THE MATCHUP 

Teams: Tarleton (9-13, 4-5 WAC) at UTRGV (6-14, 1-7 WAC) 

Date: 7 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 29 

Location: UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg, Texas 

TELEVISION: ESPN+ 

RADIO: Tarleton Sports Network, KTRL 90.5 FM 

Byron Anderson, Play-by-Play 

ABOUT THE MATCHUP 

• Tarleton owns a 2-0 edge in the all-time series between the two teams after sweeping the Vaqueros on March 5-6 in Edinburg last season. The Texans claimed last year's ballgames by respective scores of 65-47 and 69-58. 

• The Texans and Vaqueros conclude the 2021-22 season series on Feb. 24 in Stephenville as a part of Tarleton's final homestand of the year. 

• The Vaqueros are under the direction of first-year head coach Matt Figger, whom Tarleton head man Billy Gillispie possesses some familiarity with. Gillispie faced off with Figger twice in 2012 in his year as the head coach at Texas Tech. Figger served as an assistant coach under Frank Martin at Kansas State from 2007-2012. 

• The Texans have dominated matchups opposite teams from Texas since making the move to NCAA Division I and the Western Athletic Conference in 2020. They are 13-2 against their Lone Star State peers over the last two years and are 5-0 in WAC games featuring two teams with Texas roots. 

• The Vaqueros are 3-6 in home games this season. Their lone conference win came on Jan. 13 in an 85-63 victory over Chicago State. UTRGV nearly earned its second WAC win of the year on Thursday in an 87-85 home defeat against Abilene Christian. The Vaqueros led by 11 points with less than three minutes remaining.  

• UTRGV is just the third team Tarleton has faced this season with a losing record. 

• Teams are scoring an average of 78 points per game against the Vaqueros. UTRGV ranks last in the WAC in scoring defense. Tarleton is averaging 65 points per outing. 

• The turnover battle and fight for ball control favors Tarleton. Tarleton ranks second in the WAC and 16th in the country in turnover margin (+4.67). Texans have finished with a positive turnover differential in eight-of-nine conference games thus far. UTRGV gives the ball away an average of 15.3 times per game. Only two teams (Stephen F. Austin, Chicago State) average more turnovers per outing. 

• Saturday's contest features two players who seldom step off the court in Montre Gipson and UTRGV guard Ricky "Doc" Nelson. No player in the country has played more minutes than Gipson (772). Nelson leads the WAC in minutes per game (35.5). 

INSIDE THE SERIES: UTRGV 

Tarleton led wire-to-wire in its 65-47 triumph over UTRGV on March 5, 2021 in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. 

The Texans led 36-28 at halftime and increased their advantage to 21 points in the second half. Tarleton led for 30-of-40 minutes in the contest. 

Freddy Hicks led all players in points (21) and rebounds (11) to post his third career double-double. Gipson and Shakur Daniel finished with 17 points and 10 points, respectively. The duo each tallied eight second-half points to swell Tarleton's lead. 

Tarleton held UTRGV to its lowest scoring total of the season. It was the only time last season the Vaqueros failed to eclipse 50 points. 

The following night, Tarleton transformed a 28-28 halftime tie into a 69-58 victory behind Gipson's 24-point outburst.  

The Texans shot 49 percent from the field and used a 13-0 run late in the second half to transform a two-point edge at 42-40 into a multi-possession lead. 

Gipson tallied his points on the strength of a 9-12 mark from the field. He also finished with seven rebounds. Gipson became the first player in Tarleton basketball history to claim WAC Player of the Week honors after leading Tarleton to its road sweep of the Vaqueros. 

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. 

A WIN OVER UTRGV WOULD... 

• Extend Tarleton's winning streak over teams from Texas to 11 games 

• Boost the Texans edge in the all-time series to 3-0 

• Mark Tarleton's third consecutive win in Edinburg 

• Even the Texans' conference record at 5-5 

• Signify Tarleton's third-ever WAC weekend sweep and second this season 

• Give Tarleton its seventh all-time WAC road victory 

• Be the Texans' 12th true D1 win 

• Improve the Texans' all-time WAC record to 10-12 

• Spike Tarleton's record in January games to 9-11 in its D1 era 

• Make Tarleton 7-0 in games opposite teams from the state of Texas this season 

• Be the Texans' fourth consecutive conference road victory in Texas 

• Give Gillispie his 169th career D1 win. 

TEXAN NOTABLES 

• Beginning with Saturday's game, five of Tarleton's next eight opponents possess losing records. 

• A home-cooking awaits the Texans after their foray through the Rio Grande Valley. Five of their next six games are at home. Tarleton has just three road games remaining following Saturday's showdown. 

• Tarleton is one of just two teams in the WAC with a pair of top-10 scorers in Montre Gipson (8th, 15.5 ppg) and Tahj Small (9th, 14.6 ppg).  

• Good ball control bred a positive outcome on Wednesday in Tarleton's 62-57 win at Lamar. Tarleton dished out 15 assists - its most in a true D1 game this year - and committed a season-low six turnovers. 

• The Texans trailed for just 87 seconds in Wednesday's 62-57 victory. 

• Tarleton has forced 43 more turnovers combined than its WAC peers at the midpoint of conference play. 

• Tarleton is now 13-2 in games against teams from the Lone Star State in its D1 era following Wednesday's win at Lamar. Its lone losses came against Texas A&M and eventual Southland Conference champion Abilene Christian during the 2020-21 campaign. 

• Tarleton has notched 17 wins in the Gillispie Era when leading at the half. The Texans are 17-5 over the last two seasons when taking a lead into the intermission. 

• The Texans rank second in the WAC in free throw percentage (75 percent). Tarleton has knocked down 15-or-more foul shots on nine occasions this season. 

INDIVIDUAL NOTABLES 

• Gipson hardly takes a breath once he steps onto the court. The senior leads the nation in total minutes (772) and has played at least 38 minutes on 16 occasions this season. 

• Gipson has scored 12-or-more points in 17 of Tarleton's last 18 conference games dating back to last season and eclipsed 10 points in all-but-three of his career WAC outings. He tallied a team-high 18 points in the Texans' win at Lamar on Wednesday 

• Gipson enters Saturday's tilt averaging 20.5 points per game vs. the Vaqueros. 

• Sophomore Shamir Bogues is second in the WAC and tied for 10th nationally in total steals with 43. 

• Hicks was masterful in Tarleton's 18-point win at UTRGV on March 5. Hicks delivered a 21-point, 11-rebound performance to notch his third career double-double. He attacked the paint and stretched the floor, going 9-10 at the line and hitting two 3-pointers. 

• Hicks has increased his scoring average (11.4 ppg) by three points since WAC play began. 

• Hicks averaged 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in Tarleton's home contests vs. California Baptist and Seattle U last week. The 6-6 sophomore has snagged seven-or-more rebounds in five of the Texans' last seven ballgames. 

• Tahj Small ranks in the top-15 in the WAC in four major statistical categories: minutes per game (5th, 34.3 mpg), points per game (9th, 14.6 ppg), free throw percentage (12th, .776) and rebounds per game (12th, 5.9 rpg). 

• Small leads Tarleton on the glass at 5.9 rebounds per outing. He tied for the team-high in rebounds with seven at Lamar on Wednesday to pair with eight points and a season-high four assists. 

• Noah McDavid has scored a combined 27 points over Tarleton's last two outings to increase his scoring average to six points per game. He drained a trio of 3-pointers in Wednesday's win as a part of an 11-point performance. 

• McDavid has quietly been one of the top foul shooters in the WAC. The freshman has knocked down 31-35 (.886) of his attempts at the charity stripe 

• Jayshawn Moore has dialed it up a notch one-third of the way through WAC play. Moore averaged seven points and 3.3 rebounds per game over Tarleton's games vs. NMSU, GCU and CBU from Jan. 13-20. He tallied 10 points and a career-best five steals in 25 minutes off the bench at GCU on Jan. 15, then snagged a career-high five boards vs. CBU five days later. 

ACROSS THE RANKINGS 

NCAA NET Rankings  

Tarleton sits at No. 194 ahead of Saturday's ballgame at UTRGV. The Vaqueros rank No. 271 - 10th out of 13 teams in the WAC. 

The Texans have faced off with seven teams currently ranked inside the top-100 of the rankings in No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 7 Kansas, No. 41 Michigan, No. 79 Wichita State, No. 86 Stanford, No. 88 New Mexico State and No. 95 Grand Canyon.  

South Alabama was ranked 79th when Tarleton defeated the Jaguars 65-52 inside Wisdom Gym for its first win over a top-100 team. 

NET Rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to help set the 64-team field. The NET utilizes two factors in ranking teams: Team Value Index (factors in results, quality of opponent and location) and the team's NET efficiency (metrics scaled for quality of opponent and location). The rankings do not include games played against non-Division I opponents. 

Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings 

The Texans sit at No. 191 in the rankings as of Jan. 27 

Tarleton is rated eighth among its conference peers. New Mexico State (No. 98), Grand Canyon (No. 111), Utah Valley (No. 116), Seattle U (No. 135), Abilene Christian (No. 150) and Sam Houston (No. 157) are ahead of the Texans. 

The Texans are slotted in front of California Baptist (No. 231), UTRGV (No. 267), Dixie State (No. 282), Lamar (No. 336) and Chicago State (No. 338). 

