STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Men's Basketball will say goodbye to their home for the last 55 years on Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the WAC-leading Utah Valley Wolverines in the final basketball game in Wisdom Gym.
 
Early-arriving fans will be rewarded with a free wooden ticket to commemorate the event. Note, you will need an actual ticket to attend the game. For the third-straight game, fans can purchase beers for a dollar as part of last call at Wisdom Gym. Following the conclusion of the game, every fan in attendance will receive a free Whataburger coupon as a result from the bracket challenge on @tarletonsports on X.

Tarleton will hour its three senior players and one graduate student manager prior to the contest. Seniors Freddy Hicks, Marty Silvera and Collin Course will be honored before the game. Graduate student manager, Heri Tshiyoyo will also be honored for graduating with his masters.
 
The Texans (12-18 overall, 7-8 WAC) are in a three-way tie for fourth place. The Wolverines (22-7, 14-1) will clinch the outright regular season title with a victory and would share the title with a loss and a GCU victory.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Byron Anderson and Scott Garner. 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 16.83 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 eighth in the nation and are second in the league averaging 9.7 steals per contest. The Purple and White have tallied at least 10 steals in 14 games this season.
 
Freshman Keitenn Bristow became just the third Texan this season to record a double with 10 boards and 10 points at CBU on 3/6. Bristow is the third freshman in the D1 era to record a double-double for the Texans. He joins Emmanuel Innocenti (23-24) and Freddy Hicks (20-21) as the only freshmen to accomplish the feat. He is the 19th different player in the WAC to post a double-double this season and one of 12 players to accomplish the feat in WAC play. Bristow is the only freshman in the WAC to accomplish a double-double in WAC play and in the entire 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 51 blocks this season. He ranks 47th in the nation and second in the league. The junior college transfer is second all-time in Tarleton's D1 era with 51 blocks. He trails KiAndre Gaddy (2022-24) who recorded 72 total. The Congo native needs just one more block 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.
 
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 average in double digits points per game without a single start. He ranks 40th in total points without a start scoring 190 total points. The junior transfer is tied for 10th with 62 made free throws without a single start this season. 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.
 
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 enter its third WAC Tournament next week in Las Vegas. The Texans will play on Thursday if they earn the third through six seeds and on Wednesday if they earn the seventh seed. The tournament will begin on Tuesday March 12^th, in St. George before closing out at The Orleans on the final four days.