STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Men's Basketball is set to host California Baptist on Thursday night in its lone home game of the week at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Byron Anderson and Scott Garner. Kyle Crews 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.
 
Thursday night will be the first game in almost a month that students will be back on campus. Wisdom Gym is set to be full of spirit with the pep band, cheer and dance teams returning as well. Help us give a warm welcome to Wisdom.

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 17.61 to lead the WAC. UTEP leads the nation averaging 18.38 per game. The Purple and White have forced at least 20 turnovers in five games this season. Tarleton has forced double-digit turnovers in all but one game this season (11/30 vs. Hofstra). The Texans rank 16^th in the nation and third in the league averaging 9.8 steals per contest.
 
Tarleton State became the first time in the league this season to win a conference game on the road last Thursday at Southern Utah. After 11 league games, road teams are 1-10. Last season, the Texans boasted the best road conference record, going 8-2. Overall, the league was 43-67 in conference road games, a 39 percent win rate.
 
Keitenn Bristow averaged 19.5 points and 5 rebounds in the last two games in Utah. He put on a career night in Utah against the Thunderbirds scoring a game-high 24 with 17 in the first half. The freshman tied season-highs making nine shots from the floor and four from deep.
 
Bubu Benjamin ranks top three in the WAC in five different categories. The sophomore is second in the WAC tallying 290 total points and is third in points per game (16.1). He also ranks second in the league and 28th in the country in minutes per game (35:32). The sophomore is second in made field goals (99) and third in field goal attempts (203). 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.
 
Dantwan Grimes has scored in double-digits in each of the first two conference games. The junior transfer registered a season-high 18 points against UTA in the conference opener and 11 at Utah Tech. He is one of five WAC players to start out league play shooting perfect from the line and has the most made free throws without a miss (9-for-9).
 
Marty Silvera is at his third stop of his collegiate journey with two two-year stints at St. Peter's (D1) and Southern Connecticut State (D2), both NCAA recognized institutions. In his fifth college season he ranks 21st among active college players across all levels with 207 total steals. He also ranks 54th among active players across all levels with 427 total assists.
 
Tarleton State won its last meeting with California Baptist in Wisdom Gym last season. The Lancers own the all-time series, 5-1 and are 1-1 against the Texans in Wisdom Gym. Former Texan Adam Moussa will make his return to Stephenville suiting up for the Lancers. One of the top scorers in the nation Dominque Daniels Jr. enters as the WAC-leading scorer averaging 21.3 points per game.
 
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.

Tarleton State will close the week on Saturday night in Phoenix against 2024 WAC Tournament champion Grand Canyon. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. CT at GCU Arena and will be aired on ESPN+.