THE GAME
Teams: Tarleton (1-6) vs. Charleston Southern (2-6)
Date: 7 p.m. CT on Sunday, Dec. 5
Location: Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas
TELEVISION: ESPN+
Kyle Youmans. Play-by-Play
Casey Hogan, Analyst
RADIO: Tarleton Sports Network, KTRL 90.5 FM
Scott Garner, Play-by-Play
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Following three straight road games and six-of-seven away from Stephenville to begin the year, Tarleton finally returns home for a game that will forever be a part of the program's Division I history. Sunday's contest vs. Charleston Southern is the first time the Texans have hosted a D1 nonconference opponent inside Wisdom Gym. The Texans enter the contest as one of the toasts of the college basketball world following near upsets of No. 20 Michigan and No. 3 Gonzaga on Nov. 24 and Nov. 29, respectively.
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The Texans and Buccaneers are meeting for the first time in any sport. A win over CSU extends Tarleton's home winning streak to three games.
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Wisdom Gym has been one of the toughest venues to play at in the state of Texas over the last 15 years. Tarleton is an astounding 200-35 (.851) in home games since 2007. The Texans are 43-6 at home in December in that span. Head coach Billy Gillispie is 7-3 inside Wisdom Gym since taking the reins in 2020.
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Tarleton's seven home victories under Gillispie have come by an average of 46 points. All-but-one of Tarleton's home wins since 2020 has come by at least 29 points.
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CSU enters having lost four straight ballgames. Like the Texans, the Buccaneers have navigated a challenging opening month to the 2021-22 campaign. Four of CSU's defeats have been on the road against Power Five conference opponents: Clemson, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss and Wake Forest. CSU's two victories are over non-D1 opponents.
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The Buccaneers compete in the Big South Conference.
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
Fans can purchase single-game general admission tickets to attend Friday's contest in one of three ways: online at TarletonSports.com/Tickets, in person at the Tarleton Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 254-968-1832. The Tarleton Athletic Ticket Office is located on the west side of Memorial Stadium and is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. A link to purchase tickets to all Tarleton men's basketball home games can be found on the team's schedule page at TarletonSports.com. Doors will open hone hour before tipoff at 6 p.m.
TEXAN NOTABLES
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The Texans rank first in the nation in strength of schedule in the latest Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.
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Tarleton held No. 3 Gonzaga to its fewest points scored inside The Kennel in five years in its 64 55 defeat on Monday. The Bulldogs entered the contest averaging 90 points per game.
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Tarleton has been a pest defensively for opposing big men. On Monday, the Texans limited consensus Preseason First Team All-American Drew Timmie to a season-low 10 points and just one made field goal. Against No. 20 Michigan, Tarleton doubled off 7-1 center Hunter Dickinson, an Associated Press second team All-American in 2020-21, to the tune of a season-low nine points. Two days earlier, Freddy Hicks and Tarleton's guards did yeoman's work on NDSU star Rocky Kreuser, holding the 6-10 forward to one made field goal inside the arc.
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The Texans rank near the top of the WAC statistical leaderboard in most defensive categories. They are second in turnover margin (+4.57) and fourth in scoring defense (62.9 ppg) and turnovers forced per game (16.1).
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Tarleton has notched seven wins in the Gillispie era when forcing 20-or-more turnovers in a game. The Texans induced No. 20 Michigan into a season-worst 21 giveaways and forced 20 turnovers in its lone home game thus far, a 69-42 win over Paul Quinn on Nov. 19.
INDIVIDUAL NOTABLES
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Tahj Small exploded for a career-high 25 points at Gonzaga to lead all scorers. The 6-5 guard is Tarleton's top rebounder (5.9 rpg) and is second on the squad in scoring (13.7 ppg).
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Small leads the Western Athletic Conference in free throw percentage (1.000, 10-10 FTM) and is Tarleton's top shooter (.439 FG%). The Durham, North Carolina native has increased his scoring average by 4.5 points per game from last year. Small is also averaging 14 more minutes per contest (35.6 mpg) from his debut season in Stephenville.
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Montre Gipson enters as Tarleton's leading scorer (14.0 ppg) and has dished out a team-high 18 assists (2.6 apg).
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Gipson ranks second in the WAC in minutes per game (36.7) and has played 257 of a possible 280 minutes for the Texans. The 5-11 guard has scored in double figures in 19 of his 26 games in Purple and White. He is Tarleton's active leader in career points scored (388).
