CEDAR CITY, Utah – Tarleton State Men's Basketball heads to St. George on a four-game winning streak and a two-game conference win streak to take on the Utah Tech Trailblazers at 8 p.m. CT at Burns Arena.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Byron Anderson will have the call on the Tarleton Sports Radio Network. Live stats will be provided by StatBroadcast available on tarletonsports.com. Follow @tarletonmbb on Instagram, X and Facebook for live updates, highlights and content.
Tarleton State became the first time in the league this season to win a conference game on the road making the league 1-6. With the win, the Texans are currently on a four-game winning streak, the second longest in the WAC only behind Utah Valley. Tarleton is one of two teams in the WAC to start 2-0. The Texans are the only team to score at least 70 points in each of the first two WAC games this season.
Every squad under coach Gillispie is very defense oriented, and this year's crew is no different. Tarleton ranks third in the nation in forced turnovers per game, averaging 17.76 to lead the WAC. UTEP leads the nation averaging 18.93 per game. The Purple and White have forced at least 20 turnovers in five games this season and three of the last four. Tarleton has forced double-digit turnovers in all but one game this season (11/30 vs. Hofstra). The Texans rank 23rd in the nation and third in the league averaging 9.8 steals per contest.
On Thursday, the Texans used an early lead and a 10-point halftime advantage to hang on for a 74-66 victory at Southern Utah. Tarleton led the entire game until the 5:50 mark. SUU never led by more than one point and the Texans regained the lead a few minutes later and iced out the game.
Dantwan Grimes made a pair of layups and free throws to close out the victory.
Keitenn Bristow set a new career high with a game-best 24 points in the victory against Southern Utah. The freshman shot nine-for-14 from the floor and four-for-five from three-point range. The Holliday, Texas, native tied his career best with seven rebounds.
On Thursday night against Southern Utah the Texans used just seven different players. Each of the five starters played at least 30 minutes and Grimes played 24 minutes off the bench. Coach Gillispie used seven players for the second time this season, with the first time coming against Hofstra on 11/29.
Nick Krass did not play in his first game this season on Thursday night. Tarleton has used eight players in three games and nine players in seven games. The most different players to play in a game is 11, twice.
Bubu Benjamin ranks top three in the WAC in six different categories. The sophomore is second in the WAC in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game. He ranks 54th in the nation and second in the league with 283 total points. He also ranks second in the league and 26th in the country in minutes per game (35:40). The sophomore is second in made field goals (97) and third in field goal attempts (194) and field goal percentage (.500). Benjamin has scored 20-plus points in six games. The Canadian broke his career-high for the third time this season with 29 against Dallas Christian. Benjamin posted 21 points in the season opener at SMU and then broke his career high again against Iona with 22 in the Bahamas.
Head coach
Billy Gillispie is just two wins shy of notching 200 career victories. Gillispie has accumulated his second most victories in his career at Tarleton with 50. He registered 70 wins during his three seasons at Texas A&M. Currently, there are 148 active head coaches with at least 200 career victories.
The Texans lead the all-time series with Utah Tech, 5-2. Tarleton swept the Trailblazers last season winning each by double digits. TSU is 3-2 against UTU in St. George. The Purple and White won all three games against the Utah school in the state last season.
Tarleton State will open next week at home against California Baptist on Thursday before heading on the road to Grand Canyon on Saturday. The Texans will host the Lancers in Wisdom Gym on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The Purple and White will close the week with a 7 p.m. CT tip in Phoenix against the Lopes.
