THE GAME
Opponent: Wichita State
Date: 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 16
Location: Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas
TELEVISION: ESPN+
RADIO: Tarleton Sports Network, KTRL 90.5 FM
Scott Garner, Play-by-Play
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Another stiff early-season test looms, as Tarleton returns to the Sunflower State to face mid-major powerhouse Wichita State in its third game of the 2021-22 season. The Shockers have earned eight NCAA Tournament berths since 2012, including an at-large bid to the Big Dance last season under first-year coach Isaac Brown. Wichita State represents the second of six teams Tarleton faces this season that appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2020-21.
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The game marks Tarleton's third straight road affair and second-of-four away contests in November opposite teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season.
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Both head coaches are in the second year at the helm of their respective programs. Tarleton head man Billy Gillispie is 10-12 overall while Brown is 18-6. Brown replaced former Shockers head coach Gregg Marshall in November 2020 and was named the program's permanent head coach following the conclusion of last season.
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Tarleton enters the contest 0-2 following a pair of hard-fought 62-50 defeat against Stanford on Nov. 9 and 26-point loss to No. 3 Kansas inside historic Allen Fieldhouse on Friday. The Texans led the Cardinal by seven points with 15 minutes remaining and were within single digits of the Jayhawks at halftime.
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The Shockers are 2-0 with home victories over Jacksonville State (60-57) and South Alabama (64-58).
GAME COVERAGE
Fans can access a live stream to the game at Plus.ESPN.Com. Links to the video broadcast as well as live stats can be found on the men's basketball schedule page at TarletonSports.com. A complete radio broadcast of the game can be heard on the Tarleton Sports Network at TarletonSports.com/Watch and on the flagship station of Tarleton athletics – KTRL 90.5 FM in Stephenville. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tipoff.
ATTENDING THE GAME
For Kansans or fans interested in making the six-and-a-half hour drive north, tickets are available for purchase at GoShockers.com. Fans can also call the Wichita State University Athletics ticket office at 316-978-3267. A link to purchase tickets online can be found on the men's basketball schedule page at TarletonSports.com. Tickets range from $35-$70 dollars apiece.
TEXAN NOTABLES
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Daniel made his 20th consecutive and career start in Palo Alto. He is Tarleton's active leader in games started.
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A 9-0 Texan run that spanned two-and-a-half minutes transformed an early 25-12 hole into a two-possession game at the 6:30 mark of the first half vs. Kansas. Texans trailed by just eight points at halftime at 39-31. Tarleton
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Shamir Bogues canned a career-high 20 points to go along with four steals at Kansas. Fellow guards Montre Gipson (19 points) and Tahj Small (12 points) also scored in double figures. Bogues and Gipson accounted for 29 of Tarleton's 31 first-half points.
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Gipson has now posted 15 double-digit scoring games in his Texan career and shot at-or-above 50 percent from the field on 13 occasions. He netted 14 of his 19 points against KU in the first half. He scored five straight points and eight of Tarleton's last 10 to close the period and keep Tarleton within single digits of the Jayhawks. The 5-11 guard has shot at or above 50 percent from the field in 13 outings.
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Tarleton's coaching staff had the opportunity to scout two future opponents on Saturday. The Shockers hosted South Alabama, whom Tarleton draws in a rare nonconference back-to-back series on Dec. 14 and Dec. 17. W]
TARLETON-KANSAS WRAP-UP
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The Texans forced six turnovers before the game clock struck 11:30 in the first half
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Tarleton went 9-11 at the foul line.
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Gipson and Tahj Small tied for the team lead in rebounds with six apiece.
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Small scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
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Gipson, Small and Shakur Daniel each finished with three assists.
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Daniel has now made 21 consecutive starts for Gillispie – the most of any active player.
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Kansas shot 68 percent from the field (19-28) in the second half and connected at a 58 percent clip for the game.
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The Jayhawks had a 41-25 edge on the glass.
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The Texans did not have a player 6-6-or-taller enter the game until the final minute.
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Kansas scored 20 points in the game's final five minutes to widen its margin of victory.
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First-year guards Noah McDavid and Luke Winslow scored their first career points. McDavid knocked down a midrange jumper from the left key as a part of Tarleton's 9-0 first half run. Winslow drained a triple from the right baseline in the game's closing seconds.
