LAS VEGAS – Tarleton State Men's Basketball is set to take on California Baptist in the WAC Tournament Quarterfinals at The Orleans on Thursday night at 10:30 pm CT.
 
The sixth-seeded Texans (12-19 overall) are in search of their second-straight trip to the WAC Tournament semifinals. The third-seeded Lancers (16-14) are looking for their first-ever victory in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Dave Miller and Ben Wilson. 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.
 
Freshman Keitenn Bristow earned freshman of the year honors on Monday. He leads WAC freshman in two categories and ranks in the top three in four in conference play. Bristow is the only freshman to score in double figures per game in WAC play (10.06) and leads in steals (1.2). He also ranks second in rebounds and three-point field goals made. He is third in blocks per game. Spanning from Jan. 16 to Feb. 27, he made 25 consecutive free throws including a perfect nine-for-nine in a single game at Seattle U. He posted a career-high 24 points in his second WAC game of the season in Southern Utah the most points by a WAC freshman this season. Bristow joins Freddy Hicks as the only two Texans to earn the WAC Freshman of the Year. Hicks was named the freshman of the year after the 2020-21 season.
 
Hicks became the first Texan in the D1 era to score 1000 career points at Tarleton State. He also became the 18th Texan all-time to join the 1,000 point club at Tarleton State. The last to accomplish this feat was Josh Hawley in the 2018-19 season who now ranks fourth all-time with 1,578 total points. During his time with the Texans, he leads the program in seven statistical categories in the Division I era. Hicks leads the D1 era in free throws made (356), free throws attempted (483), made field goals (300), field goal attempts (716), total rebounds (439), defensive rebounds (313), rebounds per game (5.5) and points (1012).  He currently is second in Division I era in games started (71), offensive rebounds (126), fouls (252), and blocks (46). He also ranks third in games played (80) and minutes played (2,268). To reach the top 15 in all-time program history, he is in need of 29 points, 87 rebounds, 24 blocks or 16 steals. The senior has notched 356 career made throws at Tarleton, more than the rest of the entire team combined attempts during their Tarleton careers.
 
Every squad under coach Gillispie is very defense oriented, and this year's crew is no different. Tarleton is second in the nation in forced turnovers per game, averaging 16.77 per game. The Texans only trail ACU who leads both the conference and the NCAA forcing 17.10 per game. The Purple and White have forced at least 20 turnovers in seven games this season. Tarleton has forced double-digit turnovers in all but two games (11/30 vs. Hofstra) and (2/15 at Seattle U). The Texans rank 11th in the nation and are third in the league averaging 9.5 steals per contest. The Purple and White have tallied at least 10 steals in 14 games this season.
 
Since the WAC Tournament's origination in 1984, the sixth seed has reached the conference tournament title game twice. In the quarterfinals, the sixth seed is 13-22. In the 13 times that the number six seed has reached the semifinals, they are 2-11 with two losses in OT. Only two six seeds have reached the title game with both of them resulting in losses. In 1995 Hawaii made the title game and the most recent sixth seed to make it was ACU in 2022. The tournament from 1997-99 had two sixth seeds with one in each division. They were 1-5 in the quarterfinals and 0-1 in the semis, those records are not included above.
 
CBU was victorious in the most recent meeting, 68-48 last Thursday in Riverside to even the season series, 1-1. However, Hicks was out for the Texans due to injury. In the team's first meeting on Jan. 16 in Stephenville, CBU was without Dom Daniels Jr. and the Texans won 67-57. Hicks made his return after missing the first 18 games of the season and led the team scoring 15 points on 1/16.
 
With a win on Thursday night, the Texans will play the winner of the second-seeded GCU Lopes and the seventh-seeded UT Arlington Mavericks on Friday night at 10:30 pm CT on ESPN+.