Tarleton State (15-0, 4-0) at West Texas A&M (8-7, 1-3))
Date & Tip-off	Wednesday, Jan. 22 | 7:30 p.m. CT
LOCATION	Canyon, Texas | First United Bank Center
RADIO	KSTV FM 93.1 in Stephenville (Listen Live)
WEBCAST	GoBuffsGo.com
Live Stats	GoBuffsGo.com
GAME INFO	Game Notes (PDF)

 
THE GAME
The fourth-ranked Tarleton State Texans (154-0, 4-0 LSC) will play its third road contest in the past four games this Wednesday, Jan. 22, traveling to Canyon to face the West Texas A&M Buffs (8-7, 1-3 LSC). The two teams are scheduled to take the floor at First United Bank Center at 7:30 p.m.
 
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 as well by logging onto GoBuffsGo.com and clicking the "Live Video" link at the top of the page. Live stats will be provided and can also be found online at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
Series Information
Wednesday's contest marks the 43rd meeting between the two squads, but it will be the first time that head coach Lonn Reisman has faced the Buffs without Rick Cooper on opposite side of the court. Cooper, who had coached the Buffs for the past 21 seasons, retired from his post back on Dec. 5, 2013. Associate head coach, Vinay Patel, has taken over as head coach in the interim role.
 
The Buffs lead the all-time series 23-19, but Tarleton has won three of the past four meetings and five out of the past seven. The Texans and Buffs split the regular-season series last year, with both home teams collecting win, but Tarleton downed WT 66-48 in the second round of the LSC Championship Tournament in Allen back on Mar. 8, 2013.
 
The Texans are just 4-14 all-time when playing in Canyon, which includes a current three-game losing streak to the Buffs on the road. WT is 7-3 when facing the Texans inside First United Bank Center, which opened in January of 2002. Tarleton's last win over the Buffs in Canyon came back on Jan. 23, 2010. The Texans won 69-56.
 
In a series that is predominantly made up of defense, neither team has scored more than 75 points in the last eight meetings and it has happened just one time in the previous 14 contests when Tarleton defeated WT 82-68 back on Mar. 5, 2010, in Bartlesville, Okla.
 
Scouting the Buffs
It is a new era in West Texas A&M Basketball after former head coach Rick Cooper retired mid-season, back on Dec. 5, 2013. Cooper, who had been with the Buffs for the last 21 seasons, was WT's winningest coach with an overall record of 391-193 (.670). Cooper was one of just 14 active Division II coaches with 500 or more career wins at four-year programs, finishing his career with a mark of 543-240 (.694).
 
Vinay Patel, who had served as associate head coach under Cooper for the past two seasons, took over as interim head coach of the Buffs immediately following Cooper's retirement. In his ninth season overall at WT, Patel is 4-4 overall in his young head coaching career.
 
The Buffs picked up its first Lone Star Conference win this past Saturday with an 82-59 victory over Texas A&M-Kingsville in Canyon. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and put the Buffs back above the .500 mark on the season.
 
The Buffs rank seventh in the conference in scoring with a 71.1 points per game average, but rank third in the league in scoring defense as they give up just 68.4 points to opposing teams. WT ranks last in the league with a 59.3 free throw percentage and 289th out of 305 team in all of NCAA Division II.
 
Antjuan Ball averages 11.1 points per game and ranks second in the LSC and eighth in the nation with a 67.0 shooting percentage. He also leads the team with 9.8 rebounds per game and 19 blocks on the year. Drimir Ferguson ranks seventh in the league and leads the Buffs with 14.3 points per game. Overall, four of WT's five starters are averaging at least 11.0 points per game or better.
 
Ferguson, who runs the point for WT, leads his squad in assists (89) and steals (20) as well. Tez Dumars is WT's downtown threat, having made 34 three-pointers on the season. He currently ranks second in the LSC with 2.3 three-pointers made per game.
 
Last Time out for the Texans
Tarleton improved to 15-0 overall and 4-0 in the Lone Star Conference with a 76-52 win over Cameron on Saturday. Tashawn Mabry dranined four three-pointers in the second half and finished with a career-high 21 points in the win.
 
The Texans, who lead the LSC with 89.8 points per game, have now scored at least 75 points or more in all 15 games this season. The Texan defense came up big as well in the win, holding Cameron to nearly 20 points lower than its season average.
 
Texans in the NABC Poll
The Texans moved up to No. 6 in last week's NABC Top-25 Poll, giving Tarleton its highest ranking since being ranked fifth back on Feb. 14, 2012.
 
The Texans have been ranked inside the NABC Top-25 for 76 different weeks since making its first-ever appearance in the poll back on Dec. 17, 2002. Including this week, Tarleton has been ranked inside the top 10 for 44 different weeks overall.
 
Reisman Just five wins away from 550
Head coach Lonn Reisman now has 545 career wins heading into this Saturday's contest in Canyon. Reisman, who is in his 26th season with the Texans, now needs just five more victories to earn his 550th career win. He would become just the 26th coach 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 picked up its 18th straight win at home on Saturday. The winning streak, which dates back to Jan. 2, 2013, last season, is currently the fourth-longest home winning 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 355-64 (.847) overall inside Wisdom Gym under head coach Lonn Reisman.
 
Texans continue to extend Best Start In School History
Since becoming a senior college in 1961, Tarleton has never opened a season better than it has done so far. The Texans extended its best start to a season with a 76-52 win over Cameron and are now a perfect 15-0. Prior to this season the Texans had just two 6-0 starts and had never been 7-0 to begin a season.
 
Basketball Program Earns First-ever Winning Record
For the first time since becoming a senior college in 1961, the Tarleton Basketball team has a winning record. Tarleton's 76-52 win over Cameron on Saturday gave the Texans an all-time record of 725-724 - marking the first time the program has eclipsed the .500 mark.
 
Tarleton had an overall record of just 180-498 before head coach Lonn Reisman took over, but behind Reisman's overall record of 545-226, the Texans are finally a winning program.
 
Up next for the Texans
The Texans return home this Saturday, Jan. 25, to face the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds. The two teams are scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym in Stephenville