RIVERSIDE, California – Freddy Hicks needs eight more points to become the first Texan in the D1 era to reach the 1000-point milestone as Tarleton State Men's Basketball looks to clinch a top five seed in the WAC Tournament with a win on Thursday night against California Baptist at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center at 9 p.m. CT.
 
The Texans (12-17 overall, 6-6 WAC) are currently in a group of five for seeds three through seven in the WAC Tournament. The Lancers (14-14, 7-7) are a part of a three-way tie for the third seed. The winner of the game clinches a top five seed in next week's conference tournament.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+. 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.
 
Senior Freddy Hicks is eight points away from becoming the first Texan in the D1 era to eclipse the 1000-point mark. Hicks will become 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 (349), free throws attempted (470), made field goals (294), total rebounds (431), defensive rebounds (308), rebounds per game (5.5) and points (992). He currently is second in Division I era in games started (70), field goal attempts (701), offensive rebounds (123), fouls (248), and blocks (45). He also ranks third in games played (79) and minutes played (2,228). Hicks will look to crack the top-15 in all-time program history in a few categories in his fourth season at Tarleton. To reach the top-15, he is in need of 48 points, 87 rebounds, 25 blocks or 17 steals. The senior has notched 349 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 tops the nation in forced turnovers per game, averaging 17.00 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 one game this season (11/30 vs. Hofstra). The Texans rank seventh in the nation and are second in the league averaging 9.8 steals per contest. The Purple and White have tallied at least 10 steals in 14 games this season.
 
At the end of the week, the Texans can earn anywhere from a three to seven seed in the WAC Tournament. With a win on Thursday, the Texans will secure at least a fifth seed and will own the tiebreaker against CBU. With a win and Seattle U loss on Thursday, the Texans will clinch at least a four seed. Similarly if the Lancers win on Thursday, they will clinch at least a five seed holding the advantage over the Texans and UTA and with a win and Seattle U loss at least a four seed. The three and four seeds will be the home team in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Thursday.
 
Dantwan Grimes is one of 158 players in NCAA D1 to have played in at least 10 games this season without recording a single start. Grimes is one of 13 players to have scored at least 9.9 points per game without a single start. He ranks 40th in total points without a start scoring 179 total points. The junior transfer is tied for 10th with 61 made free throws without a single start this season. Freddy Hicks is one of 12 players to average in double figures with a start this season. He is one of three players on the list to have played in less than ten games this season.
 
After just one season donning the Purple and White, Mpaka has tallied the second most blocks in a career by a Texan in its D1 era. Mpaka has tallied 48 blocks this season. He ranks 53rd in the nation and second in the league. The junior college transfer is second all-time in Tarleton's D1 era with 48 blocks. He trails KiAndre Gaddy (2022-24) who recorded 72 total. The Congo native needs just four more blocks this season to tie Gaddy for the D1 era single season record. Gaddy's 52 is tied for the 15th most all-time in a season in program history.
 
Jordan Mizell posted six assists in a single game for the third time this season, last game out. This season he has posted five games with 5-5-5, points, assists, steals or rebounds. In the least four games he has averaging 9.5 points per game, nearly four points greater than his season average.
 
The Texans won their second-straight meeting against the Lancers with a 67-57 victory on Jan. 16 in Stephenville. Tarleton led nearly the entire game trailing for just 31 seconds in the first half. TSU led by as many as 16 in the second half and held a 31-20 advantage at the half. Four Texans scored in double figures led by Hicks off the bench with 15. He made nine of his 14 from the free throw line. Grimes contributed 13 points while shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Benjamin played all 40 minutes and scored 8 points with 6 boards. Bristow posted a pair of blocks while scoring 10 points.
 
Head coach Billy Gillispie notched his 200th career victory on 1/30 against Utah Tech. Gillispie has accumulated his second most victories in his career at Tarleton with 54. 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. 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.
 
Tarleton State will close out the regular season against the WAC-leading Utah Valley Wolverines who have just one loss in conference play. The Texans will host the Wolverines on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the final men's basketball game in Wisdom Gym. Fans are encouraged to come out and celebrate Wisdom Gym's final basketball game and receive a commemorative wooden ticket and take part of the celebration all game long.