The Teams: (7) Tarleton Texans (17-15, 9-9 WAC) at (2) Utah Valley (24-7, 15-3 WAC)
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada
Arena: Orleans Arena
Day and Time: Thursday at 8 p.m. CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+ (Ben Wilson, Scott Williams)
Radio: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Crews)
 
ABOUT THE MATCHUP

• This marks the sixth all-time meeting, all within the last two years. Utah Valley leads the all-time series 3-2, but Tarleton won the lone matchup this season 77-58 in Stephenville on Feb. 23.
• In the first matchup, there were 69 combined FTA. Tarleton made 34-of-38 (.895) FT's. Tarleton won the turnover battle 8-19. UVU's Trey Woodbury received seven fouls (three technicals).
• Utah Valley was the WAC regular season champion at 15-3 in conference, a game ahead of Sam Houston.
• UVU received a bye into the quarterfinals, their third straight season making it this far.

 
QUICK HITS

• The Texans just won the first D1 conference tournament game in Tarleton Athletics history, beating UTRGV 74-70. Tarleton led for 37:33 of 40 minutes, racing out to a 21-4 lead and holding off multiple rallies. Jakorie Smith had career-highs in points (26) and rebounds (8) off the bench.
• Tarleton has won three of their last four games. With a win Thursday, they'd match a season-long winning streak at three games, first accomplished Nov. 10-20.
• In the WAC Tournament opening round, four of the six WAC teams from Texas lost, with Tarleton the only one advancing who didn't receive a bye. Only Tarleton and (1) Sam Houston remain.
• On Tarleton's side of the bracket remains (2) Utah Valley, (3) Southern Utah and (11) Utah Tech. Tarleton is 4-1 against them this year. The winner between the Texans and Wolverines will play the winner between the Thunderbirds and Trailblazers on Friday at 10 p.m. CT (8 p.m. local).
• Tarleton is 3-1 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.
• In Tarleton's first game against Utah Valley, the Texans forced them to a tied-season low 58 points and a season-low FG% of .318. UVU made just two field goals in the first half (2-17, .118).
• Tarleton had two receive postseason WAC awards; Freddy Hicks was All-WAC Second Team and Shamir Bogues was on the WAC All-Defensive Team. Thursday's game will feature three of the five from the All-Defensive Team (Bogues and UVU's Aziz Bandaogo and Le'Tre Darthard).

 
WHO'S HOT

• Jakorie Smith – Smith just had a career-high 26 points (11-11 FT), a career-high eight rebounds and two steals. It marked his first 20+ point game of the year. He has the second highest scoring output in the WAC Tournament thus far (GCU's Ray Harrison, 30) and the most off the bench.
• Shamir Bogues – Bogues' career-long double-digit scoring streak is now at six games after he posted 17 points (7-9 FG), five assists and two steals on Tuesday. Over his last six he's averaging 17.3 points on 38-of-67 (.567) shooting, 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.5 steals per game.
• Freddy Hicks – Hicks recorded 18 points (8-8 FT) and eight rebounds in his WAC Tournament debut. Over the past two games he's averaged 20.5 points on 14-of-23 (.609) shooting, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals. He's the sixth leading scorer in the WAC at 15.8 points per game.

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
2: Tarleton just won the turnover battle for the eighth straight game and 26th time in 32 games this year. Over the past eight, they're averaging a +8.3 turnover margin. Nationally the Texans are TIED-SECOND IN AVERAGE TURNOVER MARGIN at +5.7, behind No. 25 Missouri (+5.8).
  
70: The Texans have SCORED 70+ POINTS IN FOUR STRAIGHT GAMES, averaging 89.0 PPG during the span, their longest such streak since Jan. 30-Feb. 19, 2021. Over the past three, they're at 93.0 PPG and 51.0 FG%. When scoring 70+ points this year, the Texans are 15-2 (2-13 when scoring under 70).
 
5: In Tarleton's last two regular season games, the Texans had 45 steals, including 27 in the regular season finale, the most steals in a single-game across all of NCAA Division I this season. Overall this year, the Texans are TIED-FIFTH NATIONALLY IN AVERAGE STEALS at 9.7 SPG.
 
12: The Texans have outrebounded their last two opponents, their first such stretch since Jan. 5-14 (four straight). When OUTREBOUNDING THEIR OPPONENTS THIS SEASON, TARLETON IS NOW 12-1, and 4-14 when being outrebounded.
 
UP NEXT FOR TARLETON
The winner of Thursday's game plays the winner of the quarterfinals matchup between (3) Southern Utah and (11) Utah Tech. That semifinals game would take place on Friday at 10 p.m. CT (8 p.m. local). If they advance from there, the championship game would be Saturday at 10:30 p.m. CT.