BATON ROUGE, La. — Tarleton State Men's Basketball continues their season-opening road trip with a Wednesday night matchup at LSU in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.
Wednesday's game will be the season and home opener for the Tigers and it will be streamed on SEC Network+ and ESPN+ with Lyn Rollins and Victor Howell on the call. 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.
The Texans continue their road trip after dropping a tightly-contested battle early on at SMU on Monday night. The game featured 10 lead changes and five ties in the first half. The Texans led as late as the final eight minutes of the first half. After trailing by 10 at the break, 48-38, Tarleton State clawed back to within five in the final eight minutes. Ultimately, the Mustangs took the victory, 96-76.
Dior Johnson tallied a game-best 23 points in his Texan debut. His 23 points was tied for the most by a WAC player on opening night and tied for 49th most in all of the NCAA. He also shot a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Johnson was one of 15 players to shoot perfect from the line on opening night with at least 8 makes. The junior shot 3-for-4 from deep and 6-for-12 from the floor.
Freddy Hicks has always made a living at the line. Throughout his six seasons he has made 475 of his 644 attempts. The senior leads all active NCAA D1 players by more than 25 makes and by over 70 attempts. Hicks is the D1 era leader for the Texans in free throws made (376), double the second-best Jakorie Smith (160).
Freddy Hicks took 15 attempts from the charity stripe on opening night. Hicks converted on 13 of them, an 86.7 percent clip. Hicks made the second most FT's among all players in the NCAA on Opening Night.
Freddy Hicks returns for the Texans for his sixth collegiate season and fifth as a Texan. Hicks led the team in points, rebounds and assists per game last season, playing in seven contests. Hicks is the Texans D1 era leader in rebounds (445), total points (1040), field goals made (301), field goals attempted (728), free throws made (376) and free throws attempted (509). Hicks missed the first 16 games of the season due to a foot injury and then reinjured it and missed several more contests. He became the first Texan in its D1 era to score 1000 points in his Texan career coming on a free throw against Utah Valley in the final regular season game of the season. Hicks was the 2021 WAC Freshman of the Year and has been a two-time Preseason All-WAC selection.
Tarleton State's 76-point effort against SMU is its most against a Power Four conference opponent in its D1 era. The previous most was a 70-point win against Boston College on Nov. 20, 2022 in the US Virgin Islands. The Texans have played 17 games against Power Four Conference opponents owning a 1-16 record. The most points allowed by the Texans in these matchups was 104 last season at Baylor. Boston College's 54-point effort is the fewest the Texans have allowed a Power Four opponent.
Wednesday will be the sixth meeting for Coach Gillispie against the Tigers. Coach Gillispie played LSU for the first time in his career in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament during his time with Texas A&M. His Aggies fell 58-57 to the #18-ranked LSU squad. Current coach
Joseph Jones notched six points and four boards. In a non-con tilt the next season, Gillispie's Aggies fell 64-52 in their first trip to LSU. Jones scored 12 fouling out in 16 minutes. Gillispie picked up his first win in 2008 with Kentucky when he knocked off an un-ranked LSU squad in Baton Rouge. LSU knocked him off in the final two games during Gillispie's tenure.
LSU returns two players with eight additions in the transfer portal and four from high school. Dedan Thomas Jr. joins the Tigers after spending his first two seasons at UNLV. He was the 2024 Co-Freshman of the Year in the Mountain West and named to the 2025 Mountain West Third Team. LSU finished second to last in the SEC last season with a 3-15 record in league play. Two of the Tigers' eight incoming transfers are coming from Power 4 programs. The other six spent last season at a mid-major D1. Head coach Matt McMahon is in his 11th year as a collegiate head coach and his fourth with the Tigers. He spent his first seven seasons at Murray State. He coached NBA No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant during his time with the Racers.
