The Teams: Tarleton Texans (17-15, 9-9 WAC) vs. Radford Highlanders (19-14, 12-6 Big South)
Where: Daytona Beach, Florida
Arena: Ocean Center
Day and Time: Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: FloHoops (Mike James, Jennifer George)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Crews)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This marks the first ever meeting. Radford plays out of the Big South Conference – Tarleton has not faced an active Big South program. Head coach Billy Gillispie is 2-2 all-time against Big South teams.
• Out of 363 programs at the NCAA Division I level, Radford has the 29th slowest PACE, averaging 66.3 possessions per game. Largely due to that, they're 38th in scoring defense (64.9 PPG).
• Radford just lost in the Big South Championship semifinals 72-71 to Campbell on a jumper with a second to play. When Sunday arrives, they will not have played in over two weeks (March 4).

 
QUICK HITS

• The CBI marks Tarleton's first national postseason D1 tournament in program history, and it's the second in Tarleton Athletics' history (Tarleton Softball played in 2022 NISC).
• In Tarleton's first WAC Tournament appearance, they won the first D1 conference tournament game in Tarleton Athletics history, beating UTRGV 74-70. In the WAC Tournament quarterfinals, the Texans fell to Utah Valley, who accepted an NIT bid.
• With a win Sunday, Tarleton would cement their first overall winning season in the NCAA Division I era. At 17, they already have their most wins in a single-season at the D1 level.
• Tarleton is one of two WAC teams in the CBI this year (Southern Utah). Three WAC teams made the CBI in 2022 (Stephen F. Austin, California Baptist, Abilene Christian). SFA and CBU lost in the first round, and ACU made a semifinals run.
• Tarleton is 3-2 in neutral site games this year, a win at the WAC Tournament and two wins in the Paradise Jam. The Texans took silver in that event with wins over Belmont and Boston College.
• Tarleton had two receive postseason WAC awards. Freddy Hicks was All-WAC Second Team. Shamir Bogues was on the WAC All-Defensive Team for the second straight year.
• The winner of Sunday's game will play the winner of Saturday's game between (2) San Jose State and (15) Southern Indiana on Monday at 3:30 p.m. CT, which will be televised on FloHoops.
• With two steals in the last game, Shamir Bogues (67) surpassed Tim Burnette (65, 2003) for the second most steals in a single-season in program history. Brandon Lee has the record at 83 (2002).

 
WHO'S HOT

• Jakorie Smith – Smith had a strong WAC Tournament, leading the team at 19.0 PPG across two games. He had the fifth highest scoring average in the WAC Tournament (min. 2 GP). He also averaged 5.5 RPG and 2.0 SPG across the two, scoring a career-high 26 points in the first game.
• Shamir Bogues – Bogues' career-long double-digit scoring streak is now at seven games. Over the span he's averaged 16.4 points on 43-of-76 (.566) shooting, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.3 steals. Nationwide, Bogues is averaging the tied-35th most steals (2.03), first in the WAC.
• Freddy Hicks – Hicks leads the team in both scoring (15.5 PPG) and rebounding (5.8 RPG). He is the first Texan with 15+ PPG and 5+ RPG in a season since Josh Hawley in 2018-19. He is fifth in the nation in FTA per game (8.09), and has the 14th most FTA in a single-season in team history (178).

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
2: Tarleton just won the turnover battle for the ninth straight game and 27th time in 33 games this year. Over the past nine, they're averaging a +8.1 turnover margin. Nationally they are SECOND IN AVERAGE TURNOVER MARGIN at +5.7, only behind Missouri (+5.9), a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
  
24.8: The Texans see a lot of their offense come from the charity stripe. They average 24.8 FREE THROW ATTEMPTS PER GAME, third most in the country, behind Texas A&M (25.3) and UTRGV (25.1). At 817 total FTA this season, this is the most in a single-year for the Texans since 2015-16 (848).
 
5: Over the past five games, Tarleton has averaged 14.8 steals per game, including earning 27 in the regular season finale, the most steals in a single-game across all of NCAA Division I this season. Overall, the Texans are TIED-FIFTH NATIONALLY IN AVERAGE STEALS at 9.7 SPG.
 
70: The number 70 has been the magic mark for Tarleton all year. In games Tarleton SCORES 70+ POINTS THEY ARE 15-2 and 2-14 when scoring under 70 points. Additionally, Tarleton is 14-3 when outshooting their opponent, 16-3 when leading at half, and 12-1 when outrebounding.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The winner of Sunday's game will play the winner of Saturday's game between (2) San Jose State and (15) Southern Indiana on Monday at 3:30 p.m. CT, which will be televised on FloHoops. If they advance from there, their semifinals game would be Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2, and the championship game is slated for Wednesday at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN2.