STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball will "White Out Wisdom" as it closes out its fifth week of WAC play with a Saturday evening matchup against Utah Tech with tip slated for 4 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
 
In an effort to "White Out Wisdom", early-arriving fans will receive a free white t-shirt. After a loud and supporting crowd on Thursday, Texan basketball looks forward to seeing a sea of white in the stands as all fans are encouraged to wear white. Before the game, Texan softball and baseball players will be in the lobby signing autographs and poster schedules to promote their upcoming season.
 
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.
 
Tarleton opened the week with a heartbreaking loss to Southern Utah, 73-70, on Thursday night. Devon Barnes posted a game-high 22 all coming in the second half. KiAndre Gaddy and Jakorie Smith also scored in double figures with 19 and 15, respectively. The Texans trailed by as many as 10 in the second half with 10 minutes to go and cut their deficit down to one with under a minute to play. Trailing by three, the ball found Smith at the top of the key were his last-second heave clanked off the front of the rim giving the Thunderbirds the victory.
 
The Purple and White are 5-3 in the WAC play, and 12-7 overall. The Texans remain second in the WAC Resume Seeding, meaning that if the season ended today, Tarleton would own the second overall seed in the conference tournament in Vegas. The WAC has adopted the resume system to determine seeding, but based on conference winning percentage, the Texans are tied for second with Stephen F. Austin and California Baptist who are also 5-3.
 
The Texans are in their fourth year of reclassification into NCAA Division I. The Texans' played its 100th game as a Division I institution on 1/11 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 offensive rebounds (79). The senior would rank sixth in the nation with 4.16 offensive boards per game. 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.
 
Utah Tech opened the week in Abilene taking a 21-point loss to the Wildcats, 81-60. The Trailblazers leading scorer, Tanner Christensen notched a team-high 15 points along with nine rebounds. UTU enters the weekend 3-5 in conference play. Head Coach Jon Judkins is in his 18^th year at the helm of the Trailblazers. He coached with UTU during its Division II and Division I days.
 
The Texans own the series, 4-1 and have won the lone meeting in Stephenville, 74-72 last January. The Texans completed the sweep last season with a 75-72 victory in St. George on Feb. 11. Tarleton has won the last three meetings dating back to 12/30/21.
 
Next week, the Purple and White will play a game on the road followed by a home contest on Saturday evening. The Texans will hit the road for a short trip up I-20 for the second game of the I-20 rivalry against the Wildcats. Then, Tarleton will round out the week with a chance to sweep Stephen F. Austin on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Wisdom Gym. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.