Harding Game Notes
SEARCY - The Harding Bisons will play their second straight Gulf South Conference home game Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Christian Brothers. The Bisons will be looking to even their GSC record at 2-2.
COACHES: Harding is coached by
Jeff Morgan, who is in his 18th season as a head coach and 17th season as head coach of the Bisons. Morgan has a 298-198 career record and a 281-188 record at Harding.
Mike Nienaber is in his 11th season as the head coach at Christian Brothers and has a 179-120 record. He has a 421-404 record in his 27th season as a collegiate head coach.
THE BISONS: Harding is currently 1-2 and tied with Christian Brothers for fifth place in the GSC West. The top four teams advance to the conference tournament.
Harding junior
Stephen Blake is leading the GSC in free throw percentage at 90.2 percent. He has made 34 of his last 36 free throw attempts. Blake ranks 11th in NCAA Division II. Alex Hall of Drury is the nation's leader at 94.2 percent.
Harding has moved into second in the GSC with 3.8 blocked shots per game, which would rank second in a Harding single season (4.2 per game in 1998-99). The Bisons have blocked five or more shots five times this season.
In his six career games vs. CBU, Harding junior
Kevin Brown is averaging 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds. His career high of 33 points came against the Bucs during the 2008 GSC Tournament.
Harding's
Jeff Morgan is in his 18th season as a head coach and is just two wins short of 300 in his career.
Harding junior
Kevin Brown recorded his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds vs. Arkansas Tech. It was the eighth double-double of his career and the ninth time Brown had 10 or more rebounds in a game. He had six double-doubles last season.
Harding junior
Stephen Blake connected on 4-of-4 three-pointers and made all six of his free throws against Arkansas Tech, scoring a career-high 22 points. It was the second time in his career that he scored more than 20 points and the second time this season he was 6-of-6 from the foul line.
THE BUCCANEERS: Christian Brothers is a member of the Gulf South Conference West Division and is located in Memphis, Tenn. The Buccaneers were picked fourth in the GSC West in the GSC Preseason Coaches Poll.
Christian Brothers is ranked sixth in NCAA Division II in scoring defense, allowing only 57.4 points per game. The Bucs also rank in the top 15 nationally in fouls per game (8th, 14.4), turnovers per game (9th, 11.9) and three-pointers per game (11th, 9.3).
Zack Warner, a 6-9 sophomore from St. Louis, Mo., leads Christian Brothers and ranks second in the GSC in scoring at 19.1 points per game. He has scored at least 10 points in every game this season. Scott Dennis, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Cincinnati, leads CBU, ranks second in the GSC and seventh in Division II in rebounding at 11.6 per game.
Christian Brothers has attempted 427 three-pointers this season, 50.4 percent of all its shots are three-pointers, the highest percentage in the GSC. CBU also has three of the GSC's top four players in minutes per game--Scott Dennis (36.1), Kyle Couvion (35.4) and Zack Warner (34.9).
THE SERIES: Harding and Christian Brothers are meeting for the 62nd time with the Bisons leading the series 32-29. Harding holds a 20-8 advantage in games played in Searcy. The Bisons are 7-2 in Searcy against the Bucs since joining the GSC in 2000-01.
