Box Score - Photo Gallery
- Post-Game Interview w/Associate Head Coach Chris Reisman

STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton's A'Darius Pegues and De'Andre Upchurch each set new career-highs for scoring in just their first season with the Texans, helping lift Tarleton to a 64-53 win over Henderson State at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville on Tuesday.
 
The Texans (8-2) limited the Reddies (7-3) to nearly 20 points below its season average and did not allow the HSU offense to shoot over 28 percent from the field. Tarleton's defense kept HSU's offense at bay as the Reddies did not manage to make more than nine field goals in one half.
 
The Texans held an opponent without a basket over the first five minutes in back-to-back games, but tonight it took the Reddies 7:04 to score its first field goal of the game. HSU's Denzel Lyles would finally put the Reddies on the board with his jumper at the 12:56 mark of the first half.
 
The Texans opened the game with an 8-0 run and later pushed its lead to 12-5 on a three-point-play from Pegues (F, Jr, Louisville, Ky.) The transfer forward knocked down a jumper at the 10:40 mark and was fouled on the play. His free throw would give Tarleton a seven-point lead with just a little over 10 minutes to play in the half.
 
The Texans would go up by as many as 13 points at both the 3:40 and 2:21 marks. Upchurch (G, Jr, Flint, Mich.) knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing with less than two and a half minutes left to put the Texans on top 29-16.
 
HSU would end the half with a 4-1 run and Tarleton would take a 10-point lead into the locker room, up 30-20 at the break.
 
Tarleton shot just 33.3 percent from the floor in the first half, but managed to knock down four of its 10 shots from three-point range. The Texans went 6-for-9 from the charity stripe as well.
 
HSU was limited to just 7-of-33 (.212) from the field and were 0-for-7 from downtown.
 
Neither team had more than five turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play, but Tarleton led both teams on the boards with 25 rebounds. The Texans managed to score 11 second-chance points off those rebounds as well.
 
HSU would quietly pull within six points of the Texans following a three-pointer from Melvin Haynes at the 15:36 mark, but a jumper from Michael Hardge (G, Fr, Georgetown) pushed Tarleton's lead back to eight points and Upchurch poured in a lay-up to make it a double-digit lead again at 40-30 with less than 14 minutes to play.
 
Both teams would trade baskets back-and-forth over the next 12 minutes until Upchurch's three-pointer at the 2:30 mark put the game on ice for the Texans, up 60-45.
 
The Reddies managed to stay in the game from the 14 minute mark getting to the charity stripe and converting. From the 14 minute mark until three minutes remaining in the game, HSU made just three field goals in the 11-minute span.
 
HSU would knock down a triple with 1:16 left to play, making it a 62-50 game in favor of the Texans, but Tarleton would withstand any kind of run that the Reddies may have had left en route to the 64-53 win over the Great American Conference foe.
 
Upchurch finished the night with a team-high 17 points and setting a new career-high for himself. Pegues added a career-high 12 points and the Texans finished the game shooting 40.4 percent from the field after going 11-for-22 from the floor in the second half.
 
Pegues added a pair of blocks on the defensive end as did Davene Carter (F, So, Duncanville) and Jon Cathey-Macklin (F, Jr, Milwaukee, Wis.). Guy and Carter led the Texans on the boards with six rebounds each.
 
Andrew Ensley scored a game-high 23 points for the Reddies and pulled down 14 points for a double-double. Joe McCoy added 12 points for the Reddies, but the next HSU player had just seven points on the evening.
 
The Texans will have another long lay-off before returning to the court as Tarleton's next contest is not until Saturday, Dec. 29. Tarleton will host another GAC member that evening in Ouachita Baptist. Tip-off between the Texans and Tigers is set for 7 p.m.