his second double-double of the season. He finished the game with a game-high nine rebounds and eight points.
 
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS
• The second set of regional rankings were released from the NCAA last Wednesday, with the Texans moving up one spot to No. 8.
• The Texans, who are 14-7 overall against in-region teams, slid up one spot after going 1-1 in games played last week. Tarleton fell to then No.-8 ranked Cameron on the road on Wednesday before defeating Midwestern State at home. The Mustangs ranked No. 5 in the region last week.
• Metro State lost a game last week, but continued to lock down the No. 1 spot in the South Central region again this week. Newman remained at No. 2 this week, but MSU moved up two spots to No. 3 after St. Mary's dropped a spot to No. 4.
• With CU's pair of wins last week, the Aggies moved up a three spots to No. 5 in the poll this week. Adams State moved up one spot in this week's poll to No. 6, while Fort Lewis dropped three to No. 7. Arkansas-Fort Smith ranked No. 9 this week, still one back of the Texans after moving up from the No. 10 spot last week. Incarnate Word rounded out the poll this week, making its debut in the rankings at No. 10 this week.
• Colorado-Mesa, who debuted in last week's poll at No. 6 last week, is the only team to drop out of the regional rankings.
 
ABOUT THE BUFFS
• Head coach Rick Cooper is in his 20th season with the Buffs. He brings in
an overall record of 385-189 at WT and has never had a losing season in
Canyon.
• Cooper reached the Elite Eight Championship with the Buffs back in 1997-
98 after posting a record of 25-5.
• Cooper served six seasons as head coach at Wayland Baptist before taking
over at WT in 1993. He went 152-47 in six seasons at WBU and is 532-235
overall in his 26-year career.
• WT is coming off a 54-39 win over A&M-Commerce in Commerce on Wednesday. WT held the Lions to its lowest output all season inside The Fieldhouse.
• The Buffs have won two straight heading into Saturday's game. WT defeated Texas A&M-Kingsville 57-56 in Canyon last Saturday.
• LSC Preseason Player of the Year, Donal Sims, leads the Buffs in the both scoring and rebounding heading into Saturday's game. He averages 13.9 points a game and leads the LSC averaging 9.3 boards a game. He also leads the squad with his 63.6 field goal shooting percentage. Defensively he leads the Buffs with 35 blocks on the season.
•Darnell Jackson leads the team with 105 assists on the season. He ranks fifth in the LSC behind Tarleton's Chuck Guy in assists per game, averaging 4.2 assists per night. He also leads the team defensively with 35 steals this season.
• The Buffs score a league-low 63.4 points per game, but the WT defense currently leads the conference in scoring defense, giving up just 58.4 points per game to opposing teams.
• WT ranks third in the LSC with a combined 45.0 percent team field goal shooting percentage. The WT defense ranks fifth in the league as opponents shoot 42.2 percent from the field on the season.
• The Buffs rank first in the LSC, giving up just 27 rebounds to opponents so far this season. They rank second in the conference in rebounding margin, averaging 7.9 more rebounds a game than their opponents.
• WT was not ranked in the NABC poll, nor the South Central Region poll heading into Wednesday's games this week.
 
SERIES HISTORY
• The Buffs lead the all-time series 22-18 heading into Saturday's game with the Texans, but Tarleton has won the previous two meetings between the two teams.
• Tarleton is 6-11 when playing the Buffs in Canyon under head coach Lonn Reisman, but the Texans have won five our of the last night games since the Buffs began playing inside the First United Bank Center.
• The Texans and Buffs have played each other in two out of the last three Lone Star Conference Tournaments. Tarleton won both contest away from Wisdom Gym and First United Bank Center.
• The average combined score between the two teams over the last 10
games has been just 112.8 points per game. The largest point total over the
last 10 games has been 150 points between the two teams back on Mar. 5,
2010 (TSU 82, WT 68). Both teams combined to score just 80 points (TSU 36,
WT 44) on Jan. 26, 2011 in Canyon.
 
WHILE YOU WERE AWAY...
• The Texans defeated the Buffs 65-50 back on Jan. 19, and the two teams have gone in different directions since then.
• Tarleton's victory over the Buffs sparked a season-long six-game winning streak for the Texans. The Texans have gone 8-2 overall since meeting the Buffs in Stephenville back in January.
• The Buffs have went 5-4 since falling to the Texans at Wisdom Gym. WT is on a current two game winning streak, but the Buffs had lost three consecutive games previous to that. WT dropped home games to Midwestern State and Incarnate Word and also fell to Cameron on the road during that span.
 
CLOSE GAME WOES
• The Texans are now 1-5 in games decided by five points or less following Wednesday's late game defeat to Cameron.
• Tarleton's other five-point or less defeats have come to Angelo State (57-52), UIW (72-67), Eastern New Mexico (59-56) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (55-56).
• Tarleton's lone win in a five-point game or less came against Abilene Christian (75-70).
• All six games that have been decided by five points or less have come on the road this season.
 
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 4.5 blocked shots as a team.
• The Texans moved back into the top spot in the league in blocked shots, leading the conference with 4.5 blocked shots. MSU is right behind with 4.4 blocks.
• Jon Cathey-Macklin continues to lead the league with 1.7 blocked shots per game. He raised his average after collecting a career-high seven blocks against Incarnate Word on Saturday.
• Cathey-Macklin came just one block shy of tying the school's single-game record of eight blocked shots set by Vincent Bridgewater back on Jan. 25, 2003 against Southeastern Oklahoma.
 
20/20 VISION
• Tarleton's Chuck Guy and Brian Word (G, Sr, Baltimore, Md.) each scored at least 20 points in Tarleton's 77-71 win over UIW on Saturday. Guy tallied 23 points, while Word poured in a career-high 21 points for the home team.
• It marked the first time a Texan duo has scored 20+ points in the same game since Mar. 5, 2010. That night Effran Bryant scored 22 points and Corin Henry recorded 25 points to lead the Texans to an 82-68 victory over West Texas A&M in Stephenville.
• That was Word's first career 20-point game, while it was Guy's sixth of the season. Guy has now scored in the 20's in two straight games and four of the past five.
 
WINNING AT WISDOM
• The Tarleton Texans are now 332-58 (.850) overall when playing inside the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym under head coach Lonn Reisman.
• The Texans moved to 205-25 (.890) playing under Reisman inside Wisdom Gym since 2000.
• Since joining NCAA Division II, Tarleton is 259-44 (.854) 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.
 
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
• Tarleton will face the No. 6 seed in the LSC Tournament. The game will be played on Thursday, Mar. 2, at 2:30 p.m. inside Allen Event Center.