STEPHENVILLE, Texas— Tarleton State Men's Basketball hosts I-20 rival Abilene Christian on Thursday night in Wisdom Gym on Residence Life Night where all Tarleton residents will receive a free orange Tarleton beanie. At halftime, K9's in flight who recently performed for the Dallas Mavericks will be on hand for a special performance. Tip is slated for 7 p.m.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Byron Anderson and Scott Garner. 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.
Devon Barnes led the Texans in scoring in both road games last week. Barnes scored 12 in the 77-63 loss to California Baptist on Thursday.
Dario Domingos was the only other Texan to score in double-figures with 11. Barnes was the only Texan with a double-digit scoring total on Saturday against GCU posting 11 while shooting three-for-six from deep. The Texans used a 16-0 run in the first half to take a 24-10 lead before GCU would overcome the deficit for a 74-48 victory.
The Texans are in their fourth year of reclassification into NCAA Division I. The Texans' played its 100th game as a Division I institution last Thursday at California Baptist. Men's basketball joins baseball, softball and volleyball as the fourth program to reach the century mark in total games played. Tarleton is the sixth men's basketball reclassifying program since 2010 to win at least 50 games in its first 100. The Texans have the eighth-best winning percentage of all 31 reclassifying programs since 2010. Tarleton owns the third highest winning percentage among the 11 reclassifying schools this season.
KiAndre Gaddy leads the league in double-doubles (five) and offensive rebounds (66). Gaddy ranks in the top seven in five different statistical categories in the conference. Gaddy was named the WAC Player of the Week on Jan. 2 for the final week of 2023.
Joseph Jones will be standing on the Texan sideline for the thirteenth time this season. Jones has been filling in for coach
Billy Gillispie since Nov. 19 who has not been with the team due to medial circumstances. Jones was named the acting head coach on Dec. 19. He holds an 8-4 record during his time on the sidelines.
Abilene Christian enters the bout with a 6-10 overall record and is 1-4 in WAC play. The Wildcats dropped a pair last weekend in the same road trip of the Texans a 74-64 defeat by GCU and a 68-53 loss at the hands of the Lancers. Abilene Christian owns the only win by a WAC program against a Power Five School with its 64-59 victory in Stillwater over Oklahoma State on College Basketball's Opening Night.
The Wildcats and the Texans will meet for the 71
st time in the two programs' histories on Thursday night. ACU is Tarleton's third most common opponent as a senior college. Midwestern State is the most common with 79 meetings, trailed by Texas A&M-Commerce with 72 meetings.
Tarleton will hit the road south to take on the UTRGV Vaqueros on Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. In both programs' second WAC game of the season, the Texans were 77-75 victors in Wisdom Gym thanks to a Smith buzzer-beating triple that found the bottom of the net.
