The Teams: Tarleton Texans (7-6, 1-0 WAC) at Abilene Christian Wildcats (8-6, 0-1 WAC)
Where: Abilene, Texas
Arena: Moody Coliseum
Day and Time: Saturday at 3 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Crews)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This marks the 69th all-time meeting, with Tarleton holding a 35-33 advantage. In the last three meetings since 2020, ACU is 3-0. Before the stretch, Tarleton won nine straight from 2009-13.
• ACU advanced to the WAC Basketball Tournament championship game last year, losing to NMSU.
• ACU lost its WAC opener 75-68 at SFA. The difference came at the free throw line, with SFA at 14 more FTA, making 11 more. Ali Abdou Dibba led ACU with 19 points and nine boards as a reserve.
• Before Thursday's loss, ACU had won three straight and six of its previous seven.

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton has historically shined on the last day of the calendar year, playing on New Year's Eve six times since 1988, when dates started being recorded. The Texans are 6-0 on New Year's Eve in that time frame, the last official such game occurring on Dec. 31, 2016, an 87-68 win against Ouachita Baptist (the Dec. 31, 2019, game vs. Champion Christian was an exhibition).
• This is ACU's first WAC game inside the freshly renovated Moody Coliseum, and Tarleton's first time inside the arena since Feb. 9, 2013. The last two meetings in Abilene were at the Teague Center.
• Tarleton won its WAC opener for the second time in three seasons with a 70-63 win vs. UT Arlington on Thursday. The first half spelled the difference, with Tarleton leading 31-16 at the break thanks to a 13-of-21 (.619) clip to UTA's 5-of-23 (.217) mark. Overall, Tarleton outshot UTA 23-of-47 (.489) to 18-of-52 (.346).
• Tarleton is a perfect 5-0 at home, and 0-5 in true road games this season. Their two wins at the Paradise Jam were considered neutral site games.
• In 12 of Tarleton's 13 games this year, the Texans have forced more turnovers than they've given up. Their +7.9 average turnover margin is tops in the WAC and third in the country behind only Iowa State and UNLV, both at +8.1. Tarleton is fourth in total takeaways at 264.
• Tarleton forced its last two opponents to shoot under 40 percent, its first such stretch since Paul Quinn and North Dakota State shot under 40 percent from Nov. 19-22, 2021.

 
WHO'S HOT

• Lue Williams – Williams just scored 21 points (4-8 3PT). Over his past two games, he's averaged 25.5 points on 17-of-32 (.531) shooting, including 8-of-19 (.421) from distance. He had the second most points in everyone's WAC openers, trailing only UTRGV's Will Johnston (24 points).
• Shakur Daniel – Daniel did it all in the WAC opener, recording 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks, playing all 40 minutes. It was the fourth time he played all 40 minutes this season as he logged his fifth straight 10+ point game, a career-long stretch.
• KiAndre Gaddy – Gaddy just earned his first start of the year, and with it, he led the team in rebounding (eight), assists (five) and blocks (two), adding four points in 29 minutes. He's pulled in 15 rebounds over the last two games -- he had 13 rebounds in his first six games entering the span.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
3: Tarleton knows how to draw the whistle, averaging the TIED-SECOND MOST FREE THROW ATTEMPTS PER GAME IN THE COUNTRY at 27.0. Only UTRGV at 27.5 averages more -- the Texans are tied with New Mexico.
  
4: Tarleton recently had a season-high 21 steals. They rank FOURTH IN THE NATION IN STEALS PER GAME at 11.5. Only Missouri (12.5), Morgan State (12.2) and James Madison (11.9) average more this year.
 
5: Tarleton has forced 46 turnovers over their past two games, both wins. They're now FIFTH IN THE NATION IN TURNOVERS FORCED PER GAME at 20.3. Iowa State leads at 20.9 on average.
 
10.6: Offensively, Tarleton is much improved year-over-year, averaging 10.6 POINTS PER GAME MORE THAN THEY AVERAGED LAST SEASON. At 75.2 points per game this season, Tarleton hasn't finished a year with such a high scoring output since 2016-17 (80.7 PPG).
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The Texans will welcome another new WAC team to Stephenville, bringing in the Southern Utah Thunderbirds to Wisdom Gym on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT. SUU beat New Mexico State in the WAC opener on Wednesday 79-75.