Tarleton State Texans (27-2) vs. Texas A&M International (22-8)

Opponent: Texas A&M International Dustdevils | Complete Game Notes (PDF) | Tournament Central

Date/Time: Saturday, March 15, 2014 | 3:30 p.m. (CST)

Location: Denver, Colo. (Auraria Event Center)

Radio: KSTV 93.1 FM | Casey Hogan (Play-By-Play) | Listen Live

Rankings: Tarleton State: (NABC: 3) (SC: 2) | TAMIU: (NABC: --) (SC: 7)

Head Coaches: Tarleton State: Lonn Reisman (Career: 557-228, 26 Seasons)

TAMIU: Bryan Weakley (Career: 37-20, 2 Seasons)

Against TAMIU: Tarleton State leads the all-time series, 2-0

Last Game: TSU 68, TAMIU 50 (Nov. 20, 2009 in Stephenville)

Live Stats | Live Video

 
THE GAME
Tarleton State (27-2, 12-2 LSC) is making its sixth consecutive and 12th overall appearance in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships this Saturday, March 15, as the team heads to north to participate in the 2014 South Central Regional Tournament this is being held in Denver, Colo.
 
The Texans, currently ranked No. 3 in the nation, will take on Texas A&M International (22-8) in the opening round of the tournament this Saturday, March 15 at 3:30 p.m. (CST) at the Auraria Event Center in downtown Denver. The Texans, who earned the Lone Star Conference's automatic bid with its win over Midwestern State in the LSC Championship last Saturday, has earned the No. 2 seed, while TAMIU earned the No. 7 seed. The Dustdevils won the Heartland Conference Tournament last weekend to earn the automatic bid into the regional championship.
 
THE Regional Championship Field
Metro State (28-1) earned the No. 1 seed in South Central region and the right to host the tournament for a second straight year. Following the Texans as the No. 3 seed will be fellow conference member, Midwestern State (22-7), while Colorado Mines (24-4) earned the No. 4 seed. St. Mary's (19-8) is the No. 5 seed this weekend and Arkansas-Fort Smith (21-6) follows as the No. 6 seed. Colorado-Colorado Springs (21-8) rounds out the remainder of the tournament field as the No. 8 seed behind the Dustdevils.
 
Covering the Game
Tarleton State Basketball will be broadcast live on KSTV (93.1 FM) throughout the tournament. Casey Hogan will have the call and the games can also be found on-line at www.kstvfm.com.
 
Live stats and a live video webcast will be made available for each game of the tournament and can be found by visiting the GoMetroState.com website and clicking on the appropriate links at the tournament central webpage.
 
About Tarleton State
The Texans are coming off its second consecutive Lone Star Conference Tournament championship after downing Midwestern State 71-65 last Saturday at the Allen Event Center in Allen. Tarleton enters the regional championship with an overall record of 27-2 and regular-season co-champions of the LSC after going 12-2 in league play.
 
Tarleton averages 86.2 points per game (18th in the nation) and has a +20.7 scoring margin which ranks second in the nation only to Colorado Mines (20.9). The Texans rank 14th in the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 65.5 points to opposing teams this season.  Tarleton ranks in the top-25 nationally as well in field goal percentage (18th, 49.5), field goal percentage defense (16th, 40.3), three-point field goal percentage (23rd, 39.5), assist/turnover ratio (23rd, 1.42), turnovers per game (19th, 10.2), free throws made (third, 640) and free throw attempts (seventh, 875). The Texans lead the LSC in 11 of its 21 statistical categories so far this late into the season.
 
Coming off his Tournament MVP performance at the LSC Championships, senior guard De'Andre Upchurch leads Tarleton with a 17.3 scoring average, which also ranks first in the conference. An All-LSC First Team selection, Upchurch has made a team-high 84 three-pointers this season and makes 42 percent of his attempts from downtown. Recently just named a Daktronics All-South Central Region Second Team honoree, Upchurch averaged 24.7 points, drained 10 three-pointers and shot 80 percent from the free throw line in three games at the LSC Tournament. Senior guard and fellow All-LSC First Team selection Chuck Guy is coming off a 14.3 points per game, 21 assists and six steals performance at the LSC Championships. Guy heads into this weekend's tournament ranked fifth in the LSC with 15.9 points per game, but leads the league in assists (6.1) and assist/turnover ratio (3.3). A three-time LSC Player of the Week, Guy was named the LSC Player of the Year and was just recently named to the Daktronics All-South Central Region First Team. Junior forward Tashawn Mabry averaged 11.7 points per game in the LSC Championships and brings in an 11.5 scoring average into this weekend's tournament. Mabry, who was named an All-LSC Honorable Mention selection, scored a career-high 24 points against West Texas A&M in the first round of the LSC tournament. Junior forward Davene Carter is coming off the fourth double-double contest of his career after scoring 12 points and pulling down 12 boards in last Saturday's championship final against MSU. Carter, a LSC All-Defensive Team selection, also collected six blocks in the LSC Tournament last week.
 
