Harding Game Notes

Harding Men's Basketball

Harding (8-6, 5-3) at Arkansas-Monticello (11-4, 4-3)

Location: Steelman Field House, Monticello, Ark.

Time: 4 p.m.

Series: UAM leads 59-54

Coaches: Harding – Jeff Morgan (357-228, 21st season at HU; 374-238, 22nd season overall); Arkansas-Monticello - Allen Sharpe (62-37, 4th season at UAM)

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)

• Winner of five of its last six, Harding will look to continue its climb up the Great American Conference standings Saturday at Arkansas-Monticello. The Bisons and Boll Weevils tip off at Steelman Field House at 4 p.m.

• Harding enters the game 8-6 overall and 5-3 in the GAC, good for fourth place among GAC Tournament-eligible teams. Arkansas-Monticello is 11-4 overall and 4-3 in the GAC, good for fifth.

• All five Harding starters scored 10 or more points with Jacob Gibson leading the way with 28 in a 92-80 victory over Southern Arkansas on Thursday in Searcy. The Bisons shot 50 percent and outscored the Muleriders 22-10 at the free throw line.

• After leading by as many as 10 points in the first half, Arkansas-Monticello fell 86-72 at Arkansas Tech on Thursday. The Boll Weevils could not overcome the Wonder Boys' 17-1 run early in the second half.  D'Audrio Patton had 18 points to lead UAM, who shot only 7-of-20 from the free throw line in the game.  

• Harding senior Weston Jameson has taken over the assists-per-game lead among GAC players. Jameson averages 5.4 assists, but has 45 assists over the last six games, an average of 7.5 assists. He is also the GAC leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4-to-1).

Inside the Series:
•    Harding and Arkansas-Monticello are meeting for the 114th time with the Boll Weevils leading the series 59-54. Arkansas-Monticello holds a 36-19 lead in Monticello and has won five of the last six meetings at Steelman Field House. Harding last won in Monticello in 2011, a 91-71 victory.

•    Jacob Gibson, Weston Jameson and Hayden Johnson have all played against Arkansas-Monticello. Gibson averages 4.0 points in two games, Jameson averages 8.0 points and 3.3 assists in seven games (five starts), and Johnson averages 8.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in seven games (five starts).

•    Arkansas-Monticello's Dayton Mickens played in both games against Harding last season and averaged 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Josh Gibson, Brandon Sims, and Ryan Lensing also saw action against Harding.

Additional Harding Notes:
•    Upcoming milestones: Weston Jameson needs 20 assists to move past Tim Vick (1971-75) into sixth 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 (1,043 points) and needs five points to pass Lonnie Smith (1,047 points, 2004-06) for 27th and 17 points to pass Chad Ware (1,059 points, 2000-04) for 26th.

•    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.

•    The Bisons have shot 409 3-pointers through the first 14 games, an average of 29.2 per game. Harding is on pace to shoot 760 3-pointers through the regular season. The current school record is 692, set in 32 games last season.  Harding has made 133 3-pointers, an average of 9.5 per game.

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

•    The Boll Weevils are 11-4 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Arkansas-Monticello is playing its 11th home game of the season and has won nine of 10.  Its only home loss was a 74-65 defeat by Southwestern Oklahoma in the Weevils' GAC opener. UAM has won eight straight at home since.

•    Allen Sharpe, a 2000 graduate of Lipscomb University, is in his fourth season at UAM. The Weevils have had three straight winning seasons under Sharpe, including a 21-9 record in 2011-12.

•    Brandon Wilson, a 6-7 senior forward who transferred to UAM from NCAA Division I Grambling State, leads the Boll Weevils in scoring (17.5, 3rd in GAC) and rebounding (7.4, 6th in GAC). Wilson is the top offensive rebounder in the conference with 3.5 per game and is third with 2.0 blocks per game.

•    Despite ranking seventh in the GAC in free throw percentage (65.5 percent), Arkansas-Monticello leads the conference in both free throws made (277) and free throw attempts (423). The Boll Weevils have shot 83 more free throws than their opponents.