Harding Game Notes

Harding Men's Basketball

Harding (7-6, 4-3) vs. Southern Arkansas (5-6, 2-4)

Location: Rhodes Field House, Searcy, Ark.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Series: SAU leads 68-47

Coaches: Harding – Jeff Morgan (356-228, 21st season at HU; 373-238, 22nd season overall); Southern Arkansas - Andy Sharpe (15-23, 2nd season at SAU; 183-93, 9th season overall)

Live Stats/Audio/Video: Available through a link on HardingSports.com - www.hardingsports.com/coverage.aspx

Radio: KVHU-95.3 FM (Billy Morgan and Scott Goode)

Harding Notes
• Harding plays its second straight Great American Conference home game Thursday as it hosts Southern Arkansas. The Bisons are looking to extend their winning streak over the Muleriders to nine games, which would be the longest in series history.

• Harding enters the game 7-6 overall and 4-3 in the GAC, good for fifth place among GAC Tournament-eligible teams. Southern Arkansas is 5-6 overall and 2-4 in the GAC, tied for sixth.

• In a game with 16 lead changes, Harding outlasted Southeastern Oklahoma 88-86 in overtime Thursday at Rhodes. Sophomore Jacob Gibson made the game-winning layup with six seconds remaining, and freshman Will Francis scored 32 points.

• Southern Arkansas lost its second straight GAC game Saturday, falling 84-70 at Southern Nazarene.  The Muleriders had 22 turnovers and gave up 13 3-pointers. Reserve guard Nemo Sanchez made five 3-pointers and led Southern Arkansas with 15 points.

• Harding freshman Will Francis scored a career-high 32 points vs. Southeastern Oklahoma. It was just the sixth time in program history an HU freshman scored 30 or more and tied for the third-highest total ever by a Bison freshman.

Inside the Series:
•    Harding and Southern Arkansas are meeting for the 116th time with the Muleriders leading the series 68-47. The Bisons lead the series 30-24 in games played in Searcy, have won eight straight in the series overall, and 11 straight home games over the Muleriders. Southern Arkansas' last win in Searcy came on Feb. 7, 2002. Harding has won 20 of the 23 meetings since.

•    Among current Bisons, senior Hayden Johnson has the best numbers against Southern Arkansas. In seven games (five starts), Johnson averages 12.0 points and 4.6 rebounds against the Muleriders. In three games last season, Johnson averaged 18.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots.

•    Southern Arkansas has only one player on its current roster that played against Harding last season. In three games, including the GAC Tournament, Duke Reed averaged 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds.

Additional Harding Notes:
•    Upcoming milestones: Weston Jameson needs one 3-pointer for 100 career ... Jameson needs two assists to move past Ricky Treadway (1977-81) into seventh on HU's career list ... Hayden Johnson needs seven blocked shots to pass Zach Roddenberry for third place on Harding's career list ... Johnson is 28th on HU's career scoring list (1,026 points) and needs 22 points to pass Lonnie Smith (1,047 points, 2004-06) for 27th.

•    More facts and figures from Will Francis' 32-point effort vs. Southeastern Oklahoma ... it was only the sixth time a Harding freshman scored more than 30 points in a game ... it was the highest point total ever by a Harding freshman in a home game ... the last HU freshman to score more than 30 points was Kevin Brown, who scored 33 vs. Christian Brothers in the Gulf South Conference Tournament championship game in 2008 ... Francis' total was tied for third-highest by a freshman, trailing only Freddie Dixon's 36 at Arkansas A&M (UAM) in 1971 and Brown's 33 in 2008 and tied with Dixon's 32-point outing against Arkansas College (Lyon) in 1971.

•    Weston Jameson leads the GAC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.35. He has 67 assists and 20 turnovers. Over the last seven games, Jameson has been even better. During that stretch, he has 41 assists and seven turnovers for a 5.9-to-1 ratio. Jameson has led the GAC in the stat in each of the conference's first two seasons.

Opponent Notes:
•    Southern Arkansas is a charter member of the Great American Conference and is located in Magnolia, Ark.

•    The Muleriders are 5-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play. Southern Arkansas is playing its second straight road game but has only played three road games all seaason, going 1-2. SAU has split its two road conference games, winning 71-60 at Ouachita Baptist and losing 84-70 at Southern Nazarene.

•    Southern Arkansas is coached by Andy Sharpe, who is in his third season in Magnolia. A 2002 graduate of Reinhardt University in Georgia, Sharpe has also coached at Emmanuel (2005-07) and Martin Methodist (2007-12).

•    Jeffrey Walker, a 6-5 sophomore from Cotton Valley, La., and a transfer from Baton Rouge Community College, leads Southern Arkansas in scoring (14.3) and rebounding (7.7).

•    Junior Alre'k Brown, a 6-7 forward from Dawson, Ga., and a transfer from Chattahoochee Valley Community College, leads the GAC in both field goal percentage (59.3) and blocked shots (2.9).