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton makes a much-needed pit stop in Stephenville following a nine-day stretch on the road. The Texans host Paul Quinn at 7 p.m. on Friday in their regular season home-opener. The Tigers compete at the NAIA Division I level as members of the Sooner Athletic Conference. Tarleton and Paul Quinn were scheduled to square off on New Year's Even during the 2020-21 season but COVID-19 developments within the Texans' program forced the game's cancellation. Tarleton is 11-3 in home-openers since 2007.
The Texans then travel to North Dakota State, which earned a 2019 NCAA Tournament berth and advanced to the Summit League Tournament Championship in March, and No. 6 Michigan for games on Nov. 22 and Nov. 24. Tarleton's November gauntlet is capped by arguably the toughest road test a team will face in college basketball this season – a trip to The Kennel in Spokane, Washington to face No. 1 Gonzaga.
Tarleton plays five of its next six games inside Wisdom Gym following the trip to the Inland Northwest. The Texans host Charleston Southern (Dec. 5), Dallas Christian (Dec. 7) and Southwestern Assemblies of God (Dec. 8) in a three-game homestand. Nonconference play concludes with consecutive home games vs. South Alabama on Dec. 14 and Air Force on Dec. 21.
BEST OF THE WAC
Tarleton is featured across the top of the Western Athletic Conference stat leaderboards in multiple categories after the first week of nonconference play ...
Montre Gipson
5th in scoring (17 ppg, 34 pts)
5th in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.5)
10th in free throw percentage (.833)
14th in assists (3.5 apg, 7 ast)
Shamir Bogues
3rd in steals (2.5 spg, 5 stl)
Shakur Daniel
7th in steals (2 spg, 4 steals)
Freddy Hicks
8th in blocks (1 bpg, 2 blk)
Tahj Small
15th in rebounds (7 rpg, 14 rbs)
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"You've got a chance to have a good team. A really good team. You've got interchangeable parts, everybody's about the same size, and as you get into the season, that will become much harder to score against because you guys are tough. You won't let bigs be bigs because you're tough." - Bill Self, Kansas head coach
"Coach told us going in it was going to be a tough game, and they were going to pressure us a lot. That's something we didn't see against Michigan State, it was pretty much the opposite. Coach told us it was going to be a dog fight the whole time." - Christian Braun, Kansas guard
"The pressure certainly bothered us. Their game plan was really, really good, and they executed it very, very well." - Jerod Haase, Stanford head coach
THE NATION'S BEST PRESSURE DEFENSE?
Due to NCAA Division I transition rules, Tarleton does not qualify for NCAA statistical rankings. Had they been eligible last season, the Texans would have ranked first in the nation in steals per game (10.5), second in turnovers forced per game (19.5) and 15th in points allowed per game (62.3). Tarleton turned teams over 20-or-more times on seven occasions last season and held opponents under 50 points in 40 percent of its games.
The Texans recorded single-game highs in turnovers forced (41) and steals (28) in a 97-26 win over Southwestern Adventist on Feb. 6. Four players swiped the ball away at least 20 times last season. Sophomore Shamir Bogues led all players with 37 steals while fellow guards Daniel (32 steals), Gipson (27 steals), and Tahj Small (21 steals) joined Bogues atop the 20-steal threshold.
In their exhibition win over Central Christian on Nov. 1, the Texans stole the ball 14 times. Jonathan Jackson Jr. led all players with four steals while Bogues, Daniel and Gipson each had two.
Tarleton turned Stanford over 14 times in its regular season opener on Nov. 9. Tarleton posted a positive turnover differential against the nation's No. 3 ranked team. The Texans forced 13 turnovers and swiped the ball away nine times on Friday at Kansas. Tarleton limited its giveaways to nine.
'IT'S PROBABLY THE HARDEST SCHEDULE IN THE COUNTRY'
The words spoken by Gillispie on Tarleton's Preseason WAC Media Day on Oct. 19 ring louder than ever.
In total, the Texans will play three teams ranked in the top-10 of the Preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, draw six opponents who made NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and face 14 opponents who posted winning records last season. Abilene Christian, Gonzaga, Grand Canyon and Michigan earned automatic berths to the Big Dance in March as conference regular season and tournament champions while Kansas and Wichita State secured at-large invitations.
