No. 8 Tarleton suffocates UTPB, 74-58

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Michael Hardge and Tarleton State are aiming for back-to-back regional championships.

By BRAD KEITH

TheFlashToday.com NEWS & SPORTS – FREE & LOCAL

STEPHENVILLE (December 14, 2015) — No. 8 Tarleton State finally turned in the complete performance head coach Lonn Reisman had been looking for, and that was the last thing Texas-Permian Basin was hoping to see.

Tarleton (8-1) was suffocating on defense and, in stretches, explosive on offense, handing UTPB (5-3) its first double-digit loss of the season in a 74-58 rout at Wisdom Gym Monday.

Tarleton led by as many as 29 with 7:09 remaining. UTPB, which has four Division I transfers added to its roster, scored 40 lower than its average of 98 points entering the game.

The Falcons entered the contest shooting 50 percent but hit only 34 percent against the Texans. Billy Dee Williams, who scored 40 earlier this season, was held scoreless after entering the game averaging 21.

Tarleton, meanwhile, shot 52 percent from the floor including 59 percent in the second half and continued to be balanced with senior forward EJ Reed leading the way. The leading scorer and rebounder in the conference fouled out, but not until collecting 17 points and six boards to help the Texans take control.

Xavier Smith scored 14, Malcolm Hamilton had 10 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals and Charles Hill also scored 10. Michael Hardge had nine points and eight assists in the fourth straight Tarleton win.

“We have a lot of weapons, a lot of guys who can score,” said Hardge. “I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by guys who know how to finish, whether it’s above the rim or outside for a jumper. My job is to get them the ball in position to score.”

Tarleton made arguably its biggest offensive highlight to this point of the season when Hill got loose on the fast break and threw a no look pass behind his head and off the glass to Romond Jenkins, who smashed it down (Watch here). Jenkins, who became academically eligible at 5 p.m. Monday, scored just two points but grabbed seven boards and dealt a pair of assists in 14 minutes.

“I thought he did a great job rebounding the basketball, and he got involved in the offense and even had some assists,” said Reisman of Jenkins’ debut. “Let’s give him a couple weeks to get into the flow of things and you’ll see a player who can really help us.” (The Flash Today has a full story on the addition of Jenkins coming Tuesday afternoon.)

The Jenkins slam was one of three emphatic dunks on alley-oops by Tarleton, the others being thrown down by Reed – a one-handed rim rattler off an inbound pass – and Hill – on a toss over the defense by Deshawn Riddick.

UTPB, which scored less than 70 for the first time this season, was led by Johnnie Lacy with 24 points and Codye Hatcher with 15. The only other losses by the Falcons were by six points to Colorado State-Pueblo, the only team to defeat Tarleton this season, and two points in overtime to Texas A&M-Kingsville.

The first half was all about the Tarleton defense, at least for the first 14 minutes of it. The Texans surrendered just two points in a span of 9:15 to take control, then withstood UTPB’s best stretch of the night when Hatcher dominated the final few minutes before the break.

Tarleton led 31-24 at the intermission, when Reed already had 11 for Tarleton and Hatcher had 12 for UTPB. Tarleton shot 44 percent in the first half, UTPB just 33 percent, and the Texans scored all 12 bench points before intermission.

The Texans play twice this weekend in the Holiday Hoops Classic. They meet No. 11 Rollins (Fla.) on Friday and Drury (Mo.) on Saturday. Both games begin at 3:15 p.m. (CST)

“We can’t wait. It’s a chance to go see some different competition, some good competition,” said Hamilton, who helped the Texans win twice in Las Vegas last year. “We know we have to be focused and play our game with no distractions or anything like that. We’re ready.”

Note: Tarleton head coach Lonn Reisman picked up win No. 597 at the school… The Texans improved to 43-10 under Reisman against teams from the Heartland Conference…Their next home game is against Southeastern Oklahoma State at 4 p.m. on December 31.

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