SEARCY – The Harding Bisons meet Southern Arkansas on Monday in a game originally scheduled for last Thursday. Tipoff at the Rhodes Field House is at 7:30 p.m.
COACHES: Harding is coached by Jeff Morgan, who enters his 18th season as the Head coach of the Bisons. Morgan has compiled a 300-202 record at HU. He has 283 of those victories in his 17 seasons at Harding.
Southern Arkansas is coached by Eric Bozeman, who is in his fifth year as head coach of the Muleriders and has a 49-80 record. He is 120-147 in 10 seasons as a head coach.
THE BISONS: Harding is currently 3-6 and in sixth place in the GSC West, 1 1/2 games out of fourth. Southern Arkansas is 4-5 and in fifth place. The top four teams advance to the GSC Tournament.
Harding head coach Jeff Morgan earned his 300th career victory last Saturday at Henderson State. He has 283 of those wins in his 17 seasons at Harding.
Harding has two players averaging in double figures during the GSC season. Junior Kevin Brown leads the team with 15.3 points per game and sophomore Kirk Porter is second with 12.0 points per game.
Junior Kevin Brown is moving closer to becoming only the 31st Harding player to score 1,000 points in a career. Brown enters the Southern Arkansas game with 973 career points.
Sam Brown and Stephen Blake have both shot extremely well from three-point range against SAU in their careers. Brown is 7-of-12 (58%) in three games and Blake is 7-of-14 (50%) in three games.
Harding had not played a game in nine days prior to its game against Arkansas Tech, but the Bisons play five games over the next nine days with three of those games coming at home.
Harding has had four different players score 20 points or more in a Gulf South Conference game this season -- Kirk Porter (26), Stephen Blake (22), Kevin Brown (21) and Sam Brown (21).
THE MULERIDERS: Southern Arkansas is a member of the Gulf South Conference West Division and is located in Magnolia, Ark. (pop. 11,766). The Muleriders were picked to finish sixth in the GSC West in the GSC Preseason Coaches Poll.
Southern Arkansas has one of the top defenses in the country, ranking fifth in the GSC and 46th nationally at 65.0 points per game. The Muleriders have allowed less than 60 points seven times this season and have a 5-2 record in those games.
Channin Harden, a 6-3 junior from Marianna, Ark., leads SAU in scoring at 13.2 points per game. Sanchez Dade, a 6-4 senior from El Dorado, Ark., leads the team in rebounding (4.7 rpg), blocks (22) and steals (31). Tony James, a 5-11 senior from Bossier City, La., leads with 3.0 assists per game.
Southern Arkansas ranks near the bottom of Division II in both scoring offense and rebound margin. The Muleriders rank 249th of 270 team in scoring at 62.8 points per game and 257th in rebounding margin at -6.3 rebounds per game.
SERIES: Harding and Southern Arkansas are meeting for the 108th time with the Muleriders leading the series 68-39. Southern Arkansas has won the last two meetings overall, but Harding has won the last seven vs. the Muleriders in Searcy.