WHAT KEN POMEROY THINKS
The Texans are slated to play the three best teams in the country within the first three weeks of the 2021-22 season. At least, according to college basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy, they are. Beginning with its game against the Jayhawks, Tarleton draws the three highest-rated teams in the Pomeroy College Basketball Rankings as of Nov. 14: No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 Kansas.
In total, the Texans will play nine games opposite teams ranked inside the top-150, face seven top-125 programs and draw five foes listed in the top-75. Wichita State and Stanford are ranked No. 69 and No. 72 respectively, while future foes New Mexico State (No. 103), North Dakota State (No. 127), Grand Canyon (No. 141) and Stephen F. Austin (No. 143) all cracked the top-150 of the ratings.
Tarleton is rated eighth among its conference peers at No. 218, ahead of Utah Valley (No. 234), Lamar (No. 288), Dixie State (No. 298), UTRGV (No. 311), and Chicago State (No. 357).
GIPSON RACKING UP THE ALL-WAC ACCOLADES
On Oct. 19, the 5-11 senior made history when he became the first basketball player in Tarleton's WAC and D1 era to receive Preseason All-WAC first team honors as voted on by the conference media. Gipson was one of just eight players to receive the distinction. He was also named to the Preseason Coaches' All-WAC Second Team.
The accolade continued Gipson's inceptive two-year run at Tarleton. In April 2020, he became the first-ever Division I basketball signee in Tarleton sports history when he followed Gillispie from Ranger College to Stephenville. Following a standout 2020-21 campaign, Gipson was named to the All-WAC Newcomer and Honorable mention teams. He was also the first men's or women's player in school history to receive TicketSmarter WAC Player of the Week recognition after picking up the honor for March 1-7.
Gipson earned his quartet of credentials on the strength of one of the best individual offensive seasons in the WAC last winter. He led Tarleton in points per game (15.3), assists per game (3.0) and free throw percentage (85.2) and his 50 percent mark on 3-pointers ranked first in the WAC. The 5-11 guard accounted for exactly 20 percent of Tarleton's field goals made with 106. His 290 points scored were tops on the team and represented 19.7 percent of the Texans' cumulative scoring.
FOUR ALL-WAC HONOREES IN FIRST OF FOUR D1 TRANSITION YEARS
Hicks headlined Tarleton's list of award winners last season when he was named the conference's Freshman of the Year on March 9. The award was voted on by conference head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
No freshman in the conference enjoyed as strong a second half as the Searcy, Arkansas native. The 6-6 swingman led all WAC first-year players in scoring (8.2 ppg) and elevated his game as the schedule shifted to conference play, averaging 8.6 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. Hicks led Tarleton with three double-doubles, all of which came on the road vs. conference opponents. He posted seven double-digit scoring games, including three in Tarleton's final five WAC games.
Daniel and Small joined Gipson and Hicks atop the All-WAC pedestal, as they each were named to the All-Conference honorable mention team in March. Daniel was Tarleton's 'glue guy (7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.6 apg) while Small was Tarleton's leading rebounder (5.8 rpg) and ranked third in the WAC in 3-point field goal percentage (45.7).
THE END OF AN ERA
Only one member of Tarleton's 2021-22 roster can lay claim as to having experienced both the Lone Star Conference and Western Athletic Conference.
Junior Javontae Hopkins is the last remaining player within the program to have suited up for Tarleton during its Division II era.
The 6-0 guard was recruited to Tarleton ahead of the 2019-20 season by former head man and current senior associate athletic director Chris Reisman. Hopkins was rated the No. 55 overall player in the state of Texas out of Houston-based Fort Bend Travis High School.
He has appeared in 19 of a possible 21 games since Gillispie took the reins and Tarleton began its D1 transition.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Since 2007, Wisdom Gym has arguably been the toughest venue to play in over the state of Texas at any classification. Tarleton is 199-35 (.850) in home games over the last 15 years. The Texans were 6-3 at home in 2020-21. From 2007-2017, the Texans lost just 17 times at home. Tarleton posted a perfect 15-0 home record during the 010-11 season. The program's 18 home victories against one defeat marked its most home wins in a single season. Under legendary head coach and current Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Lonn Reisman, Tarleton went an astounding 171-22 (.886) at home from 2007 through the 2017-18 season, when he stepped down as head coach and transitioned into a full-time Athletic Director role Tarleton eclipsed two home losses just once in Reisman's final 11 years as the head man.
