OREM, Utah — Tarleton State Men's Basketball embarks on its final road trip of the regular season, a two-part trip starting at Utah Valley on Thursday night at the UCCU Center with a 7 p.m. CT tip off.

The Texans (14-14 overall, 5-10 WAC) heads to Orem for the first time this season to take on the Wolverines (20-7, 10-4). Utah Valley won each of the first two meetings in Stephenville earlier this season.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+. 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.

Jordan Mizell led the team in both points (14) and rebounds (11) against Utah Tech on 2/21. It marked the first time in his career that Mizell recorded double digit rebound totals. He scored in double figures for the fourth time this season and the ninth time in his two-year Texan career. He is one of 24 players 6-1 or shorter to record a double-double with points and assists. The sophomore is one of 14 players to accomplish the feat in conference play. He is the only player 6-1 or shorter to accomplish the feat this season and he is one of two in the WAC since 2020.

The Texans are the only  team in the WAC to force their opponent to at least 10 turnovers every game this season. The second-longest streak in the conference is 23 games by ACU who only forced ACU to 8 turnovers on their fourth game of the season. The Wildcats are the only other team in the league to force 10+ in very WAC game. Tarleton State's streak dates back to Feb. 8, 2025 of 36-straight games with forcing 10 turnovers. Only twice in the past two seasons has the Texans forced less than 10 turnovers in a game.

Freddy Hicks started out the season hot scoring in double figures in each of the first five games and in 12 of his first 14. Hicks then missed four games due to injury and had not scored in double figures since Jan. 3 until Feb. 21 vs. Utah Tech. Hicks has not returned to the starting lineup and is averaging 5.3 points per game while playing 21.8 minutes of the bench in the last six games. In his first 14, Hicks started all 14 averaging 12.0 points per game in 37.1 minutes per game.

Kaia Isaac became the fourth different Texan this season to make four triples. The New Zealand native made four of eight from deep, the most attempted by a Texan this season. He joins Dior Johnson (2), Leroy Kelly IV and Kade Douglas with four made threes in a single game. Isaac is second on the team with 25 made from deep this season.

The Texans are the only current team in the WAC to have recorded multiple wins in Orem since 2020. Tarleton State won its first meeting in the 2020-21 season in Orem and a second in the 23-24 season. Only Grand Canyon has tallied two wins at the UCCU Center among any WAC team in the past six seasons no longer in the league. The Wolverines are currently on a 15-game home WAC winning streak with their last loss coming against UTA on March 2, 2024.

Chris Mpaka is just two blocks away from tying KiAndre Gaddy for the most blocks in a Texan career in the D1 era. Mpaka posted 51 blocks in his debut season for the Texans, one shy of Gaddy's single season D1 era record. He has notched two or blocks i a single game six times this season. Overall in his Texan career he has reached the feat 13 times. Last season he tallied five blocks in four different games. This year his season-best of four came on 11/11 against Merrimack.

Hicks tied the Tarleton State D1 career assists record with a pair against Utah Tech on 2/21. Shakur Daniel was the first to reach 186 total assists and is now tied with Hicks for first. Hicks moved into second in the D1 era with 108 total steals after a three-steal night against ACU on 2/16. Hicks is the Texans D1 era career record holder in 10 different statistical categories.

Tarleton State are one of three teams with five WAC wins. The Texans would need one more win than ACU in the final stretch to avoid a play-in game in a seven-team tournament as ACU holds the tiebreaker. The Texans hold the tiebreaker with SUU after winning the season series, 2-1. With a win against UTA on the final game of the Texan regular season, the Texans would own that tiebreaker as well. The Texans would need to pick up two more win than UTA does in the remaining games to tie UTA. The Texans could potentially creep to as high as the 3rd seed in a six team tournament or 4th in a seven-team tournament. Tarleton State would need to go 3-0 and UTA 0-3 or 1-2, or TSU goes 2-1 and UTA goes 1-2 with a Texans win over the Mavs.

The Texans will continue to the final leg of their road trip on Saturday night in Riverside. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. CT and 6 p.m. local at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center against California Baptist.