STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State looks to extend its longest winning streak in the D1 era to six with a Tuesday night matchup against the Sterling College Warriors at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Jeremy Bryant and Byron Anderson on the call. Kyle Crews will have the radio call on 90.5 KTRL. Live Stats will be provided by StatBroadcast and can be found on TarletonSports.com. For highlights and live score updates follow @tarletonmbb on Twitter and Instagram.
The Texans set a new program record with their fifth consecutive win coming last Tuesday against Hardin-Simmons, 92-56.
Lue Williams led the squad in scoring with 16 points in just 16 minutes of action.
Tarleton's 7-2 start to the season is its best start in the D1 era. The start is the program's best since the 2018-19 season when the Texans started the season, 12-2. With a win, the Texans will tie for the longest winning streak since the same season. In 2016-17 Tarleton executed a 10-game winning streak. The longest winning streak in recorded program history since 1988 is 18 games which the Texans have tallied twice.
Since becoming a Division I institution, the Texans are 11-8 in the month of December. The .579 winning percentage is the best of any month for the program. The Purple and White are 3-0 in December this season.
Jakorie Smith stole the show on Dec. 2 sinking the first game-winning buzzer beater in Wisdom Gym as a D1 program to knock off UTRGV, 77-75. Smith finished the night with 17 points and a game-high three steals.
With the win against the Vaqueros, it marked the Texans' first 2-0 start to WAC play in its four years of joining the conference. It also extended their winning streak to four games, the most in the Division I era for the program. Tarleton came back to win after trailing at halftime for just the third time since 2020 after trailing UTRGV 40-37 at halftime. For the first time since 2020, the Texans starting five each scored in double-figures for the first time.
KiAndre Gaddy nearly posted the Texans' first triple double against UTRGV leading the team with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. His seven blocks are the most in the WAC since 2018. His seven tied for sixth most this season in all of NCAA Division I.
The Texans are taking up a lot of space in the top of the statistical rankings this season with four players in the top 10 in the WAC. Smith ranks in the top 10 of five different categories and Gaddy is in within the top six of four separate categories. A pair of Texans top the league in a different statistic with Smith's 2.33 steals per game, Gaddy's 4.33 offensive boards per game.
Smith and ranks third in FT % (.848) fifth in points (16.1) and seventh in FG% (43.5). Gaddy is third in FG% (56.6), fourth in blocks (1.33) and sixth in rebounds (7.33).
Emmanuel Innocenti ranks ninth averaging 6.56 boards per game. Innocenti has been a staple on the defensive class ranking eighth in the league with 45 defensive boards, averaging 5.0 a game. Williams is fourth in steals (1.78) and fifth in minutes per game (33.82)
Sterling College is an NAIA school that plays in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Warriors are located in the middle of the state of Kansas just northwest of Wichita. Sterling enters the contest, 8-3 overall and 4-2 in thee KCAC. Last week, the Warriors split with a loss at York and a 83-66 home victory against Avila.
The Texans have played current members of the KCAC, 41 times. Tarleton holds a 25-16 record against these teams. Tuesday, Tarleton will be tipping off against Sterling for the first time in program history.
Tarleton State will close its two-game WAC x CUSA scheduling initiative with a home contest against Jacksonville State on Monday, December 18 at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym. The WAC currently leads, 5-1.
