STEPHENVILLE, Texas — For the first time in nearly 40 years, Tarleton State Men's Basketball is making the trek to Houston to take on the Rice owls on Thursday night in Tudor Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.

The Texans enter Thursday with a 3-3 record. The Owls have started the season 2-3 and are 2-1 on their home floor. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+. The game will also be streamed on the radio by 90.5 KTRL and available online on the Tarleton Sports Radio Network. Live Stats will be provided by Stat Broadcast. For the latest updates, content and highlights, follow @tarletonmbb on Instagram and X.

Dior Johnson scored 30+ for the second consecutive time with 33 against Angelo State. 18 of Johnson's 33 points came from the free throw line. He tied Freddy Hicks' Tarleton State D1 era record for single game made free throws. Hicks notched 18 at the Paradise Jam against Belmont on Nov. 18, 2023. Dior was just one shy of tying the all-time program record set by Brandon Burney twice. he made 19 against ACU in 1999 and 19 against Angelo State in 2001. His 18 made free throws is the second most in the nation in a single game this season.

After the sixth game of the season, Dior Johnson was the nation's leader in total points (136), made free throws (43) and made field goals (41). The junior also ranks 22nd in the nation and tops the WAC in points per game (22.7). He ranks 14th in the nation in field goal attempts (72) and leads the nation and the WAC with 51 made free throws. Johnson is one of four players in the NCAA this season to score at least 30 in multiple games joining JT Toppin (Texas Tech), Money Williams (Montana) and TJ Johnson (VMI). He is the only player to score 40+ off the bench, as well as the only player to score multiple 30+ games off the bench this season.

Andy Sigiscar notched his first double-digit scoring total in his collegiate career with 13 against Angelo State. Sigiscar pulled down a career-best six rebounds as well. He scored four straight Texan points in the second half. The redshirt-freshman shot 4-for-8 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Earlier this season he tallied four blocks to set a new career high in the Texans home opener against TAMU-CC.

Johnson earned the Texans' first WAC Weekly Award since Lue Williams was named WAC Player of the Week on Feb. 5, 2024. He is the first Texan to win Newcomer of the Week since Devon Barnes earned the distinction on Feb. 26. He is the only Texan to win both WAC Player and Newcomer in the same week since the league started acknowledging both honors ahead of the 2023-24 season. No Texan has won multiple WAC Weekly Awards in the same season.

Johnson notched 42 points shooting 17-for-24 from the floor at Baylor in a 94-81 loss on Friday night. He started his scoring in the first half scoring eight Texan points in a row, eventually totaling 14. In the second half, he orchestrated his own 11-0 run to bring the Texans back in the game and accounted for 18 consecutive Texan points. Johnson set numerous records with his performance that tied for the most points in a single NCAA D1 game this season, most points by a Texan in the D1 era and the most points by an opposing player at Baylor's Foster Pavilion. He now ranks fourth in Tarleton State history for points in a single game, record is 50 by Brandon Burney vs. Abilene Christian (2/1/01). Johnson all made the most and attempted the most field goals in D1 era history. All-time, he now ranks fifth in field goals made (17) and fourth in attempts (24) in program history. Last season, only six players scored at least 40 points in a game against a Power Five opponent, Dior is the first to do so this season.

Tarleton State is ranked seventh in the nation and leads the WAC in bench points per game. The Texans 269 bench points tops the nation in total bench points. The Tarleton State bench has outscored their starters in four games this season, with their leading scorer coming off the bench in each. Bench points account for 54.8 percent of their points.

Tarleton State is averaging 22.0 made free throws per game to rank 30th in the NCAA and lead the WAC. The Texans are shooting from the charity stripe at an 80 percent rate ranking 22nd in the nation and top of the WAC. Tarleton State notched 31 freebies against Angelo State and have tallied 29+ in three games this season.

Tarleton State is 0-7 all-time against the current members of the AAC. The Texans are 0-2 against the current AAC in their D1 era with two road losses at Wichita State. Overall, the Texans are also 0-3 against Rice and 0-2 against North Texas. Coach Gillispie is 6-9 against the AAC's current members. He holds perfect records against North Texas (2-0) and Florida Atlantic (1-0). He is 0-1 against Memphis when he played them when they were the #5 team in the country in 2007. He is also winless against Wichita State (0-2). He is 2-3 against his former school Tulsa where he was an assistant under Bill Self. He is 1-3 all-time against Rice.

Rice has opened the season 2-3 with wins over College of Biblical Studies and East Texas A&M. The Owls are 2-1 at home this season with a loss to SFA. The Owls have been tasked with two Power Four opponents this season, all losses at RV Oregon and #18 Tennessee. The Texans have not taken on the Owls since 1986 and all three of their previous meeting have come in Houston. Coach Gillispie has traveled to Rice twice and has not been since 2004 with UTEP when Rice was a WAC member.

Tarleton State will have eight days off before resuming play after Thanksgiving. The Texans are set for a Black Friday matchup against Midwestern State on Friday, Nov. 28 at 4 p.m. in the EECU Center.