| GAME DAY INFORMATION |
| When: Friday, Mar. 6, 2015 | 8:30 p.m. (CST) |
| Where: Allen, Texas | Allen Event Center |
| Series: Texans lead 31-29 | Streak: TSU, Won 3 |
| Last Meeting: TSU 68, TAMUC 48 on March 1, 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: Not Available |
| Social Media: Facebook | Twitter |
| Live Stats | Game Notes |
THE GAME
Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Commerce will square off for the second time in the last five days Friday night at 8:30 p.m. at the Allen Event Center with a berth in the LSC Championship Game on the line.
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
The Lions are boasting arguably its best season over the past decade with a 22-7 record entering Friday's contest. After losing three of four games at the end of January, Commerce has won six of the last seven, including a 71-68 victory over No. 15 Angelo State last Wednesday night at the Fieldhouse. The Lions only loss of late came in the regular season finale at Wisdom Gym to the Texans, but bounced back to cruise by West Texas A&M in the LSC Quarterfinals Thursday night behind an LSC-record performance of Darrell Williams, who grabbed 21 rebounds against the Buffs.
THE SERIES
The senior-college era series began between Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Commerce in 1962 when the Lions were still East Texas State. Commerce won 13 of the first 17 games before
Lonn Reisman arrived at Tarleton, but Tarleton leads the series 26-16 since the current Texan coach took over the program in 1988. Since 2002, Tarleton has 18 wins of the next 24 meetings entering Friday's game, including the first-ever meeting as nationally ranked rivals last January when Tarleton won 77-73 in Commerce.
TEXANS, LIONS IN TOURNAMENT
Friday's meeting between the Texans and Lions marks the sixth time the teams have met in the LSC Tournament and the third time they have been semifinal rivals. Tarleton boasts a 5-1 record against the Lions in Tournament games, with the only downfall coming in a one-point loss in 2005 that the Texans avenged in the regional tournament a week later. The Texans have won three straight against the Lions in the LSC Tournament, including an 84-72 win last season to advance to the championship game.
TARLETON IN NATIONAL POLLS
After starting the season ranked No. 12 in the nation, Tarleton State has spent the entire season moving between the No. 3 and No. 15 spots in the national poll and are back in the top 10 in the latest ranking at No. 7 for the second straight week. This now marks the 33rd consecutive week in which Tarleton has appeared in the national rankings since joining the polls on Nov. 19, 2013.
NABC HISTORY
Of the 101 weeks in the NABC rankings, Tarleton has spent 61 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. Each region has two representatives. The Texans are No. 5 in the latest media-voted ranking.
SOUTH CENTRAL POWER
The latest South Central regional polls were released on Wednesday with Tarleton holding on to the top spot for the third straight week. The Texans were followed by LSC rivals Angelo State in fourth, Midwestern State in fifth and Texas A&M-Commerce in sixth. Five teams in the South Central Rankings are nationally ranked.
LOVIN' ALLEN
Tarleton State is no stranger to the bright lights of the Allen Event Center. Since the postseason tournament moved to Allen in 2012, Tarleton State is 9-1 at the Event Center, including a seven-game winning streak over the past three seasons that have included two Tournament Championships for the Texans.
TARLETON IN SEMIFINALS
In its 17 total appearances at the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament, the Texans have reached the semifinal round 14 times. They have a record of 10-3 in semifinal games entering Friday night's game and have won five straight semifinal appearances.
STREAKING INTO THE SEMIS
This marks the second time in school history that Tarleton State heads to the semifinal round of the LSC Tournament boasting at least a 10-game winning streak. The Texans, who have won 14 straight entering Friday, last took a 10-game winning streak into the semifinal round of the tournament in 2011 and blew past Midwestern State 74-50 to reach the title game in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
REISMAN MOVES UP ALL-TIME WINS LIST
After starting the season No. 26 on the all-time wins list for Division II Head Coaches,
Lonn Reisman is in sole possession of 18th on the Division II all-time wins list with 585. In addition to being in 18th place all-time, he is also in the top five winningest Division II active head coaches in the nation - behind only Herb Magee of Philadelphia University; Bob Chipman of Washburn; Richard Schmidt of Tampa; and Tom Klusman of Rollins.
LEAN ON LEE
While the Texans have been on their recent winning streak of 14 straight, senior
Mo Lee has been the driving force for Tarleton. Lee is averaging 18.9 points on .507 shooting from the floor, .511 shooting from downtown and is 105-125 at the charity stripe over the streak.
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
As long as Tarleton wins in Allen, the Texans will stay. If the Texans defeat Texas A&M-Commerce, they will play in their sixth consecutive LSC Tournament Championship - and 11th overall - against the winner of Angelo State and Cameron Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
