Texans wrap up stay in Utah with Saturday rematch against the Trailblazers

The Teams: Tarleton Texans (13-12, 6-6 WAC) at Utah Tech Trailblazers (11-14, 3-9 WAC)
Where: St. George, Utah
Arena: Burns Arena
Day and Time: Saturday at 8 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Crews)

ABOUT THE MATCHUP

This marks the fifth all-time meeting, all within the last two years. Tarleton improved to 3-1 in the all-time series just over two weeks ago, winning 74-72 in Stephenville on Jan. 26.
In the first meeting this year, Lue Williams went off for 25 points (11-23 FG, 3-8 3PT), six rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Garry Clark added 13 points and five rebounds off the bench.
In that Jan. 26 game, Tarleton won the first half 50-28, and Utah Tech won the second 44-24.
Over their last 11 games, Utah Tech has gone 2-9. They won their last home game vs. SUU 86-79.

QUICK HITS

With a win Saturday, Tarleton would sweep their second WAC opponent of the year. They swept UT Arlington on Monday. They also won the lone game on the schedule against GCU recently.
With a win Saturday, Tarleton will have their best conference start through 13 games since joining the WAC at 7-6. Last year they started 6-7 in WAC play, and finished 5-7 in 2020-21.
Due to a postponement, Tarleton is on a true four-game road trip, their first since Feb. 1-10, 2018. They played at Eastern New Mexico, Western New Mexico, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Angelo State, going 3-1. Tarleton played four straight away from home earlier this season, the first three at the Paradise Jam, the fourth game at Wichita State. The Texans went 2-2.
Tarleton is seventh in the WAC standings with a 4.0 game cushion to make the WAC Tournament with six games to play. Utah Tech is just a game above the cutoff spot, tied with UTRGV for 11th in the WAC. The Texans are seventh in the WAC MBB Resume Seeding System, Utah Tech 10th.
In the last game, Tarleton's opponent had 27 FTA in the second half alone, as the Texans were called for a season-high 28 fouls. There have only been seven other instances this year Tarleton has allowed 27+ FTA in an entire game.
Freddy Hicks went to the free throw line 13 more times in the last game. He averages the most FTA per game in the country at 8.9. He's attempted the fourth most free throws (124) in the WAC this season despite playing just 14 games.

WHO'S HOT

Freddy Hicks – Hicks just totaled 18 points (11-13 FT), eight rebounds and three steals. He's played all 40 minutes in back-to-back games. In the WAC, he's top-15 in both scoring (15.6 PPG, sixth) and rebounding (5.8 RPG, 13th). He now leads the team in conference play scoring (13.4 PPG).
Shakur Daniel – Daniel just tallied 12 points (4-7 FG, 2-2 3PT) in 39 minutes against the Thunderbirds. He's averaging the most minutes per game in the WAC this season (35.2), and is first in conference play playing time (36.6 MPG). He's also 17th in both APG (2.8) and SPG (1.3).
Garry Clark – Clark loves playing the Utah programs, owning three of his top six scoring performances of the year against Southern Utah and Utah Tech. He's averaged 13.7 points and 4.7 rebounds against Utah programs. Against all other programs, Clark has averaged 4.2 PPG and 1.9 RPG.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
5: The Texans have only had MORE TURNOVERS THAN THEIR OPPONENTS five times this season, once again winning the turnover battle handily in their last game. Nationally they're eighth in average turnover margin (+4.9) and 13th in turnovers forced per game (17.3).

70: The number 70 usually means a win for Tarleton, as the Texans are 11-1 THIS SEASON WHEN SCORING 70+ POINTS, and 2-11 when scoring under 70. Tarleton is 12-2 when leading at halftime and 12-2 when outshooting their opponents.

50: The Texans are 9-0 this season when SHOOTING AT LEAST 50 PERCENT FROM THE FIELD, and 21-0 in such games under head coach Billy Gillispie since he took over in 2020-21. This is already their most games shooting 50+ percent in a single-season in their D1 era.

4: Tarleton is fourth in the country in FREE THROW ATTEMPTS PER GAME, going to the line 24.7 times per contest. They only trail UTRGV (25.8), Texas A&M (25.2) and Ball State (24.8). Southern Utah is tied-12th nationally in free throw attempts per game at 23.8.

UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The Texans will head back to Texas to end their four-game road trip on Wednesday at Stephen F. Austin at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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