At the banquet to kick off the LSC Championships in Bartlesville earlier this week, numerous awards were given out to the student-athletes.
Not only were the first- and second- teams announced for both divisions, but superlative individual honors were given as well for the top coaches, offensive and defensive players, and newcomers of the year.
For Tarleton State senior guard Corin Henry, he believes he received the most prestigious one of all, or at least the most telling award for this year’s team.
Henry, a first-team All-LSC South selection as well, said getting the LSC South Defensive Player of the Year award was the best honor of them all.
“That’s what we do – we’re a defensive team,” Henry said. “That’s how we play. It’s not just me. But I appreciate this award and (accept) it for all of us.”
When it comes to defense, not only does Tarleton lead the LSC, and even the entire Division II, but allowing opponents to score just 52.5 points per game is the fewest among any collegiate men’s basketball team this year – on any level.
“We’ve got a lot of great defensive players in our conference,” Henry said. “For me to get that award, it tells a lot about us being the No. 1 team in the nation in defense. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have gotten that.”
While the phrase might have started out as a football term, Henry said it definitely applies to the court.
“Offense sells tickets . . . defense wins championships,” said Henry, one of the team leaders on a squad that finished 13-1 in conference play to claim the LSC regular season crown.
And TSU head coach Lonn Reisman, who is focused solely on winning this weekend’s tournament in Bartlesville, said he’s not ready to overlook the achievements his team accomplished during the regular season.
“We just won the South (Division) and I hate to say it, but that trophy that I took home, means a great deal to us,” Reisman said. “That’s two months of basketball – home and way, 14 games that just about kills you. This is a great tournament, I want to come up here and do well, but I’m not going to take away whatever happens, away from what we accomplished this year.”
And they’ve done it with defense.
In Thursday night’s quarterfinal win over Southwestern Oklahoma, the Texans allowed the Bulldogs to score an unusually-high 65 points, although most of it occurred late in the second half with Tarleton trying to run out the clock and trying not to foul and extend the game.
But Henry and the Texans know the key to their success starts and ends on the defensive side.
And with a third match-up with Midwestern State looming in Saturday’s semifinal round, Henry knows that has to improve in order to complete a three-game sweep on the Mustangs this year – something the senior guard said is a motivating factor, especially after MSU beat Tarleton four straight times last season.
“We know (MSU) wants to beat us but we haven’t forgotten last year,” Henry said. “That’s been on our minds since they beat us in the championship game in the conference tournament and when we lost to them in the regional. We’ve had that in our mind that Midwestern can beat us on any night. But this year we’ve turned it around on them.”
And Henry is a huge reason why.
After scoring 10 points in TSU’s 68-56 win over Midwestern in Stephenville, Henry held the LSC’s leading scorer Chris Hagan to just six points. Henry also dished out six assists and scored 10 points, including a game-winning shot in the final minute to sweep the Mustangs and break MSU’s 40-game home winning streak in Wichita Falls.
“That was a big shot,” Henry said. “Coach went to me, being a team leader, and he put me in a position to win the game.”
To beat Midwestern once again, of course Tarleton will need some big shots from Henry and his teammates. But that remains only secondary on the priority list behind that consistent, smothering defense that has propelled the Texans all year long.