STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Tarleton State Men's Basketball welcomes fans back to the EECU Center to host Utah Valley for White Out on Thursday night with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
 
The Texans (11-9 overall, 2-5 WAC) will host the Wolverines (15-6, 5-3) for the second time this season. It will be the first game for the Texans in eight days, after having their game against Abilene Christian postponed due to inclement weather. The last time these two met on New Year's Day, the Wolverines held on to a 91-85 victory that got very tight in the final minutes.
 
The is sponsored by Purple Goat and will be streamed on ESPN+ with Byron Anderson and Scott Garner. Kyle Crews will have the radio call on 90.5 KTRL and online on the Tarleton Sports Radio Network. For the most up to date highlights, news and updates follow @tarletonmbb on Instagram and X.
 
The Texans are 2-1 in the last three "White Out Wisdom" Games in the D1 era. Thursday will mark the first White Out game in the EECU Center. Tarleton State MBB did not host a White Out game last year, with their last coming on Jan. 27, 2024 against Utah Tech. The Texans won, 86-68, their second consecutive win on White Out Night. In 2022-23, the Purple and White knocked off Weber State, 75-65. In 2021-22, the Texans fell to Utah Valley, 69-56.
 
Dior Johnson and Cam McDowell are 1-2 in the WAC in scoring per game in conference play. Johnson is averaging 24.8 points per game and McDowell is averaging 20.8. The duo is the only pair of players to rank in the top 2 in their conference in league play in points per game. Tarleton State is one of  teams to have two players averaging 20 or more in conference games this season. (Duke, Buffalo, Samford). BYU is the only school with three. Johnson and McDowell are 2 of just 70 players as of Jan. 23 to average at least 20 points per game in conference play.
 
Tarleton State is averaging 18.85 forced turnovers per game, the most in the NCAA. Last season the Texans finished second in the category. So far this season, the Purple and White have forced at least 20 turnovers in seven games. The Texans are also second in the nation in steals per game averaging 11.2. The squad has snagged double digit steals in 12 of the last 14 contests. The Texans are also 14th in the nation with a +4.4 turnover margin.
 
Glynn Cyprien has filled in for head coach Billy Gillispie on 12/29 against UTA, 1/15 at Southern Utah and 1/17 at Utah Tech, 1/21 at UTA as Gillispie was under the weather. The team is 1-3 during these circumstances. Cyprien filled in for Texas A&M's Billy Kennedy in the exhibition games of 2011 and the Aggies' season opener victory 81-59 against Liberty. He served as head coach for the Iowa Energy for the second half of the 2017 season and the full 2017-18 slate for the Memphis Hustle. During his team as a D-League head coach, he was 31-50. He enters his second season in Stephenville after previously serving on Gillispie's staff at Kentucky. As an assistant coach he's been part of 573 wins over his 30 seasons at the collegiate level. Cyprien was named the associate head coach by coach Gillispie over the summer. Cyprien is in his 36th season as a coach with stops in the NCAA, NBA G-League, NBA front office and Junior Olympics. He spent time with Memphis G-League team. He served on the bench of UNLV when Gillispie was on Tulsa's bench in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Tulsa was victorious, 89-62.
 
Tarleton State leads the nation and leads the WAC with 45.5 bench points per game. The Texans 911 bench points is also the most in the nation in total bench points. The Tarleton State bench has outscored their starters in 14 games this season, with their leading scorer coming off the bench in each. Bench points account for 56.8 percent of their total points. The Texans have notched 60 or more bench points 4 times. The Texans scored a D1 era best 70 bench points at SUU on 1/15.
 
Dior Johnson tied for the top of the nation in points per game (23.6) with BYU freshman standout AJ Dybantsa.Despite missing four games, he is still 58th in the NCAA and 2nd in the WAC with 377 total points. He ranks sixth in the nation and leads the WAC with 121 made free throws. He is 72nd in the NCAA and 3rd in the WAC shooting 54.6 percent from the floor.
 
DJ Dormu became the third Texan this season to dish out seven or more assists in a game. Dormu tallied seven helpers at UTA, a game high to set a new career high for the sophomore. He joins Freddy Hicks (7) and Jordan Mizell (8) with at least seven this year.
 
Utah Valley held the top spot in the conference the first two weeks of league play but enter the week second behind 5-2 UT Arlington. The Wolverines did not play a Power Four opponent in their non-conference slate, but they did go 3-0 in the Cancun Challenge, including a 79-72 victory over perennial mid-major powerhouse UC Irvine. The Wolverines are in the top 15 in the NCAA in assists per game (7th) and blocks per game (14th) and field goal percentage (15th). Floor general, Trevan Leonhardt is 18th in the NCAA with 129 total assists. Jackson Holcombe leads the WAC in double-doubles (7). Utah Valley dropped to Southern Utah and California Baptist last week, both on the road. Thursday is the final road game of a three-game stretch for the Wolverines.
 
The Texans lone victory against the Wolverines at home came in 2023, a 19-point victory handing UVU one of its three conference losses that season as the regular season champions. The Texans are 3-2 against the Wolverines when they score 70 or more points. When the Texans score less than 70, they are 0-6. In the Texans last meeting their 85 points was the most scored in the series, and the most points they have scored in the EECU Center in conference play. Utah Valley has won five of its eight total by 10 or more. In the last meeting, Dior Johnson's 36 points was the most scored by a player on either team.
 
Tarleton State will round out their week on Saturday, hosting Utah Tech for the first time in the EECU Center with tip slated for 4 pm.