The TAMIU Series
The Texans and Dustdevils will meet for just the third time in a series that dates back to just 2008. Tarleton leads the series 2-0, with both wins coming at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville. Tarleton won both contests with an average margin of victory of 17.0 points. Head coach Lonn Reisman is 2-0 all-time against TAMIU, while Dustdevil head coach Bryan Weakley will be making his first coaching appearance against the Texans.
 
A Tarleton win would...
Give Tarleton and head coach Lonn Reisman 28 wins in a single season and bring them just one win away from tying the all-time mark of 29 wins set back in 2002-03... Extend the Texan win streak to eight straight games on a neutral court... Push its record to 15-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 9-3 in quarterfinal games... Advance Tarleton to the South Central semifinals for the seventh time in school history and first since 2012... Give Lonn Reisman his 558th career win... Improve Tarleton's all-time record (senior college era only) to 738-726.
 
A Tarleton win would...
End Tarleton's season with a mark of 27-3... Make Tarleton 5-1 at neutral site games and 8-1 over the past two seasons... Make Tarleton 14-11 all-time in NCAA Tournament games and 8-4 in quarterfinal contests... Give Lonn Reisman an all-time record of 557-229... Make Tarleton's all-time record (senior college era only) 737-727.
 
Tarleton in the NCAA Tournament
Making its 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Texans are 14-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament games heading into the weekend. Tarleton is 7-3 all-time in first-round action in the South Central Regional and boasts an all-time mark of 7-4 when playing on a neutral court. It is Tarleton's sixth consecutive trip to the South Central Regional and the Texans have won a pair of opening-round contest over the previous five appearances. The Texans are a combined 2-3 against teams in this year's tournament field.
 
What's Trending for the Texans
• Tarleton has already broken the school record for most free throws made and free throws attempted in a single season. The Texans have made a school-record 640 free throws this season, surpassing the previous mark of 511 that was set back in 2005-06. Tarleton's 875 free throw attempts breaks the previous mark of 831 set back in 2009-10.
• The Texans will break the school's all-time scoring mark of 2,528 points as the team heads into Saturday's game with 2,500 points on the season. The previous mark was set back in 1991-92.
• The Texans have made 238 three-pointers on the season and need just 27 more to even the school's all-time mark of 265 trey's made back in 2001-02.
• De'Andre Upchurch is currently leading the LSC in scoring with 17.3 points per game. Should Upchurch end the season leading the league in scoring, he would become the first Texans to achieve that feat since Brandon Burney led the conference with 21.1 points back in 1999-2000.
• Upchurch's 84 three-pointers made currently ranks 11th all-time in a single season.
• Chuck Guy has made a single-season school-record 158 free throws so far this year, which broke the previous mark of 154 free throws made by Roderick Brown back in 1989-90.
• Guy has scored 908 points in his two-year career with the Texans. Should the Texans make a run during the NCAA Tournament and Guy record at least 92 points in that span, he would become just the 16th Texan to score at least 1,000 points in his career.
• Guy has 172 assists on the season, which ranks fourth all-time in a single season for the Texans. He needs six assists to overtake Ryan Huntley (177) for third-place on the list.
• Guy became the fourth Tarleton player to earn LSC Player of the Year honors and the first since David Stephens was selected the LSC North Division POY back in 2005.
• Head coach Lonn Reisman, who earned his 550th career win earlier this season, was named the LSC Coach of the Year for the fifth time of his career and the second time in the past three seasons.
• The Texans are a perfect 5-0 in neutral site games this season and 8-0 dating back to last year. The last time a Texan team lost in a neutral site game was back on March 11, 2012, when Tarleton fell to Arkansas Tech in the second round of the South Central Regional that was held in Wichita Falls.
• Tarleton is 4-0 against Heartland Conference teams this year and 6-0 over the past two seasons. The Texans picked up wins against St. Edward's (87-70), Oklahoma Panhandle State (90-35), McMurry (89-83) and Lubbock Christian (87-60) in 2013-14.
• The Texans are 11-1 against HLC teams dating back to the 2009-10 season. The last time a Texan team lost to a HLC team was back on Jan. 11, 2010, when Tarleton fell 76-67 to Dallas Baptist on the road.
 
A look ahead
If the Texans win its quarterfinal match-up against the Dustdevils, Tarleton would face the winner of Midwestern State and Arkansas-Fort Smith. The Texans are 2-1 against the Mustangs this season, 4-2 over the previous two seasons and 13-13 over the past 10 years. The Texans and Lions have never faced each other and a match-up against UAFS would mark the first-ever meeting between the two squads.