STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Men's Basketball ends its third week of WAC play with a Saturday night contest at Grand Canyon in GCU Arena at 7 p.m. CT.
 
Tarleton State (8-11 overall, 3-1 WAC) is one of two WAC teams with at least three wins in WAC play. The Texans current occupies second in the league only trailing 4-0 Utah Valley. Grand Canyon is tied for third with Southern Utah boasting a 2-1 conference record, its lone loss to Utah Valley on the road.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+. 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.
 
Tarleton opened the week with a home victory over CBU, 77-67. Senior Freddy Hicks made his return and led the team with 15 points in 19 minutes. Four Texans scored in double figures. Tarleton State led by as many as 16, ultimately securing the 10-point victory without ever letting CBU take the lead.
 
Hicks made his season debut for the Texans on Thursday night against CBU. He made his first appearance for Tarleton State since March 19, 2023 vs. Radford. He spent last season with Arkansas State after spending his first three in Stephenville. The senior entered with 12:10 remaining in the first half, snapping his 63-game starting streak as a Texan. In his debut, Hicks posted a team-best 15 points while going 9-for-14 from the line. He is 51 points short from notching 1000 points as a Texan, the first to accomplish the feat in the D1 era.
 
Tarleton State leads the WAC and is fourth in the nation in forced turnovers per game (17.37). The Texan defense has been a staple to the Purple and White's success under head coach Billy Gillispie. The Texan defense also ranks 20th in the country with 9.6 steals per game.
 
Dantwan Grimes has been on a hot streak during WAC play. He has scored at least 10 in three of the four games, including an 18-point effort against UT Arlington. The junior also has sunk each of his first 17 shots from the free throw line to start WAC play, the most by any player. Grimes has played off the bench in each of the last eight games after missing the first half of the year.
 
Bubu Benjamin ranks in the top two in the WAC in four different categories. The sophomore is second in the WAC tallying 298 total points. He also ranks second in the league and 26th in the country in minutes per game (35:46). The sophomore is second in made field goals (102) and field goal attempts (210). He is tied for fifth in the WAC with 30 total steals, just one behind the four leaders who each have 31.Benjamin has scored 20-plus points in six games. The Canada native 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.
 
Tarleton State is one of 17 programs to have at least 12 different players post 10 or more points in a single game. Hicks posted a 15-spot in his first game back elevating the Texans to 13 players to accomplish the feat. Alabama A&M leads the nation tallying 15 players to have scored at least 10 points in a single game. The Purple and White tied with VMI as the only schools to have 13. 14 schools have 12 different players to accomplish it. Karim Elgizawy, Collin Course and Roy Marom are the only Texans to have played in a game this season and not have scored at least 10.
 
Tarleton became the first time in the league this season to win a conference game on the road last Thursday at Southern Utah. After 14 league games, road teams are 2-12. Utah Valley is the only other program with a road WAC victory this season. 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, a season ago.
 
The Texans will take on GCU for the first of two regular season meetings this season. Tarleton State split the series, 1-1, besting the Lopes at home in a 77-74 court-storming fashion. The crew from Stephenville have not knocked off the Lopes in Arizona yet, posting an 0-3 all-time record. Tarleton is 1-4 all-time in the state of Arizona with its lone win coming in 1995 against Colorado Christian in a neutral site contest.
 
Head coach Billy Gillispie is just one win shy of notching 200 career victories. Gillispie has accumulated his second most victories in his career at Tarleton with 51. He registered 70 wins during his three seasons at Texas A&M. Currently, there are 158 active head coaches with at least 200 career victories. Coach Gillispie will be the fifth active WAC coach to reach the 200 mark.

Tarleton State will earn its first of three bye days, with just a single contest next week. The Texans will travel to Abilene Christian on Thursday for tip scheduled at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Purple and White will have its first of two Saturdays off during WAC play on Jan. 25.