team: Tarleton Texans (10-8, 3-2 WAC) vs Seattle U Redhawks (14-4, 5-0 WAC)
Where: Seattle, Washington
Arena: Redhawk Center
Date and time: Thursday 9:00 PM CT
Streaming Platform: ESPN+
wireless: Tarleton Sports Network (Kyle Cruz)
About match
- This is the second meeting in history. The Seattle U won their first championship last year over Stephenville 76-68.
- The Seattle U are #1 in the WAC and the only undefeated team remains 5-0. They started WAC play last year going 8-0 en route to the WAC regular season title.
- The Seattle U and Tarleton are the only undefeated WAC teams at home (SU are 7-0).
- The Redhawks are on a six-game winning streak. Four of their last five wins have been within 6 points.
- SU’s Riley Grigsby is the current WAC Player of the Week. He had 23.0 PPG and 8.5 RPG in his two games last week.
quick hit
- Tarleton has 2 straight wins, 3 out of 4 straight wins and 5 out of 7 straight wins. A win on Thursday would tie him to his three-game winning streak from Nov. 10 to Nov. 20.
- Tarleton is looking for the first true road win (0-7). His two wins at Paradise Jam were in neutral site games. The Texans stayed perfect at home (8-0) and he won against the ACU on Saturday.
- A victory on Thursday would give Tarleton his best conference start in six games since joining the WAC with a 4-2 record. Last year he went 3-3 and in 2020-21 he started 1-5.
- All five of Tarleton’s WAC games were decided by less than 10 points.
- Over the past seven games (Tarleton 5-2), the Texans have allowed opponents 70+ points just once, forcing an average of 64.9 PPG on 40.8 FG% and 16.4 turnovers.
- Tarleton has attempted 36 free throws, compared with 21 attempted free throws by the ACU in the previous game (78 FTAs in the last two games. Tarleton has 8 when he gets 25 or more FTAs). -3 (2-5 for under). Tarleton is tied for second in the country). His FTAs per game are tied with Texas A&M, only behind UTRGV (per 27.4).
- Because of his slow pace, Tarleton (10th in the WAC in scoring) is actually very efficient offensively, ranking 5th in the WAC in shooting (.465) and 4th in 3-point shooting (.353). It also has his fifth-lowest number of turnovers per game, his second-highest average turnover margin (+5.78), and his sixth-highest in the country.
- The Texans are averaging 10.0 steals per game, the highest mark in the WAC and the ninth-highest average in the nation. They have 18.5 forced turnovers per game, 11th in the nation.
WHO’S HOT
- Shamir Bogues – Bogues has scored in double figures in three games over his career, averaging 16.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 19-of-19 shooting (.613) in 31 games. He played all of his 40 minutes in Tarleton’s final game.
- Jacory Smith In his second game back from injury, Smith returned with 15 points (5-9 FG, 3-5 3-point), 5 rebounds, a season-high 3 assists and 2 steals against ACU. He scored the most since December 18, missing a season-high 30 minutes (31 on November 21).
- Lou Williams – Williams scored 15 points (4-9 FG, 2-2 3 points) and had a season-high 8 rebounds against the ACU. In the year, he achieved his 28-of-67 (.418) from his 3-point lands, his 16th-highest 3-point-percentage in the WAC and his 18th-highest percentage in the conference. (Minimum 20 3PA).
numbers to know
3: on top of WAC leaderboard for steals per gameTarleton has two of the first three, Shamir Bogues The second is the 1.8 SPG, Jacory Smith 3rd in 1.7 SPG. Shakur Daniel 15th place in 1.4 SPG.
70: The Texans are 9-1, so the number 70 usually means a win for Tarleton. Scored 70+ points this season, 1-7 for scores less than 70. Also, Tarleton is 10-1 when leading at halftime and 9-2 when beating his opponents.
twenty five: Tarleton has scored 20% of his scoring from the 3-point line this season, while the Seattle U rely heavily on long balls, with 36.8% of their offense coming from outside. SU is a 25-day average Most three-point make per game 9.3 nationwide.
Four: Seattle University currently holds the fourth highest grades NCAA MBB Net Ranking Among Tarleton’s current or past opponents at No. 114, behind Arizona State (No. 40), Sam Houston (No. 47) and Drake (No. 87). The Redhawks are set to be the 14th seed in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest rankings.
What’s next for Tarleton
Tarleton will play the California Baptist on Saturday at 9pm CT. The Lancers are 3-3 in WAC play so far, and he beat the Grand Canyon 79-74 at home last Saturday.
