STEPHENVILLE – No. 9 Tarleton put on a show for the Wisdom Gym faithful with an 85-67 rout over No. 4 Angelo State.
 
The Texans (12-2, 2-0) handed Angelo State its first loss of the season after the Rams won their first 12 games.
 
Tarleton has now won four straight games against top 10 opponents and has defeated Angelo State 13 straight times in Wisdom Gym dating back to 2001.
 
Tarleton's suffocating defense was in full force all game. The 67 points for Angelo State was a season low for the Rams, who came in averaging 95.3 points per game. Tarleton came into the game holding opponents to 39 percent shooting, which ranked 15^th in the nation. The Texans held ASU to a season-worst 36 percent after the Rams were averaging 49 percent shooting.
 
The Texans went on an 8-0 run after the Rams held their only lead of the game at 7-6. Nosa Ebomwonyi's three-pointer made it 14-7 with 13:43 left in the first half.
 
Angelo State would get back to within 21-20 but Tarleton took over the game on both ends of the floor by going on a 13-1 run that included three-pointers by Deshawn Riddick and Xavier Smith.
 
Macolm Hamilton had back-to-back layups that was the start of nine straight Tarleton points to close out the first half with the Texans leading 47-29. Hamilton poured in a career-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting and added six rebounds along with three assists.
 
Michael Hardge's layup with 2:25 left in the first half gave the four-year senior guard 750 career points and put him into elite company. Hardge became the fifth player in Tarleton basketball history with at least 750 career points, 250 assists and 100 steals. He joins Corin Henry and Hall of Famers Mark Smith, Chris Givens and Ryan Huntley as the only players to reach those marks in their careers. Hardge finished with eight points and four assists in the game.
 
Tarleton shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half to ASU's 34 percent and forced the Rams into nine turnovers that led to 14 points for Tarleton. Tarleton also outrebounded Angelo State 27-9 in the first twenty minutes of play.
 
Smith threw down a dunk on a Hamilton assist to put Tarleton up 59-40 with 14:04 left, which was the start of three dunks for the Texans in the next three minutes. Smith scored nine points and pulled down seven rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.
 
EJ Reed's reverse dunk on a fast break gave Tarleton its biggest lead at 78-52. Reed, the Lone Star Conference leader in points and rebounds per game, finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Reed came into tonight's game tied for sixth in the nation in double-doubles.
 
Charles Hill scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half for his 11^th double-digit scoring game of the season.
 
Nosa Ebomwonyi was 2-of-3 on 3s in the game and finished with seven points and three rebounds. The Texans had 21 points of the bench in the game.
 
Deshawn Riddick had five assists and a career-high five rebounds for Tarleton. The sophomore guard has at least four assists in four of the last seven games. Romond Jenkins pulled down six rebounds and tied a career high with four steals.
 
Tarleton finished the game with 49 rebounds and limited ASU to only 31. The Texans also won the battle for offensive boards, 17-7. Tarleton had 22 second-chance points and limited Angelo State to zero.
 
Tarleton will head on the road for the first time in LSC play on Saturday, Jan. 9 as the Texans take on Texas A&M-Kingsville at 8 p.m.