THE MATCHUP 

Teams: Tarleton (14-156, 9-8 WAC) at Abilene Christian (19-9, 10-7 WAC) 

Date: 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 5 

Location: Teague Special Events Center in Abilene, Texas 

TELEVISION: ESPN+ 

RADIO: Tarleton Sports Network, KTRL 90.5 FM 

Scott Garner, Play-by-Play 

ABOUT THE MATCHUP 

• The Texans and Wildcats are meeting for the 83rd time on the hardwood. 

• Tarleton owns a 46-36 edge in the all-time series. Since 1988, the Texans are 33-11 vs. ACU. 

• ACU has claimed both matchups on the D1 stage. The Wildcats defeated Tarleton 69-48 on Dec. 5, 2020 in Abilene and knocked off Tarleton 77-63 on Feb. 12 inside Wisdom Gym. 

• Tarleton has never lost three straight games to ACU since 1988. 

• The Texans are 8-2 vs. ACU over their last 10 meetings in Abilene, dating back to 1999. 

• A victory guarantees Tarleton a winning record in WAC play. Should the Texans win, they will become the first team in school history to finish above .500 in conference play in Tarleton's D1 era. 

• Billy Gillispie has enjoyed a dominant run on Texas soil since arriving in Stephenville. The Texans are 16-4 overall and 8-2 in WAC play as a D1 program in games vs. teams from the Lone Star State. 

• Saturday's game carries heavy postseason implications for both teams. An ACU win assures the Wildcats of the No. 6 seed and a first round bye in next week's WAC Basketball Tournament. Tarleton can finish in a tie for sixth place in the WAC standings, post a winning record in conference play and strengthen its candidacy for a bid to a postseason tournament with a victory. 

• Two of the nations' elite on-ball pressure defenses are squaring off on Saturday. The Wildcats lead the country in turnover margin (+9.0) and turnovers forced per game (609). The Texans rank ninth in turnover margin (+4.57) and 11th in turnovers forced (492). Tarleton leads all reclassifying programs in both categories. 

• Both teams have trended on the positive side of the win-loss column of late. Tarleton has won three of its last four ballgames and 6-of-9 overall. ACU enters as winners of eight of its last 10. Its two losses (at SFA, at SHSU) have come by a combined six points. 

• The two teams put on an offensive clinic over the first 20 minutes in their first meeting this season. Both teams shot above 53 percent from the field en route to a 37-37 halftime gridlock. 

• Second half shooting, though, has been an obstacle for Tarleton of late The Texans went just 7-24 and were outscored 40-26 out of halftime in their loss vs. ACU. Tarleton was then held to a 18-54 mark from the field for the game and 0-12 clip from long range in its 69-56 defeat vs. Utah Valley on Feb. 16. 

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 THE WILDCATS WOULD... 

• Guarantee Tarleton a winning record in conference play, making the Texans just the second team in school history to accomplish the feat 

• Be Tarleton's 47th all-time victory over ACU 

• Signify Tarleton's first victory in Abilene since 2013 

• Increase the Texans' edge in the all-time series against ACU to 47-36 

• Be Tarleton's ninth WAC road victory 

• Boost Tarleton's all-time WAC record to 15-15 

• Be the Texans' 18th true D1 win 

• Make Tarleton 14-6 in games played inside the state of Texas this season 

• Spike Tarleton's record in March games to 3-1 in its D1 and WAC era 

• Increase Tarleton's record against teams from Texas to 17-4 overall and 9-2 in WAC play as a D1 program 

• Be Tarleton's 15th victory in its last 22 games 

• Give Gillispie his 173rd career D1 win. 

• Make the Texans 8-5 all-time and 5-2 this season in rematches under Gillispie 

INSIDE THE SERIES: ABILENE CHRISTIAN 

ACU enters Saturday's matchup riding a two-game winning streak over the Texans. More than 24 years had passed since Tarleton last lost back-to-back ballgames to its west Texas rival prior to its current slide. Tarleton dropped consecutive contests in Abilene on Feb. 6, 1996 and Jan. 7, 1997. 

Since then, the Texans have rolled to 14 straight home victories over their rivals. Tarleton's average margin of victory in that stretch is 15.1 points. 

