STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Men's Basketball will begin it 16-game WAC slate with a home contest against UT Arlington on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at 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.
 
Tarleton closed the 2024 calendar with a pair of home wins over Howard Payne and Florida A&M. The Purple and White have won their last four home games and are 4-1 on the season in their final season in Wisdom Gym. Last time out against Florida A&M freshman Keitenn Bristow set a new career high with 23 points in the 70-60 victory.
 
Bubu Benjamin ranks top three in the WAC in six different categories. The sophomore is second in the WAC in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game. He ranks 39th in the nation and second in the league with 256 total points. He also ranks second in the league and 19th in the country in minutes per game (35:45). The sophomore is third in field goal attempts (171), made field goals (87) and field goal percentage (.509). Benjamin has scored 20-plus points in five 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.
 
Benjamin and Chris Mpaka are the only Texans to record a double-double this season.
Benjamin's three ranks fourth in the WAC and he is one of six to have recorded at least three. Mpaka is seventh in the league with two. Tarleton is one of three teams to have multiple players record at least two double-doubles this season joining California Baptist and Utah Tech.
Benjamin notched his third double-double with a 17-point, 11-board effort against Florida A&M (12/29). Mpaka set new career highs with 19 points and 12 boards en route to his second double double of the season against Howard Payne.
 
Freshman Bristow has played the last six games with five starts after missing the first nine due to a lower body injury. Bristow has scored in double-figures in his last four contests and at least 15 in the last three. The Holliday, Texas, native, set a new career-high with 23 points and nine made field goals against Florida A&M. He posted 17 points in back-to-back games against Oklahoma State and Howard Payne. Bristow sunk four of his seven shots from deep to set a new career high against Oklahoma State. Bristow is the only Texan to have been named a Texas Mr. Basketball finalist during his prep career. Three top 100 recruits were among the other finalists. The 5A Player of the Year was a prized recruit that the Texans won last year.
 
Every squad under coach Gillispie is very defense oriented, and this year's crew is no different. Tarleton ranks fifth in the nation in forced turnovers per game, averaging 17.53 to lead the WAC. The Texans rank 32nd in the nation and third in the league averaging 9.5 steals per contest.
 
In the most recent NET (1/1/25) the Texans rank 32nd in SOS. Tarleton has the highest ranked SOS in the WAC. Grand Canyon leads the WAC in the NET at 105, UT Arlington is third (158) and Tarleton is ninth (322). The average net ranking of Tarleton opponents is 43.
 
Mpaka is first in the WAC and 23rd in the nation with 27 blocks. The junior college transfer has recorded five blocks in two games and at least three in four games. One of two WAC players to notch at least two games with at least five blocks. Mpaka posted five blocks against Florida State and Dallas Christian this season, the second most in a game in Tarleton's D1 era.
 
Karim Elgizawy made his Texan and collegiate debut on Dec. 29 against Florida A&M. The guard from Cairo, Egypt converted on a finger roll for his first point.  He made his first triple of his career, his only attempt of the game in 17 minutes of action. Elgizawy was the youngest Egyptian on Egypt's 2023 FIBA World Cup Team. Elgizawy played in Greece in qualification rounds and in the Philippines in the first round where he averaged 2.8 points per game across four contests totaling 48 minutes. He helped lead his team to the U18 continental championship-winning team in 2022 in Madagascar.
 
Marty Silvera is playing with his third program in five seasons. Silvera is one of three Texans to record at least five steals in a game this season, and the only to accomplish that feat twice. Last time out against Florida A&M, he posted a game-best six steals. Silvera scored a season-best 16 points against the Cowboys while leading the team with six assists and five steals. After not getting much time in two seasons at Saint Peter's, he spent two seasons at D2 Southern Connecticut State. At SCSU he was named to All NE10 Third Team in both seasons  and earned five selections to NE10 Weekly Honor Roll in second season.
 
Tarleton won the season series with UT Arlington a year ago, 2-1. The Texans won a pair of regular season contests, before dropping to the Mavericks in the WAC Tournament Semifinals. The Texans are 4-1 against UTA during its Division I era and are 2-0 in Stephenville. The Purple and White won the last meeting in Wisdom Gym last Jan. 4, 78-76.
 
Head Coach Billy Gillispie is chasing the 200-career win mark, needing four more to eclipse the milestone. Coach Gillispie has totaled 48 wins in Stephenville, the second most of any of his five stops as head coach trailing only Texas A&M. He totaled 70 in College Station in three seasons.
 
Tarleton State will hit the road for a pair of games next week in Utah. The Texans will start the week on Thursday night at Southern Utah at the America First Center at 7:30 p.m. CT. The Purple and White will close the weekend against Utah Tech on Saturday night at 8 p.m. CT at Burns Arena.