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Gipson (98 points) and Small (96 points) account for 49 percent of Tarleton's cumulative scoring through seven games. The tandem has also knocked down 77 of Tarleton's 149 field goals (52 percent) thus far.
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The lone holdover from Tarleton's D2 era, Javontae Hopkins delivered a banner performance on Monday off the bench against arguably the nation's best team. Hopkins scored a D1 and season-high 11 points and grabbed a career-best five rebounds against No. 3 Gonzaga. Hopkins is averaging 7.7 points per game over Tarleton's last three outings.
TARLETON-GONZAGA WRAP-UP
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Tarleton forced the Bulldogs into 16 turnovers - one off their season-high.
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The Zags shot a season-low 21 percent (4-19) from behind the arc
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A win over Gonzaga would have been the biggest D1 college basketball upset in 25 years. Tarleton entered the contest as 31-point betting underdogs
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Tarleton held Gonzaga to 8-23 shooting and induced 10 turnovers in the first half to enter the intermission trailing by just one point, 26-25.
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The Texans led 30-28 with 17:11 to go following 3-pointer from the top of the key by Small.
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Small's snipe from long range kickstarted a run of 10 straight points from the senior that had the score deadlocked at 37-37 with 14:00 remaining.
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Tarleton was tied with Gonzaga at 43-43 around the 10:00 mark of the second half and was within two points of the Zags as late as 49-47 with 5:34 left.
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Small scored 17 of his career and game-high 25 points in the second half.
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Gipson was a thorn in the side of the Zags backcourt. In addition to tallying nine points, the senior finished with game-highs in assists (five) and steals (three).
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Tarleton posted a positive turnover differential in all three of its games against ranked teams. The Texans gave the ball away just eight times at Gonzaga. Against Michigan, Tarleton turned the Wolverines over a season-worst 21 times and had just nine of their own. In their first game opposite the nation's No. 3 ranked team, the Texans enjoyed a +4 advantage (13-9) in turnover differential.
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton continues its three-game homestand - the first of two this season - on Tuesday against Dallas Christian. The Texans then play their first-and-only back-to-back game of the season vs. Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Wednesday.
Both teams are no strangers to Wisdom Gym.
Tarleton owns an 11-0 edge in the all-time series vs. Dallas Christian. The Texans defeated the Crusaders 103-48 on Nov. 25, 2020, to earn their first victory as a D1 program. Dallas Christian has played 10 times this season but carries an 0-1 overall record in to Stephenville. Nine of the Crusaders' 10 games have counted as exhibition contests. Dallas Christian is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association.
The Texans are 4-1 all-time vs. SAGU, which competes at the NAIA level in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Lions, though, enter Wednesday's tilt as the most recent victor in the all-time series. SAGU stunned Tarleton 73-60 on Nov. 12, 2012 in Stephenville in the teams' last meeting. The Lions are 8-1 thus far and finished with a 13-3 overall record in 2020-21 to advance to the semifinals of the NAIA National Tournament.
SAGU has defeated Dallas Christian twice this season, first by a score of 115-84 on Oct. 28 in both teams' season-opener and later to the tune of a 77-49 final on Nov. 12. Both games took place on the campus of SAGU in Waxahachie.
BEST OF THE WAC
Tarleton is featured across the top of the Western Athletic Conference stat leaderboards in multiple categories as nonconference play nears its midpoint.
Tahj Small
1st in free throw percentage (1.000, 10 FTM)
5th in minutes (35.6 mpg, 249 minutes)
15th in rebounds (5.9 rpg, 41rebounds)
Montre Gipson
2nd in minutes (36.6 mpg, 257 minutes)
9th in scoring (14.0 ppg, 98 points)
Shakur Daniel
7th in minutes (34.9 mpg, 244 minutes)
11th in steals (1.6 spg, 11 steals)
Freddy Hicks
8th in free throw percentage (.810, 17 FTM)
T-13th in blocks (0.9 bpg, 6 blk)
Shamir Bogues
8th in steals (1.7 spg, 12 steals)
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"That was tough. Billy did a great job. We saw that - how they played Michigan. Even their KU game was tough deep into the second half. On short prep, we tried to get the guys ready for that and it was harder than it looked on film. We just did a great job of surviving it. Intense, pressure on the basketball, and they front, they rake you in the lane, and they reach, and poke, and grab, and they do a good job with it." - Mark Few, Gonzaga head coach
"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
"Tarleton is very good at getting into passing lanes, being active with their hands, feet, and their energy." - Juwan Howard, Michigan head coach
"Billy Gillispie's teams really get after you defensively." - Isaac Brown, Wichita State head coach
"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 HARDEST SCHEDULE IN THE COUNTRY
The words spoken by Gillispie on Tarleton's Preseason WAC Media Day on Oct. 19 have never been truer.
