STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball heads into its final pair of games of the regular season on the nation's second-longest win streak of 10 games. The Texans will host Utah Valley in search of their sixth season series sweep on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Scott Garner and Mike Hardge 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.
 
If the Texans win both games this week against Utah Valley and Seattle U, they will clinch at least a share of the WAC regular season title. The Texans have the same amount of losses as GCU and with a win on Thursday due to GCU's off day, Tarleton will be tied in the standings with the reigning WAC Tournament champs. GCU travels to CBU on Saturday set to tip off at 7 p.m. CT. The Texans would earn their first WAC title since joining in 2020, and would be the second sport earn a regular season title matching Women's Tennis from 2022.
 
Tarleton State enters the week on the second-longest active win streak in the nation, 10 games. The Texans finished the month of February a perfect 8-0, the first perfect month of three games or more in their D1 era and the 19th in program history. Tarleton also ended the season on an eight-game road winning streak.
 
The Purple and White are 15-3 in the WAC play, and 22-7 overall, breaking program records for total and WAC wins in a season and securing an over-.500 overall record for the first time in the D1 era. The Texans have reached the 20-win mark the for the 20th time in program history and the first in their Division I era.
 
Tarleton State announced on Wednesday morning that it had extended the contract of Billy Gillispie until 2026. Acting head coach Joseph Jones who has been filling in since Nov. 19 will finish out the remainder of the season at the helm of the program. Gillispie will remain in an advisory role for the first-year head coach. Jones has amassed a 20-5 record this season, the most by any coach this season that didn't start the season with the head job.
 
Last week, the Texans notched their sixth perfect 2-0 week, with a pair of road wins at Utah Tech and Southern Utah. Jakorie Smith led the team in scoring on both nights with a pair of 20-point performances. Smith teamed up with Devon Barnes against Utah Tech making it the fourth game this season that two Texans each scored 20 in a single game.
 
KiAndre Gaddy leads the league in offensive rebounds (112). The senior would rank eighth in the nation with 3.86 offensive boards per game. The senior ranks seventh in program history and is 41 boards behind program record holder Danny Jones 153-mark. Gaddy ranks in the top seven in four different statistical categories in the conference.
 
In each of the last 13 games, a Texan has scored at least 20 points in each game. Barnes has had a 20-plus total in three straight games, and Williams had a streak of four out of five games. During 12 of the last 13 games, Smith has scored at last 10 points in each.
 
Tarleton became the second school to clinch a bid to the 2024 WAC Tournament with a win combined with a Southern Utah loss on 2/15. Tarleton joined GCU to punch their tickets first, and was later joined by Seattle U, UT Arlington, Abilene Christian and Utah Valley. The Texans currently have the second-best conference winning percentage and are seeded second in the WAC Resume Seeding System. The top two teams will receive a double bye and play their first game in the semifinals on Friday.
 
Tarleton has been consistent with their starting lineup, featuring the same five starters for the last 27 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.
 
Last week, Devon Barnes earned his first WAC weekly award after his 55-point week as he earned WAC Newcomer of the Week. The sophomore transfer is the fourth Texan to earn a WAC weekly selection, making Tarleton the only WAC school with more than three different players this season.
 
Utah Valley punched their ticket to next week's WAC Tournament last week, and enter the final week of the season an even 9-9 and sixth in the WAC Resume Seeding System. Caleb Stone-Carrawell leads UVU with 11.7 points per game. Head coach Todd Phillips has amassed 14 wins this season, the most by any Wolverine coach in his first season at the helm of the program.
 
The Wolverines lead the season series, 4-3. The Texans took the meeting earlier this year in Orem, 72-61 on Feb. 8. Tarleton won the last meeting in Wisdom Gym, 77-58 on Feb. 23, 2023.
 
Tarleton State will close out the regular season in its final game at Wisdom Gym on Saturday. In a show of Fan Appreciation, Tarleton is giving all fans free admission to the contest as well as a slew of fun giveaway items throughout the game. Before the game, retiring AD Lonn Reisman will be honored with a pregame reception. Immediately before the game, Tarleton's four seniors: Lue Williams, Jakorie Smith, KiAndre Gaddy and Adam Moussa. Tip is slated for 4 p.m. against the Seattle U Redhawks.