COMMERCE– The Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball team will face Tarleton State on the road on Thursday night.
 
WHO: Texas A&M-Commerce (18-5, 10-3 LSC) vs. Tarleton (18-6, 8-5 LSC)
WHERE: Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
LIVE VIDEO: https://tarletonsports.com/showcase?Live=1221
LIVE AUDIO: ketr.org
 
The Lions are coming off a pair of home wins. They defeated Cameron on Thursday and MSU Texas on Saturday. Head coach Jaret von Rosenberg liked the way his team performed last week, putting four complete halves together.
 
"It was really positive," he said. "I've thought over the past four games, minus a half, that we have been playing pretty well. We had two good halves against Kingsville, had only one good half against Angelo and that's why we lost that game. Then we were able to string together four good halves this weekend."
 
The Lions shared the basketball very well last week, tallying 45 assists on their 61 made baskets. It was a theme that von Rosenberg enjoyed seeing.
 
"Our assist numbers this weekend were way up," he said. "We had 40-plus assists in two games, that is very positive offensively in sharing the ball. Multiple guys stepped up and were ready to shoot when their opportunity came. It is exciting to see guys step up and make plays for one another. That is hopefully something we can build on. When you are doing that, everyone has confidence on the offensive end because they know they have to be ready because the ball is going to move and find them when they are open."
 
The Lions got contributions across the board last week. In addition to the senior leaders making a big impact, von Rosenberg also praised some of his role players that got their first extended action of the season last week.
 
"Cal Evans got his first start ever and really played the most meaningful minutes of his career. And it didn't skip a beat," von Rosenberg said. "It can be tough for guys who have to sit on the bench to stay locked in to what we are doing in practice. But you keep getting better every day so that when the opportunity does come, you take advantage of it. Same thing with Wayne Stewart. He hasn't been healthy all year. He has played in some games but less than 10 minutes because of his body. And his first game playing extended minutes in a Lion uniform, he goes 21 and nine. That is a credit to our teammates. For guys who do play a lot of minutes to accept different roles for players coming into the game and being willing to buy in and play with each other and have good team chemistry. Credit goes to a lot of people in the locker room for making that happen."
 
The Lions now face a road test against Tarleton State. The Lions were able to defeat the Texans by 12 at the Field House in January. von Rosenberg knows it will be an even tougher task to beat Tarleton on its home court.
 
"We have to do a lot of the things we've been doing," he said. "Offensively, we have to keep sharing the basketball and find the open guy. Then you have to knock down shots. But like we always talk about, everything we try to do starts on the defensive end. And if you want to go on the road and have a chance to win, you have to defend, make things tough on them and take care of the glass. That will be the challenge. Tarleton is a really good team. It is going to be a tall task. We have to get locked into the game plan and hopefully by the time we tip at 7 p.m. on Thursday, we have a formula and know how to have a chance to compete."