STEPHENVILLE — Dior Johnson notched his nation-leading fifth 30-plus point performance to lead the Texans to an 81-76 overtime victory over California Baptist on Saturday evening at the EECU Center.
The Texans (11-5 overall, 2-1 WAC) notched their first WAC win in the EECU Center. The Purple and White improved to 2-2 in overtime in its D1 era and 2-1 in WAC games. With the loss, the Lancers (10-6, 0-3) drop their third-straight WAC game after starting their first three all on the road. The Texans are one of three teams in the league to start with two wins joining Utah Valley who suffered their first loss of the season to Abilene Christian earlier in the day and Utah Tech.
Tonight was a great win against a very good team,” said head coach Billy Gillispie. “We had a lot of players make huge plays when it mattered the most. How about Freddy Hicks playing 45 minutes and competing every single one of them. Jordan Mizell fought through pain tonight to guard one of the best players anywhere. And, how good is Dior Johnson? No disrespect to anyone but there has never been a scorer of his caliber come through these parts. That being said, tonight was a great team win. These guys will not quit. We need a packed house against ACU, see you Thursday!”
Johnson led all scorers with 34 with 30 coming in the second half and overtime period. He shot nine-for-15 from the floor including a perfect one-of-one from deep. The junior made 15 of his 20 free throws as well. Johnson notched three steals and added a pair of assists in playing 29 minutes. He did not enter the game until the final four minutes of the first half and once he entered, he did not leave the game.
Freddy Hicks nearly notched his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and eight rebounds. He shot eight-for-12 at the line. Hicks notched a game-high four steals as well. He became the third Texan this season to play all 40 minutes in regulation and he continued playing all 45 minutes in the game. Hicks and Johnson were the only Texans to score in double figures with Kade Douglas and Leroy Kelly IV each contributing nine.
CBU erased a four-point Texan lead with 3:38 left in regulation with a 7-0 run to take a 63-60 lead with 36 seconds left on the clock. Trailing by three, Johnson drove the lane, drew the foul and sunk the bucket to head to the line with the Texans down by a just a point. Johnson was unable to convert the and-one opportunity and the Texans fouled CBU and sent the Lancers to the line with 17 ticks remaining. CBU was one-for-two at the line to hold the score 64-62. Johnson drove the lane once again tried to draw a foul but still drilled the bucket to tie the game up at 64 apiece. CBU was unable to cash in a last-ditch effort in the final eight seconds to send the game to overtime.
In the overtime period, Johnson accounted for 10 of his 34 total points and 10 of the 17 Texan extra session points. Johnson started the scoring off with a jumper to put the Texans ahead by a pair. Douglas scored next for Tarleton State to put the Purple and White ahead by four with 3:31left in the contest. CBU drained a triple to cut the game down to one. Johnson scored the next six Texan points with two layups and a pair of made free throws to put the Texans ahead 74-71 with 90 seconds left. The two teams were scoreless until 20 seconds left after a turnover and a miss shot from the Lancers. After Douglas made a pair of freebies, the Lancers cut the game back to two with a made triple in the final 12 seconds. The Texans iced the game making five of their six free throws in the final seconds to take a 81-76 overtime victory in the opening WAC week of the season.
The Texans started off the game hot scoring the first six points. Kelly IV earned his first steal of the night and turned into two points at the other end to start the Texan scoring. Hicks accounted for the next four points on a pair of jumpers just outside the paint to put the Texans ahead, 6-0 in the first four minutes of the contest.
CBU responded with an 8-2 turnaround to tie the game at eight all with 13:32 to go in the half. The two teams traded points with the scoring tying at both 10 and 12. Tied at 12, the Lancers ran off a 9-0 run to take a 19-12 lead with just over eight to play. The Lancers led by as many as eight before the Texans regained the momentum. Trailing, 21-13 the Purple and White clawed back to within three via a triple from Kelly IV and a bucket from Owens.
Trailing 26-21 with 3:50 to play, the Texans ran into a run at the free throw line. Despite not making a shot from the floor, Tarleton State ran six-straight free throws to regain the lead. Johnson made her first shot from the floor to put the Texans in the lead, 29-26 with under a minute to go in the half. CBU brought the game within a point with a layup in the final seconds to send the game into the half, 29-28 in favor of the Texans.
Johnson scored the first five Texan points to start the second half. He started the half with a pair of made free throws, followed by a triple to put the Texans ahead, 34-32 after falling behind off a 4-0 CBU burst. Tied at 34, Ocypher Owens knocked down a triple to put the Texans back ahead, 37-34.
The Texan lead grew to as many as seven over the next several minutes twice with the squad leading 46-39 with 11:24 remaining. CBU quickly tied the game up at 47 all with a 7-0 run with just under nine minutes to play. The teams swapped leads twice after with Owens giving the Texans a 52-51 advantage after his second three of the night. Tied at 54, the Texans used a 5-0 run to grow their lead to five with a triple rom Douglas and a bucket from Johnson.
Tarleton State made 23 of their 51 shots while shooting 45.1 percent from the floor. The Texans shot 50 percent from deep and 74.4 percent from the line making 29 shots from the charity stripe. The Lancers won the battle of the boards, 37-23. The Texans won the turnover battle forcing 21 while only committing 14. The nation’s leaders in forced turnovers per game forced 20 or more turnovers for the seventh time this season.
Tarleton State will close its three-game WAC opening homestand on Jan. 8 against Abilene Christian The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with tip slated for 7 p.m. Early arriving fans will receive purple bang-a-banners.
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