Harding Game Notes
SEARCY – The Harding Bisons play the third of three home games in a five-day span Thursday when they host Delta State at the Rhodes Field House for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
COACHES: Harding is coached by Jeff Morgan, who enters his 18th season as the Head coach of the Bisons. Morgan has compiled a 303-202 record at HU. He has 286 of those victories in his 17 seasons at Harding.
Delta State is coached by Jason Connor, who is in his fourth year as head coach of the Statesmen and has a 71-47 record.
THE BISONS: The Bisons have won six of their last seven games and are seeking their first five-game winning streak of the season.
Harding is currently 6-6 and tied with Christian Brothers for fourth place in the GSC West. Delta State is 9-3 and in second place. The top four teams advance to the GSC Tournament.
Kevin Brown had his streak of 13 straight games with 10 or more points snapped against North Alabama. He had eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds. He has six 20-point games this season.
Junior Kevin Brown is averaging 16.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in Harding's 12 conference games. He is shooting 61.7 percent from the field in those games.
Trent Morgan enters the Delta State game with 177 career steals, second all-time at Harding. With one more steal, Morgan will move into fourth in GSC history.
Harding averages 25.48 free throws attempted per game, the most of any team in the GSC West Division. Delta State is second with 25.38 attempted per game. Christian Brothers is last at 13.64 attempted per game.
Harding had two players score 20 points or more for only the second time this season vs. North Alabama.
Stephen Blake tied a career high with 22 points and
Kirk Porter added 20. In Harding's 94-54 win over Henderson State on Jan. 9,
Sam Brown and
Kevin Brown both scored 21 points.
THE STATESMEN: Delta State is a member of the Gulf South Conference West Division and is located in Cleveland, Miss. The Statesmen were picked to win the GSC West in the GSC Preseason Coaches Poll.
Delta State is ranked second in the GSC with 16.8 assists per game. Senior guard Chad Akins leads the team and the GSC with 7.6 assists per game, but has missed the last four games with an illness.
The Statesmen have six players on their roster that average 10.0 points per game or more. Ten players on the team average 10.0 minutes per game or more.
Delta State ranks in the bottom five in the GSC in all three shooting categories. The Statesmen are 10th in field goal percentage (45.0), 12th in three-point field goal percentage (33.0) and 11th in free throw percentage (63.9).
SERIES: Harding and Delta State are meeting for the 21st time. Delta State leads the series 14-6, but Harding is ahead 5-4 in games played in Searcy. The Statesmen have won the last three overall and three of the last four at the Rhodes Field House.
