STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Men's Basketball looks to extend its perfect WAC home streak to four games on Saturday night against Southern Utah at 7 p.m. in Wisdom Gym.
 
Tarleton State (9-13 overall, 4-3 WAC) is right in the middle of the conference with a .500 winning percentage. Southern Utah (9-12, 1-6) dropped the first meeting in St. George a few weeks ago, 74-66. The Texans own the all-time series, 3-2 and are 1-1 in Wisdom Gym.
 
Saturday's game is sponsored by La Paloma Residences. It will be streamed on ESPN+ with Jeremy Bryant and Hekma Harrison on the air. 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.
 
Prior to the game on Saturday, the baseball and softball teams will be in the lobby signing posters and meeting Texan nation ahead of their upcoming season. Early-arriving fans will receive a free boot'n'scootin' koozie while supplies last in honor of Rodeo Night. A special presentation for cadet Tom McLaughlin who sunk the law offices of Brady L. Pendleton full-court putt will take place at halftime.
 
The Texans are 7-1 at home this season. Tarleton currently holds a perfect 3-0 record in Wisdom Gym during WAC play. Across the past three seasons, the Purple and White are 33-7 in the friendly confines of Wisdom Gym. Last season, the Texans were 8-2 at home in WAC play, and 7-2 the season before in conference play. Tarleton is 18-4 at home in WAC play the past three years.
 
Dantwan Grimes has been on a hot streak during WAC play. He has scored at least 10 in each of the last five contests, including an 18-point effort against UT Arlington. He led the team in two of those games. He snapped his perfect 33 made free throws in a row streak, the longest in the nation this season.
 
Chris Mpaka notched his third double-double of the season against Utah Tech. He posted 10 points and 10 boards, his first double-double in WAC play. The Kinshasa, Congo, native, shot 80 percent from the floor while playing just 22 minutes. He fouled out for the sixth time this season.
 
Head coach Billy Gillispie notched his 200th career victory on Thursday night against Utah Tech. Gillispie became the 159th active head coach with at least 200 career victories.  Coach Gillispie is the fifth active WAC coach to reach the 200-mark. Gillispie has accumulated his second most victories in his career at Tarleton with 52. He registered 70 wins during his three seasons at Texas A&M. During his career he has posted a 142-49 record, a .743 winning percentage at home. He has posted six winning seasons and five seasons with at least 20 wins.
He is 3-4 in the NCAA Tournament.
 
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 17.50 to lead the WAC. UTEP leads the nation averaging 17.95 per game. The Purple and White have forced at least 20 turnovers in six games this season. Tarleton has forced double-digit turnovers in all but one game this season (11/30 vs. Hofstra). The Texans rank seventh in the nation and second in the league averaging 10.0 steals per contest.
 
Bubu Benjamin ranks in the top five in the WAC in six different categories. He leads the league and ranks 28th in the nation averaged 35:54 minutes per game. The sophomore is third in the WAC tallying 246 field goal attempts and 112 made field goals. The Canada native is second in points (333) and fifth in points per game (15.1). He ranks fifth in total steals (36). 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.
 
Tarleton State is one of 15 programs to have at least 13 different players post 10 or more points in a single game. Freddy 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.
 
The Purple and White will head out west for its final two-game road trip of the season. The Texans will take on Seattle U on Thursday night at the Redhawk Center. Tip is slated for 9 pm CT. Tarleton State will close the weekend in Orem, Utah at Utah Valley with tip slated for 3 p.m. CT at UCCU Center.