The Teams: Tarleton Texans (5-3, 0-0 WAC) at Baylor Bears (6-2, 0-0 Big 12)
Where: Waco, Texas
Arena: Ferrell Center
Day and Time: Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: Big 12 Now | ESPN+
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Crews)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This is the ninth all-time meeting between Tarleton and Baylor, the first in 36 years. The two last matched up on Dec. 3, 1986, in Waco. Baylor leads the all-time series 6-2.
• The teams split two exhibition games in 2007 and 2008. When Tarleton was in Division II, the Texans defeated Baylor in Waco 95-85 on Nov. 2, 2007. In that game, Tarleton hit 14 3-pointers and had 51 combined points from Jefrey Henfield (28) and Avery Patterson (23). The teams met again the following year when Baylor won the rematch 76-44. The games were exhibition contests, and thus are not reflected in the all-time series.
• Baylor dropped six spots to No. 12 in the latest AP poll after a loss to Marquette last week.
• Baylor has won 10 straight home games, dating back to last season.
• Head coach Billy Gillispie was an assistant coach at Baylor from 1994-97, helping the Bears to the sixth-ranked recruiting class in 1996. He is 5-3 against Baylor as a head coach.

 
QUICK HITS

• This is Tarleton's third game against a top-15 ranked team over the past two seasons. In the last occurrence, Tarleton nearly pulled off a huge upset at No. 3 Gonzaga on Nov. 30, 2021. The Bulldogs entered as 31.5-point betting favorites and winners of 55 straight contests at home, yet Tarleton led 30-28 with 17:10 to play, deadlocked the score at 43 points apiece near the 10-minute mark and were within two with 5:34 remaining. Gonzaga ended up winning 64-55.
• Tarleton's competition has remained as tough as ever. Three of the Texans' five wins came against; Belmont, who is now 156-45 (.776) over their last seven years; Boston College, Tarleton's first Power Five conference victory in team history; Weber State, who went 38-18 (.679) over their previous two seasons.
• Tarleton is off to their best start through eight games (5-3) since 2018-19 (6-2).
• The Texans just forced 29 turnovers in their last game, their most forced since 2020-21. Tarleton is ranked fifth in the nation at 21.3 turnovers forced per game. Only Drake and Wichita State have had fewer than 20 turnovers against Tarleton this year.
• Tarleton is third in the nation in steals per game at 12.1. Missouri leads at 14.1 SPG.
• In five of Tarleton's eight games, the Texans have shot 50 percent or better from the field (all wins). Under coach Gillispie, Tarleton is 17-0 when shooting 50+ percent.

 
WHO'S HOT

• Lue Williams – Since having a game to forget against Drake, Williams has been on another level over the past three games, averaging 15.7 points on 16-of-25 (.640) shooting, including 8-of-13 (.615) from distance. He set a new career-high with 17 points in Tarleton's last game.
• Jakorie Smith – Smith is coming off of a 15-point, five-steal performance against Wiley College. His five steals are the most by a Texan in a game this season, and he leads the team at 17 steals on the year. He's averaging the second most steals in the WAC at 2.1 SPG.
• Freddy Hicks – To add to his impressive scoring and rebounding numbers, Hicks has been adding assists to his repertoire. Over his last three games, Hicks has averaged 4.7 assists per game, including a career-high six assists in Tarleton's last game.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
2: Tarleton knows how to get to the stripe, averaging 28.2 free throws per game, the tied-second BEST AVERAGE IN ALL OF NCAA DIVISION I (tied with UTEP, behind Denver at 29.3). Freddy Hicks had 28 FTA against Belmont on Nov. 18, the most FTA by a player in the country this season.
  
19: In a basketball era that heavily relies on three-point shooting, Tarleton doesn't fit the mold. Just 19.3 percent of Tarleton's POINTS HAVE COME FROM BEYOND THE ARC this year.  Baylor averages double that, with 38.3 percent of their points coming via the three-point line.
 
8.8: Tarleton doesn't just force a lot of turnovers, they don't give possession away often either, averaging the fourth fewest turnovers per game in the WAC. Tarleton has the tied-second best AVERAGE TURNOVER MARGIN in all of the country at +8.8 per game, tied with UNLV, behind Missouri.
 
13: At 77.6 points per game, Tarleton is averaging 13.0 POINTS MORE PER GAME than they averaged last season. Through eight games year-over-year, Tarleton is averaging 21.2 more points per game (56.4).
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton's schedule doesn't get any easier, as the Texans will head to Orlando to take on UCF on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT. The Knights are 6-2 this season out of the AAC with wins over Florida State and Oklahoma State.