Basketball Game Preview: Hanford Bullpups vs. Tulare Western Mustangs

The Hanford Bullpups are taking a road trip to face off against the Tulare Western Mustangs at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Hanford is likely headed into the match with a focus on the second half, which is when things went downhill against Tulare Union on Tuesday. Hanford fell just short of Tulare Union by a score of 78-76. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Thursday (62), the Bullpups still had to take the loss.

Meanwhile, Tulare Western hadn't done well against Dinuba recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. Tulare Western blew past Dinuba 82-59. The Mustangs have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 21 points or more this season.

The victory was the fourth in a row for Tulare Western, bringing their record for this year to 13-7. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 20.2 points. As for Hanford, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-6.

Hanford couldn't quite finish off Tulare Western when the teams last played back in February of 2024 and fell 60-57. Can Hanford avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.