ITTA BENA, Miss. — Tarleton State Men's Basketball heads out on its final non-conference road trip to Mississippi with a Tuesday night date against Mississippi Valley State at 6 p.m. at the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex.

The contest will not be streamed. Fans are encouraged to tune into the game on the radio by 90.5 KTRL or online on the Tarleton Sports Radio Network with Kyle Crews on the call. Live Stats will be provided by Stat Broadcast. For the latest updates, content and highlights, follow @tarletonmbb on Instagram and X.

The Texans are in search of their first win in their 18th different state. They have one additional win in a US Territory, (US Virgin Islands). So far in program history, the Texans have amassed at least one win in 17 different states. Tarleton State MBB has played a game in 23 different states since 1988. The Texans have played a program from 35 different states.

Cam McDowell was named WAC Newcomer of the Week on Dec. 8, the second Texan to earn the honor this season. He averaged 23.0 points and 3.0 steals a game while leading the Texans in points in both games he played during the week. He has scored in double digits in each of his last four games, with 20+ in back-to-back games. He has led the team in scoring in back-to-back games, for the first time this season. He joins Dior Johnson as the only Texans to lead the team in scoring in consecutive games this year. 

Tarleton State ranks fourth in the nation averaging 43.8 bench points per game this season. Dior Johnson and Cam McDowell have combined for seven 20+ point scoring games off the bench this season. The Texans have scored at least 50 bench points in six games this season with a season best of 67 against Howard Payne. The bench has accounted for 53.8 percent of the Texans total points this season. In total, a Texan has scored 10 or more off the bench 18 times with at least one in nine of the 11 games.

True freshman Leroy Kelly IV has notched a pair of games with at least six steals this season. In the Texans last game against Howard Payne he set a new Texan season-high with eight steals. Kelly IV ranks 17th in the nation with 22 total steals and tops the WAC. He is one of nine players this season to record eight or more steals in a single game. He is one of seven players in the NCAA this season to have at least 6 steals in multiple games. Kelly IV is the only freshman to have at least six steals in two or more games. He is also one of seven freshmen to record at least six steals in a game this year.

So far this season 15 different Texans have scored at least 10+ in at least one game this season. Tarleton State has the most different players in the NCAA to have scored at least 10 points in a game. Cornell and Wright State each have 12 players which ranks second in the nation. Freddy Hicks leads the way with nine total followed by Dior Johnson with five. Nine have multiple games with at least 10+ points in a game. 

A common power of all Billy Gillispie teams has been a strong defense. Once again, this team has one of the best in the country. The Texans rank third in the nation in forced turnovers per game (18.8) a stat that they ranked second in at the conclusion of last season. The Purple and White top the WAC and 15th in the nation with 10.5 steals per game. The Texans are 6-2 this season when they win the turnover battle, 73-48 in their D1 era. To begin the season, the Texans have won their first seven games each on different days of the week.  Tarleton State notched their seventh win of the season on a Sunday, to complete the feat. The Texans are undefeated on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tarleton State has two losses in Monday games this year.

The SWAC has the second fewest wins against a D1 team this season with 14 and the most losses, 85. Overall, teams in the conference have a .248 winning percentage this season, the lowest in the nation with just 28 total victories. The MEAC's 11 D1 victories and 26 total is the fewest this season. The WAC has the seventh lowest total non-con wins against a D1 this season and also ranks seventh with 47 total wins. The WAC is one of 13 conferences to have at least a .500 winning percentage against D1s this season (30-30).

Mississippi Valley State enters the game 1-9 on the season with their lone win over the Mississippi University of Women. The Delta Devils have played just 11 non-conference home games in the last 10 seasons and hold an 8-3 record. Of the 11, five have been Division I programs in which they are 2-3. They have not lost a non-con home game since 2021 when they lost to Nicholls State and Arkansas State. They beat D1 North Alabama at home in 2022. This season they have played 2 power five programs both on the road and both losses. A season ago they played seven. The Delta Devils rank 32nd in the nation as a team with a 77.1 free throw percentage. Leading scorer Michael James is fifth in the nation shooting 97.2 percent from the free throw line and is 26th with 200 total points.

The Texans are 2-0 in their first two meetings against SWAC schools with both coming at home. Coach Gillispie holds a 12-1 record against SWAC opponents with all 13 games coming at his home institution. His lone loss is to Alcorn State in 2002 when he was the head coach at UTEP. Coach Gillispie and the Texan program have both not played a SWAC program on the road previously. The Texans are 2-1 against Mississippi programs all-time and are 0-1 in road games in the state.

Tarleton State will close out the week with its final game before a 10-day holiday break on Friday, Dec. 19 at the EECU Center. The Texans will host Florida A&M for the second consecutive year with tip scheduled for 7 p.m.