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 

"We got what we signed up for. They're scrappy. They play incredibly hard. They're arguably one of the hardest-playing teams in the country. They're really well-coached. Coach Gillispie is a great coach. I'm from Kentucky. I remember when he coached at Kentucky, Texas A&M and UTEP. He's done this for a long time. He's got a scrappy group. We saw it when they went to Gonzaga, we saw it when they went to Michigan, we've seen it every game they've played. They made us uncomfortable." - Richie Riley, South Alabama 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 

TAHJ SMALL, NOAH MCDAVID SWEEP WAC WEEKLY AWARDS 

Tahj Small was named the TicketSmarter WAC Player of the Week for Jan. 3-9 after leading Tarleton to home victories over Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 6-8. Additionally, Noah McDavid was chosen as the WAC Freshman of the Week for his efforts in helping the Texans secure the wins.  

A 6-4 guard, Small becomes the second player in program history to receive WAC Player of the Week honors. He joins position-mate Montre Gipson, who received the recognition on March 8 at the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.  

Small averaged 23 points per game in Tarleton's home sweep of its east Texas rivals. The Durham, North Carolina native delivered the best all-around performance of his two-year Texan career in Tarleton's wire-to-wire 75-64 defeat of the Bearkats on Jan. 6. The senior racked up a game and career high 28 points on 11-14 shooting in the Texans' win. 

His 28 points scored were an individual game high in true Division I games for Tarleton this season. Small was as efficient and aggressive as he's been offensively in the first half. He scored 16 of Tarleton's first 25 points behind a 4-4 mark from downtown and ended the half with 18 points scored to stake the Texans to a 42-31 lead.  

Defensively, recorded a game, season and career high four steals. He played the full 40 minutes and did so despite missing Tarleton's previous two games due to COVID-19 protocols.  

Small followed up his career night with an 18-point, five rebound effort in a come-from-behind 77-71 overtime victory over SFA two days later. He scored on two of Tarleton's first three possessions in overtime to give the Texans a 68-66 lead they never relinquished. Small was 6-6 from the foul line in the victory.  

McDavid's accolade is equally significant. He is the first player in Tarleton basketball history to receive WAC Freshman of the Week honors.  

The 6-5 guard was instrumental in helping Tarleton upset the Lumberjacks on Saturday. McDavid played 40 minutes for the first time in his career, finishing with six points along with career-highs in rebounds (five) and steals (three).  

His lone field goal of the night was one of the biggest buckets of the evening. With Tarleton nursing a 68-67 lead with under 3:00 to play in overtime, McDavid attempted a 3-pointer from the left baseline. The shot clanged off the front iron, but McDavid curled right around two Lumberjack defenders, secured his own rebound and converted a contested second-chance layup to keep Tarleton in front 70-67 with 2:20 to play.  

The Texans closed the game on a 9-4 run beginning with McDavid's layup.  

Two days prior, McDavid scored nine points on the strength of three makes from downtown in 37 minutes of action in the Texans' win over the Bearkats. McDavid was a part of Tarleton's best shooting night of the season. The Texans shot a season-high 59 percent (30-51) from the field and were 8-13 from long range in the first half. 

BOTHERSOME BOGUES 

Few players have been as big of a thorn in the side of opponents defensively than sophomore Shamir Bogues. 

The 6-5 guard ranks second in the WAC and is tied for 10th in the nation in total steals with 43 as of Jan. 27. He is third amongst his conference peers in steals per game (2.0). 

His two-swipe effort vs. CBU on Jan. 20 was his 20th multi-steal game in his two-year Texan career and 10th this season. Bogues' seven steals at South Alabama were a conference single-game high.  

For his career, Bogues has recorded four-or-more steals on six occasions and reached three steals in 16 of his 41 games in Purple and White. 

He is Tarleton's active leader in career steals with 80. 

Bogues averaged four steals per contest as a senior at Killeen Ellison High School. 

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. 

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 scored in double figures 11 times during nonconference play and led Tarleton in scoring five times. His 15 points vs. Stanford were a team high as were his 16 at Wichita State and 17 in Ann Arbor. 

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 leads Tarleton in offensive rebounds with 31 and is third on the team in rebounds per game (5.1).  

Gipson was a pest at No. 3 Gonzaga. He led Tarleton with five assists and swiped the ball away a game-high three times. He then scored a season-high 29 points vs. SAGU on Dec. 8 and led all scorers with 27 points in Tarleton's 65- 52 victory over South Alabama on Dec. 17. 

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 game-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.  

He followed up the performance with a 24-point effort on 9-16 shooting to lead all scorers in Tarleton's first of two games against South Alabama on Dec. 14. Small then netted a game and career-high 28 points on 11-14 shooting to pace Tarleton to a 75-64 win over SHSU on Jan. 6.  

The Troy transfer has recorded two double-doubles this season. He scored 13 points and snagged 10 boards vs. Southwestern Assemblies of God on Dec. 8 and delivered a 16-point, 12-rebound performance vs. South Alabama on Dec. 17. 

The 6-5 guard has increased his scoring and rebounding averages considerably from 2020-21. He is tallying 14.6 points per game compared to 9.2 in his first year in Stephenville.  

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. 

Shakur 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). 

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 206-38 (.844) 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 2010-11 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.