The Texans currently rank first in the nation in strength of schedule in the Pomeroy College Basketball ratings. Six of their first seven games - all of which were on the road - came against teams ranked in the top-150 of the rankings. Three of the contests were against teams ranked in the top-10 at tipoff time. Gonzaga occupied the top spot when the teams squared off on Nov. 29, Kansas ranked No. 2 when the teams met at Allen Fieldhouse on Nov. 12 and Michigan was eighth prior to the teams' game on Nov. 24.
In total, nine of the Texans' games are opposite teams ranked inside the top-150 while the team will face seven top-130 programs and draw five foes listed in the top-75. Tarleton has already squared off with No. 54 Wichita State, No. 89 Stanford as well as North Dakota State, which was ranked No. 146 when the teams met on Nov. 22 in Fargo. Tarleton meets New Mexico State (No. 114), Grand Canyon (No. 132) and Stephen F. Austin (No. 144) in three of its first seven conference games come January.
This season, Tarleton 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 have climbed the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings over the last two weeks, jumping from No. 222 on Nov. 20 to No. 184 as of Dec. 4.
Tarleton is rated seventh among its conference peers. New Mexico State, Grand Canyon and SFA are the conferences highest-rated teams while Abilene Christian (No. 156), Utah Valley (No. 165) and Seattle U (No. 175) rank No. 4-6.
The Texans are slotted in front of Sam Houston (No. 215), California Baptist (No. 219), Lamar (No. 288), UTRGV (No. 297), Dixie State (No. 308) and Chicago State (No. 356).
GIPSON STARS IN BIGGEST GAMES IN SCHOOL HISTORY
The national stage and high-profile matchups have elevated the play of the Preseason All-WAC first team honoree.
Gipson has scored in double figures in six of Tarleton's first seven and led Tarleton in scoring three times. His 15 points vs. Stanford were a team high as were his 16 at Wichita State and 17 in Ann Arbor. Gipson, who followed Gillispie from Ranger College in 2020, has finished with double-digit point totals in 10 of Tarleton's last 11 ballgames and 11 of 13 dating back to the 2020-21 campaign.
Despite his listed height of 5-11, Gipson has been one of the Texans' most consistent rebounders in primetime. He tied for the game-high on the glass with seven boards at No. 20 Michigan, finished with six rebounds at North Dakota State and No. 3 Kansas.
Gipson was a pest at No. 3 Gonzaga. He led Tarleton with five assists and swiped the ball away a game-high three times.
SMALL PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
Small delivered one of the finest performances of Tarleton's D1 era against arguably the best team in the country, tallying a career-high 25 points at Gonzaga on Nov. 29. Small led all scorers, knocked down a game and career-high five attempts from long range and led Tarleton in rebounding with seven boards.
The 6-5 guard has increased his scoring and rebounding averages considerably from 2020-21. He is tallying 13.7 points per game compared to 9.2 in his first year in Stephenville. Small is Tarleton's leading rebounder with 41 boards (5.9 rpg). The Durham, North Carolina native has snagged six-or-more rebounds in all-but-two of Tarleton's contests, including a season-high eight at Stanford.
Small currently leads Tarleton in field goal percentage (.437) among players with at least 25 attempts from the field and ranks first in the WAC in free throw percentage (1.000, 10-10 FTM).
PRESSURE, PUT YOU DOWN
Tarleton has forced 15-or-more turnovers in 18-of-26 games under Gillispie. It has held opponents under 50 points nine times. The Texans recorded single-game highs in the Gillispie era in turnovers forced (41) and steals (28) in a 97-26 win over Southwestern Adventist on Feb. 6.
Tarleton has turned over each of its seven opponents at least 13 times to begin 2021-22. The Texans' 21 forced turnovers at No. 20 Michigan were a season-high. Tarleton forced 14 turnovers against Stanford in its regular season opener on Nov. 9. The Texans then posted a positive turnover differential against the nation's No. 3 ranked team on two occasions. The Texans forced 13 turnovers and swiped the ball away nine times at Kansas on Nov. 12. Tarleton pestered Gonzaga into 16 turnovers on Nov. 29. The Texans gave the ball away just nine times in both contests.
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).
