STEPHENVILLE, Texas ­— Tarleton State hosts CUSA's Jacksonville State in the WAC x CUSA Scheduling Initiative on Monday night at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym in Texan Athletics final home contest of the calendar year. As Tarleton's Christmas gift to the community, all fans will get in free as a thank you for their support all year.
 
The first 100 fans will also receive a free Tarleton Christmas ornament. At halftime, the world-renowned ZOOperstars! consisting of large inflatable characters will put on a performance to remember. Tarleton faculty and staff and local area teachers, faculty and staff will also be gifted with a free popcorn with valid school ID.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Kyle Youmans and Scott Garner 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.
 
Tarleton's 8-2 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 12-8 in the month of December. The .600 winning percentage is the best of any month for the program. The Purple and White are 4-0 in December this season, for the first time as a program.
 
Head Coach Billy Gillispie has had five streaks of seven or more in his career with them all coming during his three years at Texas A&M. His longest of 11 came in his first 11 games of his first season (2004-05) with the Aggies. Gillispie has not been with the team since Nov. 19 due to medical circumstances. Assistant coach Joseph Jones has filled-in for the entirety of the streak. Jones played for Gillispie all three seasons he spent in College Station. The six-game streak is tied for Gillispie's sixth longest among his 11 years coaching at the Division I level.
 
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.  A pair of Texans lead the conference in three different categories. Three different individuals rank in the top five in nine different categories.
 
Jakorie Smith ranks in the top 10 of the league in four categories. He tops the WAC in FT % (85.7) and steals (2.1), is fourth in points (15.9) and sixth in FG% (43.8). KiAndre Gaddy ranks in the top six in five categories. He leads the WAC with 46 offensive boards and in per game (4.6), his four double-doubles is tied for the most, he ranks second in FG% (57.1), sixth in blocks (1.4) and sixth in rebounds (7.8). Emmanuel Innocenti ranks tenth averaging 6.1 boards per game. Innocenti has been a staple on the defensive class ranking ninth in the league with 47 defensive boards, averaging 4.7 a game. Lue Williams is tied for third in steals (1.9).
 
Last week, the Texans rolled Sterling Warriors, 85-47. The Texans shot over 40 percent from the floor for the seventh time this season, all of which have resulted in wins. Tarleton won the turnover battle for the eighth time which has resulted in seven wins. The Purple and White have won all six times they have been leading at the half.
 
Monday night will be the Texans second game of the WAC x CUSA Scheduling Initiative. Tarleton knocked off FIU, 85-63 on Nov. 9 in Miami to secure the first WAC victory. Overall, the WAC leads 5-1 in the 18-game series. Abilene Christian takes on UTEP in the seventh game on Sunday night.
 
Jacksonville State is a new member of CUSA in 2023. The Gamecocks previously played in the Atlantic Sun Conference from 2021-23. In its first year as an FBS member, Jax State reached its first football bowl game in school history.  The Gamecocks knocked off Lousiana-Lafayette, 34-31 in overtime on Saturday for its first postseason win. The squad was eligible after not enough teams finished bowl eligible. The Gamecocks were reclassifying similarly to Tarleton and were originally ineligible to compete in postseason in its first year of reclassification.
 
The Texans will face the Gamecocks for the first time in program history on Monday. The Texans are 6-23 against current members of CUSA. The Texans played Sam Houston 21 times before the Bearkats joined CUSA prior to this season. Tarleton is 1-0 against CUSA this year.
 
Tarleton will play two games in a week for the first time in three weeks after having a single game in each of the past two weeks. The Purple and White will invade Knoxville on Thursday to take on 12^th-ranked Tennessee at 5:30 at the Boling-Thompson Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and Crews will have the radio call.