The Teams: Tarleton Texans (9-8, 2-2 WAC) vs. Abilene Christian Wildcats (9-8, 1-3 WAC)
Where: Stephenville, Texas
Arena: Wisdom Gym
Day and Time: Saturday at 4 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Jeremy Bryant, Hek'ma Harrison)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Crews)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This marks the 70th all-time meeting, the second this season, as ACU won 69-63 on New Year's Eve in Abilene. Tarleton holds a 35-34 advantage in the series. ACU has won four straight since Tarleton won nine straight from 2009-13.
• ACU has lost three of their last four, the lone win vs. Tarleton. At 1-3 in the WAC, this is ACU's worst conference start since 2016-17 in the Southland Conference (started 1-3 and then 1-4).
• ACU is 2-4 in true road games and a combined 2-7 away from Abilene this year (7-1 at home).

 
QUICK HITS

• Tarleton is a perfect 7-0 at home, their best start at home to a season since 2014-15, a year they began 11-0 in Stephenville. They also have nine straight home wins dating back to last season, their longest such stretch since Nov. 28, 2015, through Jan. 27, 2016. They last won 10 straight at home from Jan. 21-Nov. 21, 2015 (13 straight home wins).
• Tarleton is one of three WAC teams undefeated at home (Utah Valley and Seattle U).
• With a win Saturday, Tarleton would match their best conference start through five games since joining the WAC. They began 3-2 last year.
• Tarleton just wrapped up its first non-conference winning record since becoming a D1 program.
• The Texans just made 25-of-50 (.500) from the field, the seventh time they've shot 50+ percent this year. That's already their most such games in a season since 2019-20, with 14 games to go. They are 7-0 when shooting 50+ percent this year, and 19-0 in such games under head coach Billy Gillispie.
• The first four WAC games for Tarleton have been decided by seven points or fewer.
• Tarleton has the best average turnover margin in the WAC at +6.06, the fifth best mark in the country. Only UNLV, Missouri, Iowa State and UCLA have a better average turnover margin.
• The Texans are averaging 10.2 steals per game, the best mark in the WAC and tied-seventh best average in the country. Missouri leads the nation at 11.6 steals per game.
• When scoring 70+ points, Tarleton is 8-1. They're 1-7 when scoring under 70 points.

 
WHO'S HOT

• KiAndre Gaddy – Gaddy just led the team in scoring for the first time with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, adding seven rebounds, three blocks and a steal. He tied his career-high in scoring in 15 points (vs. Huston Tillotson on Dec. 21) and in blocks (vs. Wiley College on Dec. 3).
• Shamir Bogues – Bogues is playing his best basketball of the season, averaging 18.5 points on 62.5 percent shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steal over the past two games. He's posted back-to-back games of 10+ points for the first time in his career.
• Shakur Daniel – Daniel returned from a one-game absence to post 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds. In his last eight games, he's scored seven 10+ point games (he had three over his first eight games). Over his last eight, he's at 11.6 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.9 APG and 1.5 SPG.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
3: At the top of the WAC LEADERBOARD IN STEALS PER GAME, Tarleton has two of the first three, with Shamir Bogues second at 1.8 SPG and Jakorie Smith third at 1.7 SPG. Shakur Daniel is 15th at 1.4 SPG.
  
2: Tarleton and Abilene Christian are the bottom two in the WAC in REBOUNDING MARGIN and in AVERAGE REBOUNDS PER GAME. ACU is 12th at 32.9 RPG, Tarleton 13th at 32.6 RPG. However, Tarleton has outrebounded opponents eight times in their 17 games, going 7-1 in such games.
 
32: Tarleton just went to the free throw line 32 times, their MOST FREE THROW ATTEMPTS since getting to the stripe 34 times on Dec. 3 vs. Wiley College. The Texans are averaging 25.5 free throw attempts per game, third most in the WAC and tied-seventh most in the country.
 
6: Tarleton is one of six teams in the WAC at .500 OR BETTER TO START CONFERENCE PLAY entering Saturday. Two teams are winless thus far, New Mexico State and UT Arlington.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
Tarleton will play its first true WAC road set of the season, heading to Seattle U and California Baptist next week. They'll begin at the Redhawks on Thursday at 9 p.m. CT. Like Tarleton, Seattle U is one of three WAC teams still undefeated at home.