The Teams: Tarleton Texans (13-11, 6-5 WAC) at Southern Utah Thunderbirds (16-8, 8-3 WAC)
Where: Cedar City, Utah
Arena: America First Event Center
Day and Time: Thursday at 8 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Crews)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• Tarleton won the first ever meeting between these two earlier this season, 68-65 on Jan. 5. Garry Clark exploded for career-highs in points (20, 4-6 3PT) and rebounds (eight).
• Since losing to Tarleton, Southern Utah has gone 6-2.
• Tarleton and Southern Utah have the tied-best home record in the WAC, both 10-1.
• SUU has one of the best offenses (No. 4 D1, No. 1 WAC, 84.8 PPG) and worst defenses (No. 276 D1, No. 12 WAC, 73.5 PPG). They're second in the WAC in average rebounding margin (+5.2).

 
QUICK HITS

• With a win Thursday, Tarleton would sweep their second straight WAC opponent. They just swept UT Arlington Monday. They also won the lone game on the schedule against GCU recently.
• With a win Thursday, Tarleton will have their best conference start through 12 games since joining the WAC at 7-5. Last year they started 6-6 in WAC play, and finished 5-7 in 2020-21.
• Tarleton just won their first true road game on Monday. They're 10-1 at home, 1-9 on the road.
• 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 seven games to play. SUU is second in the standings and clinches a WAC Tournament berth with a win Thursday. The Texans are seventh in the WAC MBB Resume Seeding System, SUU third.
• Tarleton outscored UTA 45-35 in the 2nd half, coming back from a 9-point deficit to win 69-64.
• Freddy Hicks just tallied 22 points (7-13 FG, 8-9 FT), six rebounds and three blocks on Monday, playing all 40 minutes. It was his fourth 20+ point game this year, his first since Nov. 21.
• Tarleton's bench just outscored UTA's bench 39-16. Jakorie Smith led with 19 points (6-8 FG, 5-7 3PT), four rebounds and two steals. He tied his career-high in scoring with a career-high in 3PM.

 
WHO'S HOT

• Freddy Hicks – Hicks is averaging the sixth most points in the WAC this season at 15.5 PPG, plus he's 14th in rebounding at 5.6 RPG. No Texan has finished with such a high scoring average since 2018-19 (Josh Hawley, 17.3 PPG). Hicks averages the most FTA per game in the country at 8.5.
• Jakorie Smith – Smith just tied his career-high at 19 points, first done on Nov. 26 at Wichita State. It marked his first 10+ point game since Jan. 14. He's now shooting 41.2 percent from three-point range, second highest on the team, 21st best in the WAC (min. 20 3PA).
• Shakur Daniel – Daniel just played a conference season-low 21 minutes, still managing to tally four points, three assists and three steals. He's averaging the most minutes per game in the WAC this season (35.0), is 17th in assists per game (2.9) and tied-18th in steals per game (1.3).

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
5: The Texans have only had MORE TURNOVERS THAN THEIR OPPONENTS five times this season, including their last game in which they got their first win when doing so. Nationally they're 10th in average turnover margin (+4.8) and 12th in turnovers forced per game (17.4).
  
70: The number 70 usually means a win for Tarleton, as the Texans are 11-1 THIS SEASON WHEN SCORING 70+ POINTS, and 2-10 when scoring under 70. Tarleton is also 12-1 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.
 
3: Tarleton is tied-third in the country in FREE THROW ATTEMPTS PER GAME, going to the line 24.8 times per contest. They only trail UTRGV (26.1) and Texas A&M (25.2), tied with UAB. Southern Utah is 11th nationally in free throw attempts per game at 24.0.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The Texans will wrap up their stay in Utah against the Utah Tech Trailblazers on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT.