SEATTLE — Tarleton State Men's Basketball closes out the seventh week of WAC play in hopes of extending their four-game winning streak against the Seattle U Redhawks on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT in Redhawk Center.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Russell Brown and Corey Belser on the call. 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.
 
The Purple and White are 9-3 in the WAC play, and 16-7 overall. With last night's win, it ties the most wins in the WAC in program history and secures a over-.500 overall record for the first time in the D1 era. 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. The second seed would receive a bye for the first two days and play a nationally televised game in the semifinals needing only one game to reach the championship.
 
On Thursday, the Texans found themselves in a 15-point hole at the break against Utah Valley. Tarleton overcame the deficit in a 26-point swing outscoring the Wolverines, 49-23 in the second half. Lue Williams scored 20-plus and led the team in scoring for the third-straight game. The Texans shot 53.3 percent from deep, marking the fifth time this season the squad shot over 40 percent, all resulting in victories.
 
After a pair of 25-point performances, Williams earned the WAC Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday. Williams' 27-point effort against ACU was just one-point shy of tying the Texan WAC record of 28 points in a game. He posted 25 on Saturday against SFA while shooting five-for-six from the three-point line and eight-for-eight from the charity stripe. He also tied his career high with five steals against the Jacks.
 
Tarleton has been consistent with their starting lineup, featuring the same five starters for the last 21 games this season. Currently it is tied for the sixth active longest streak in the country. The Texans are one of 30 schools in the country to use three or less starting lineups this season.
 
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 highest winning percentage among the 11 current reclassifying schools this season.
 
KiAndre Gaddy leads the league in offensive rebounds (92). The senior would rank seventh in the nation with 4.09 offensive boards per game. Gaddy ranks in the top seven in four 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.
 
Seattle U enters the weekend after a 75-52 thrashing of Abilene Christian on Thursday night. Cameron Tyson and Alex Schumacher each posted 14 in the victory who are the Redhawks' leading scorers. Seattle U is currently ranked third in the WAC Resume Seeding System right behind the Texans in the battle for the second overall seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament next month.
 
The Redhawks are meeting the Texans for only the third time in both programs' history. Seattle U has taken the first two matchups, including a 67-47 victory in Seattle last year. Tarleton is 0-4 against Washington schools in program history and 0-3 in the state of Washington.
 
Tarleton will return to Texas next week but will remain on the road with a single game in week eight at the College Park Center against UT Arlington on Thursday night at 7 pm.