Tarleton is 27-3 in games vs. ACU during the 21st century. The Texans enjoyed a 12-game winning streak vs. the Wildcats from 2000-2007 - their longest in the history of the rivalry. 

Tarleton has enjoyed similar success against the Wildcats when making the 90-mile bus ride west along Interstate 20 to Abilene. The Texans are 15-7 in road games vs. ACU since 1988. 

Last season's 69-48 loss at ACU was an anomaly for Tarleton in the recent history of the rivalry. The 21-point margin of defeat marked Tarleton's worst loss to the Wildcats since 1994. The Texans have lost by 20-plus points to ACU just three times over the last 34 years. 

The Wildcats transformed 28 Texan turnovers - their most in a game as a D1 program - into 30 points in the contest. Montre Gipson finished with 10 points while Shakur Daniel snagged a career-high eight rebounds in the game. 

ACU then went on to win the Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships and advance to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. Though ineligible for the postseason, Tarleton also closed the 2020-21 campaign by playing its best basketball. The Texans won seven of their final nine games to finish with a 10-10 overall record. Five of the victories came against conference foes. Tarleton men's basketball was one of three programs to finish at-or-above .500 in the first year of the athletic department's NCAA-mandated four-year transition phase. 

INDIVIDUAL NOTABLES 

• MONTRE GIPSON has been on a tear over the last two weeks. The 5-11 guard led all scorers with 22 points in the Texans win over UTRGV on Feb. 24. He averaged 13.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game in contests vs. Utah Valley and at Chicago State on Feb. 16-19. He snagged a career-high nine boards in Chicago and led Tarleton on the glass in both games. 

• Gipson continues to lead Tarleton in points per game (14.8 ppg), assists per game (3.3 apg) and minutes per game (35.3 mpg) and ranks third on the team in rebounds per game (4.6 rpg). He dished out a season-high seven assists on Thursday at Sam Houston 

• Gipson ranks in the top-10 in the WAC in five statistical categories: minutes per game (1st, 35.3), points per game (9th, 14.8  ppg), free throw percentage (9th, .786), steals per game (10th, 1.4 spg) and assists per game (10th, 3.3 apg). 

• Gipson hardly takes a breath once he steps onto the court. The senior leads the WAC in total minutes (1,020) has played at least 38 minutes on 18 occasions this season 

• Gipson's 22-point effort vs. UTRGV marked his sixth 20-point scoring effort of the 2021-22 campaign and 12th of his two-year Texan career. 

• FREDDY HICKS led all scorers with 22 points in Tarleton's 57-49 win over Lamar on Feb. 26.. Two days prior, he joined Gipson in scoring 20 points behind a career-best 10-11 mark at the charity stripe. He tallied a team-high 13 points on 5-8 shooting against Sam Houston on Thursday. 

• When Hicks is hot, the Texans typically are too. Hicks has tallied a team-high seven 20-point games vs. WAC foes, six of which have translated into Tarleton wins. He leads Tarleton in scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 rpg) in WAC play 

• Hicks is averaging 16 points per game over Tarleton's last five contests. 

• SHAKUR DANIEL suited up for the first time in two months vs. UTRGV on Feb. 24. He finished with four points, three rebounds and one assist. The Toronto, Ontario native has made 32 starts at point guard for Tarleton since arriving in Stephenville in 2020. Daniel enters Saturday's contest averaging 6.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per outing. 

• SHAMIR BOGUES' three-steal effort vs. UTRGV on Feb. 24 marked the 25th multi-steal game of his two-year collegiate career. He is second in the WAC in total steals with 55. 

• NOAH MCDAVID has been one of the best shooters in the WAC. The 6-5 freshman is connecting at a 90.7 percent clip at the foul line, which is tops among all players with at least 40 free throw attempts. He is third in the conference and leads all freshmen in 3-point field goal percentage (38.6 percent). 

• McDavid became the first player in Tarleton basketball history to receive multiple sets of WAC weekly accolades on Jan. 31. He was named the WAC Freshman of the Week for the second time in a four-week stretch after averaging 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in Tarleton's triumphs at Lamar and UTRGV. 

