RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Tarleton State Men's Basketball heads out west for its first of two meetings this month at California Baptist on Thursday night at 9 p.m. at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center.
The Texans (11-11 overall, 2-7 WAC) will take on the Lancers (16-6, 6-3) for the sixth time in the series in Riverside. The Lancers own a 5-0 record in the series in Riverside. The Purple and White notched a win over CBU at home with a 91-85 overtime victory on Jan. 3.
The 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.
On Jan. 30 associate head coach
Glynn Cyprien was named the acting head coach during the absence of coach Gillispie. Cyprien has filled in for head coach
Billy Gillispie in six games this season, including each of the last five. During those games, the team has gone 1-5. 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.
The defense ranks number one in the nation in two different categories, turnovers forced and steals per game. The Texans lead the nation in forced turnovers per game (18.68) a stat that they ranked second in at the conclusion of last season. The Purple and White top the nation with 11.1 steals per game. The Texans are 10-7 this season when they win the turnover battle, 77-53 in their D1 era. Tarleton State also ranks 15th in the NCAA in turnover margin with a +4.1 margin this season.
Dior Johnson and
Cam McDowell are 1st and 3rd in the WAC in scoring per game in conference play. Johnson is averaging 24.8 points per game and McDowell is averaging 19.1. McDowell has played in eight WAC games this season and scored 10 or more in each. In four of his first five WAC games, he scored at least 20. Johnson has played in seven WAC games and scored in double figures in six of those games. He turned in four-straight 30+ games after his first WAC game at UTA.
Cam McDowell has been very consistent at the charity stripe this season. McDowell leads the WAC and ranks 69th in the nation shooting 87.1 percent from the line. He has a pair of perfect games from the free throw line with at least ten attempts making 10/10 at MVSU and 12/12 against Utah Valley. He has only missed nine from the line, recording perfect nights at the line in seven total games.
Chris Mpaka tied the Texan WAC offensive rebound record grabbing six against Utah Tech on Saturday. His mark tied KiAndre Gaddy for the most by a Texan in WAC play, a number Gaddy accomplished three times during his Texan career. Gaddy holds the Texans D1 era single game record with nine while Raymond Jenkins owns the program record with 13 in 2017. Mpaka ranks sixth in the WAC averaging 2.28 offensive boards per game across the entire season. he is tied for third in the league averaging 2.56 in conference play.
Since a 91-85 loss to Tarleton State on Nov. 3 to start the WAC slate, the Lancers have been on fire on a six-game winning streak. CBU protects the rim, owning the tenth highest offensive boards per game (14.14). Dominque Daniels enters the contest seventh with 22.2 points per game. Danels also ranks in the top 10 in total field goals made 363. During their streak, CBU is beating opponents by just over 10 a game. The Texans have not won a game since their loss Jan 3rd. The Lancers opened the season 7-0 before dropping five of their next eight. Head coach Rick Croy is in the 13th season at the helm of the Lancer program. Croy helped the Lancers make their transition from D2 to D1 beginning in 2018.
Tarleton State will continue its road trip out west on Saturday evening heading to Southern Utah for its second game of the season in Cedar City. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. CT from America First Events Center.
