ST. GEORGE, Utah – Konstantin Dotsenko scored a game-high 23 points to lead Tarleton to its largest win over a Division I opponent, 77-59, on the road against Dixie State.
 
The Texans (7-8, 2-5) have now won a season-high four straight games and it's also the second straight WAC win, both of which have come on the road. The other road win was against Utah Valley, 70-62, on Jan. 30.
 
Tarleton got hot early and never let up, using a 16-0 run on the Trailblazers (7-11, 3-8) to build a commanding 20-7 lead in the first eight minutes of play. Jonathan Jackson Jr. had the scoring touch to start, posting nine points in just six minutes and singlehandedly outscored Dixie State during the run.
 
Shamir Bogues did it all for the Texans on both ends of the court, as his mid-range jumper put Tarleton up by 15, 29-14. Bogues finished with 11 points and four steals, his sixth game with at least three steals on the season. Bogues, a true freshman, now leads the WAC in steals with 2.0 per game.
 
Bogues' defensive efforts helped the Texans hold Dixie State to just 30 percent shooting from the floor and 17 percent on 3-pointers while committing 15 turnovers. The Texans lead the WAC in forced turnovers at 20.5 per game. Tarleton isn't eligible to be in the NCAA Division I basketball statistics during its transitional years, but if it was, the Texans would rank second in the nation in turnovers forced behind only Abilene Christian (21.67 TOs per game). For Tarleton, they shot 50 percent from the floor for the third straight game and improve to 6-0 when they shot at least 48 percent.
 
Dotsenko drilled one of his four 3's in the closing seconds of the first half to put the Texans up 17, its largest lead of the first half. Tarleton would lead 36-23 at the break, its largest halftime lead over a Division I program and fewest points allowed in any half against a D1 team.
 
In the second half, Montre Gipson got his share of the scoring, posting 14 points on 6-8 shooting to maintain the large lead. Gipson gave Tarleton a 20-point lead on an and-1 layup but it was followed by an 11-0 Dixie State run to cut the deficit to nine. Gipson ended the scoring drought with a backdoor cut layup on the assist from Dotsenko, giving Gipson nine straight points for the Texans. Gipson and Dotsenko combined for 29 points in the second half alone.
 
Shakur Daniel's last bucket in the closing seconds of the game put the Texans up by 20 once again, giving him 10 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. He also led the Texans with four assists while playing all 40 minutes for the seventh time this season. Daniel was one of four Texans to score in double figures on the game.
 
Rounding out the Tarleton scoring efforts were Caleb Starks, who played 16 minutes off the bench and posted four points, along with two rebounds and a steal and no turnovers running the point guard position. Freddy Hicks added two points and five rebounds while Joey Madimba posted two points.
 
Tarleton will look for its first WAC sweep of the season when they get a rematch with Dixie State on Saturday at 8 p.m. CST from Burns Arena.