Wolverines to Return Home to Take on Tarleton State

» Michigan will return home to take on Tarleton State in a pre-Thanksgiving match up at Crisler Center.
» The game will wrap up the Roman Main Event for the Maize and Blue.
» Tarleton State is in its second year of Division I play after transitioning from Division II last season.

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)

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Watch: Juwan Howard Press Conference (Nov. 23)

The 20th-ranked University of Michigan men's basketball team will return to Crisler Center to wrap-up the Roman Main Event with a final game against Tarleton State on Wednesday (Nov. 24.) Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on the Big Ten Network with Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and Brian Butch (analyst) on the call.

The Tarleton State Texans

• Wednesday's game will be the first ever match up between Michigan and Tarleton State.

• The game will be the Roman Main Event finale for U-M, as Tarleton State has been part of the games played at opponent's home sites. The Texans lost to Wichita State (Nov. 16) as part of the event earlier this month.

• Tarleton State begins its second season at the Division I level and are part of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). In their history at the Division II level, the Texans reached the NCAA Division II Tournament 14 times between 2002-17, advancing to the Final Four, twice: 2005 and 2015.

• The Texans are five games (1-4) into the season, with four road games -- at Stanford (L, 62-50; Nov. 9), at #3 Kansas (L, 88-62; Nov. 12), at Wichita State (L, 65-51; No. 16) and at North Dakota State (L, 54-53; Nov. 22). The Texans' win was a 69-42 decision against Paul Quinn (Nov. 19).

• Senior 5-11 guard Montre Gipson leads the Texans with 14.4 points per game after scoring in double figures in all five games. He has sot 50 percent from the field (29-for-58) and leads the team with seven 3-pointers.

• Fellow senior and 6-5 guard Tahj Small adds 11.8 points and has scored in double digits in four games while adding a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Freddy Hicks is averaging 8.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

• As a team, Tarleton State has averaged 57.0 points and 30.8 rebounds per game, while adding 7.6 steals per game.

• Former Texas A&M, Kentucky and Texas Tech head coach Billy Gillispie begins his second season at the helm of the Texan program. He led Tarleton State to a 10-10 record in his first season, which was shortened due to COVID-19.

Early Season Grind

• Wednesday's game will be just the third home game of the season for the Wolverines, and will mark the fourth game for U-M in its last eight days. In fact, U-M has played five games over the last 11 days with road trips to Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas.

• In the preseason, U-M played a scrimmage at DePaul (Oct. 31) before helping Wayne State (Nov. 5) open its new arena -- the WSU Fieldhouse -- in downtown Detroit. The new arena also houses the G League's Motor City Cruise.

• After opening the regular season with a win over Mid-American preseason favorite Buffalo, U-M took part in the Coaches vs. Racism game against Prairie View A&M in Washington, D.C. before facing Seton Hall (Nov. 16) in the Gavitt Tipoff Games at Crisler Center.

• After hosting Seton Hall (Nov. 16), the Wolverines headed back on the road for the Roman Main Event in Las Vegas facing UNLV (Nov. 19) and Arizona (Nov. 21). The Wolverines returned to Ann Arbor on Monday (Nov. 22) and will have a one-day prep for Tarleton State.

Youthful Wolverines

• Eleven (11) of Michigan's 17 players are underclassmen, with four sophomores and seven freshmen. U-M does not have a single junior on its roster; the upperclassmen is made up of four seniors and two graduate students.

• U-M has five Wolverines who came to college before turning 18 years old, with the youngest being Kobe Bufkin, who turned 18 on Sept. 21.

Additionally, Caleb Houstan reclassified to come to Michigan a year early. He will turn 19 on Jan. 9.

What You Should Know

• Michigan has continued to use a starting line-up of DeVante' Jones, Eli Brooks, Caleb Houstan, Brandon Johns Jr.. and Hunter Dickinson. Terrance Williams II, Moussa Diabate, Kobe Bufkin and Frankie Collins have come off the bench in Juwan Howard's rotation.

• Dickinson has started his last 28 straight games and has played in all 33 consecutive career games.

• Jones has started 62 straight games, dating back to his time at Coastal Carolina.

• Johns, Jr. has played in 54 straight games.

• Despite it being early in the season, Dickinson leads U-M in points (16.0) and rebounding (7.8) for a second straight season. After 25 total assists all of his freshman season, Dickinson already has 10 (2.0 apg) this season.

• Brooks is shooting 47.4 percent from long range (9-for-19) and is 16-for-18 (88.9%) from the free throw line this season. He is 56-for-62 over (90.3%) from the charity stripe over the last two seasons and is an 80 percent free throw shooter (80.3%; 102-for-127) for his career.

• Diabate is averaging 5.4 rebounds per game with a near even split of 12 offensive and 15 defensive boards. He also leads U-M with six total.

• Brooks (9) and Houstan (6) lead U-M with 15 of U-M's 25 3-pointers. Williams II has four.

Up Next

Wednesday, Dec. 1 -- at North Carolina - Big Ten/ACC Challenge (Chapel Hill, N.C.), 9:15 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Eli Brooks

Kobe Bufkin

Frankie Collins

Moussa Diabate

Hunter Dickinson

Caleb Houstan

Brandon Johns Jr.

DeVante' Jones

Terrance Williams II

University of Michigan Athletics