GAME DAY INFORMATION

When: Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015 | 7:30 p.m. (CST)

Where: Wichita Falls, Texas | D.L. Ligon Coliseum

Series: Texans trail 23-26 since 1988 | Streak: TSU, Lost 2

Last Meeting: MSU 78, TSU 76 on January 14, 2015 in Stephenville

FOLLOW THE ACTION

Radio: Tarleton Sports Network on KTRL 90.5 FM | Listen Live

Pregame Coverage: Pregame Show begins 15 minutes before tip off

Web Stream: MSUMustangs.com

Social Media: Facebook | Twitter

Live Stats | Game Notes

THE GAME
One of the state's greatest basketball rivalries will take center stage in Wichita Falls as No. 12 Tarleton State and No. 23 Midwestern State get set for a rivalry game with national and conference implications Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
THE BROADCAST
The game will have a live radio broadcast presented by the Tarleton Sports Network presented by North Texas Ford Dealers. The Voice of the Texans, Casey Hogan, will be back calling the play-by-play for Tarleton basketball this season. The broadcast can be heard on KTRL 90.5 FM in Stephenville and surrounding areas or online at TarletonSports.com/ListenLive. The pregame show will begin 15 minutes prior to tip-off.
 
THE OPPONENT
After dropping three of the first seven games this season, Midwestern State has rebounded to win its last 10 games entering Wednesday's con- test. The streak started with a 77-49 win over McMurry to begin December and pushed it to 10 with a 77-42 win over Eastern New Mexico. The Mustangs' only loss since November came on Dec. 29 against Division I SMU in a 70-61 exhibition loss. After earning a win in Stephenville last month, the Mustangs ran into a buzzsaw at Angelo State in their next game. They have won their last two games, entering Wednesday, against Texas A&M-Kingsville and Cameron.
 
THE SERIES
Tarleton State and Midwestern State have been doing battle on the hardwood as senior colleges since Tarleton's first year as a four-year institution in 1961. Wednesday's meeting will be the 71st meeting in the series since 1961 and Midwestern State holds the lead 45-25. Since Lonn Reisman entered the scene in 1988, however, Tarleton State began to turn the tide. The Texans have won 23 of the 49 meetings since Reisman took over the program, including 21 of 41 since 1998. The series has extended beyond the regular season. Tarleton and Midwestern have met in the LSC Tournament Championship in four of the last five seasons with Tarleton claiming each of the last two tournament titles.
 
ANOTHER TOP-25 SHOWDOWN
There are no easy weeks this time of year in the Lone Star Conference and the evidence comes Wednesday night, as No. 12 Tarleton State will face off with their second consecutive top-25 team.
 
TARLETON IN THE LSC
Tarleton State has developed into one of the premier basketball programs in the nation, as well as within the Lone Star Conference. Lonn Reisman is the only Texan coach to lead Tarleton through the LSC as an NCAA coach. He has amassed a record of 184-93 in Tarleton's 20 years as an NCAA conference member. Reisman and the Texans have won three LSC regular season championships, three LSC championship tournament title - including the last two - and has also won at least 10 conference games in four straight seasons.
 
TARLETON IN NATIONAL POLLS
After starting the season ranked No. 12 in the nation, Tarleton State moved up nine total spots to No. 3 over the first 12 games of the season. They have since slipped back to where they started at No. 12 over the last two weeks. This now marks the 29th consecutive week in which Tarleton has appeared in the national rankings since joining the polls on Nov. 19, 2013.
 
NABC HISTORY
Of the 97 weeks in the NABC rankings, Tarleton has spent 59 of those weeks in the top 10, 39 in the top 5 and eight weeks at No. 1.
 
RANKINGS BY THE MEDIA
The D2 Media Poll, sponsored by D2SIDA in its first year, has a regional poll released every Monday, followed by a national poll every Tuesday. Each region has two representatives. The Texans are No. 21 in the latest media-voted ranking.
 
TSU-MSU UNDER TOP-25 STATUS
The storied rivalry of Tarleton State and Midwestern State will add another game with national implications Wednesday when the nation's No. 12 team faces off with the No. 23 team. This marks the sixth time in the history of the series that the teams met while both was ranked nationally. Tarleton won two of the previous five nationally ranked meetings, including the very first game where both teams were ranked on Jan. 28, 2012 when Tarleton, then No. 4, defeated Midwestern State, then No. 10, in Stephenville by the final score of 79-75.
 
AMONG THE BEST OF THE DECADE
Tarleton State's Davene Carter and Michael Hardge are putting up numbers that have them among the best Texans to play for the Purple and White since the 2005-06 season:
• Carter is one of 10 players to top the 600-point marker over the past decade. With six (6) more points, he'll pass Devon Hills (628) for ninth most in the last 10 years.
• Hardge has the sixth most assists over the last decade with 150 and is 16 dimes shy of passing Coleman Furst (165) for fifth most over that span.
• Carter's 79 blocked shots are the third most since 2005. He is 11 away from passing Terrence Gamble (89) for second most over that span and 16 from topping Jon Cathey-Macklin (94) with the most blocks of the decade.
 
TOPS IN THE NATION
Tarleton State ranks among the nations best in multiple statistical categories, including:
• No. 6 in scoring defense (60.8 ppg)
• No. 17 in 3-pt Defense (.305)
• No. 17 in Scoring Margin (14.9)
• No. 24 in FG Defense (.399)
• No. 26 in Total Blocks (73)
• No. 29 in turnover margin (3.8; 281-220)
 
REISMAN MOVES UP ALL-TIME LIST
After starting the season No. 26 on the all-time wins list for Division II Head Coaches, Lonn Reisman has moved into a tie for 22nd all-time with Rich Glas (576), the active head coach of Concordia (MN). Five of the active coaches in the top 22 won their games last weekend, including Reisman and Glas.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton State will return home to the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym to square off with Cameron at 7 p.m. Saturday.