STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State looks to extend its longest winning streak in the D1 era with a Tuesday night matchup against NCAA Division III's Hardin-Simmons Cowboys from Abilene at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Kyle Youmans 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.
Jakorie Smith stole the show on Saturday 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 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 five 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 five of four separate categories. Four Texans top the league in a different statistic with Smith's 2.5 steals per game, Gaddy's 4.75 offensive boards,
Devon Barnes 87 percent free throw percentage, and
Lue Williams 36.01 minutes per game.
Gaddy ranks third in both FG% (56.0) and blocks (1.5) and is fifth in rebounding (7.88). Smith is fourth in scoring (16.1) and free throw percentage (82.1), sixth in field goal percentage (43.8) and ninth in three-pointers made (14).
Emmanuel Innocenti has been a force on the boards ranking sixth in defensive boards (5.38) and ninth in total rebounding (6.75).
The Texans are meeting the Cowboys for the ninth time in program history and the first time in 21 years. The last meeting between the two schools came in 1992, a 99-68 victory for the Texans. The Purple and White have won the last four meetings to deadlock the all-time series at 4-4.
Hardin-Simmons is coming off a 71-69 thriller over East Texas Baptist over the weekend. HSU trailed by 18 during the contest and was down by 14 with three minutes to go. In the final 17 seconds, Jalen McGee and Will Bartoszek each knocked down triples to stun ETBU. The Cowboys enter the matchup 5-2 and 2-0 in the American Southwest Conference.
Tarleton State will continue their four-game homestand with a match-up against Sterling College on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+.