• TAHJ SMALL leads Tarleton on the glass (5.6 rpg) and ranks second on the team in scoring (13.6 ppg).  

• JAVONTAE HOPKINS enjoyed the best three-game run of his D1 career from Feb. 5-16. The 6-0 guard averaged 8.3 points per game in that stretch. Hopkins chipped in 10 points in 27 minutes off the bench in Tarleton's defeat vs. ACU on Feb. 12. He recorded a game and season-high three steals to pair with eight points in Tarleton's win over Chicago State one week prior. 

'THE HARDEST SCHEDULE IN THE COUNTRY' 

The words spoken by Gillispie on Tarleton's Preseason WAC Media Day on Oct. 19 have never been more true. 

Tarleton was ranked first in the nation in strength of schedule in the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings following its game at Gonzaga on Nov. 29. 

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, 14 of the Texans' games are opposite teams currently ranked inside the top-150 while the team will play 10 top- 130 programs and draw seven foes listed in the top-100. Tarleton has already squared off with No. 88 Wichita State and No. 109 Stanford along with five conference foes in New Mexico State (No. 92), Grand Canyon (No. 93), Utah Valley (No. 110), Stephen F. Austin (No. 115), Seattle U (No. 127) and Abilene Christian (No. 138). North Dakota State was ranked 146th at tipoff time on Nov. 22.  

This season, Tarleton 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. 

ACROSS THE RANKINGS 

NCAA NET Rankings  

Tarleton sits at No. 218 ahead of Saturday's ballgame at ACU. The Wildcats rank No. 137 - sixth out of 13 teams in the WAC and one spot ahead of the Texans. 

The Texans have faced off with six teams currently ranked inside the top-105 of the rankings in No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 9 Kansas, No. 34 Michigan, No. 77 Wichita State, No. 90 New Mexico State and No. 91 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. 215 in the rankings as of March 4. 

Tarleton is rated ninth among its conference peers. New Mexico State, UVU, GCU, Seattle U, SFA, ACU. Sam Houston (No. 151) and California Baptist (No. 206) are ahead of the Texans. 

The Texans are slotted in front of Dixie State (No. 274), UTRGV (No. 297), Chicago State (No. 339) and Lamar (No. 346). 

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. 

MCDAVID EARNS SECOND SET OF WAC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONORS 

The 6-5 guard was named the TicketSmarter WAC Freshman of the Week for Jan. 24-30 after helping Tarleton notch consecutive road victories over Lamar and UTRGV.  

McDavid started in both contests and averaged 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He also connected on 5-12 attempts from long range.   

Three of his makes from behind the arc came in the Texans' 62-57 win over the Cardinals on Wednesday as a part of an 11-point, four-rebound and three-assist performance. McDavid played the full 40 minutes in the victory.  

McDavid's points vs. UTRGV came at key junctures of the Texans' 79-64 victory on Saturday. He connected on his first of two 3-pointers with 13:33 remaining in the first half to give Tarleton its first double-digit lead of the evening at 17-7 and force the Vaqueros to burn a timeout. McDavid then scored five straight points behind a pair of free throws and 3-pointer from the right key to increase the Texans' edge to 72-53 with 4:40 remaining and effectively ice the game.  

He is the first athlete in Tarleton basketball history to receive multiple sets of WAC weekly accolades. 

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 with 55 as of March 4. He is tied for fourth amongst his conference peers in steals per game (1.8). 

His three-swipe effort vs. Lamar on Feb. 26 was the 25th multi-steal game in his two-year Texan career and 13th this season. Bogues' seven steals at South Alabama are a conference single-game high.  

For his career, Bogues has recorded four-or-more steals on six occasions and reached three steals in 18 of his 49 games in Purple and White. 

He is Tarleton's active leader in career steals with 92. 

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 four 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. Small then engineered a 12-point, 10-rebound effort vs. Seattle U on Jan. 22 and most recently snagged 12 points and 11 boards vs. Lamar on Feb. 26. The 6-5 guard has increased his scoring average considerably from 2020-21. He is tallying 13.6 points per game compared to 9.2 in his first year in Stephenville. Small currently leads Tarleton in rebounds per game (5.6) 

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 209-40 (.839) 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.