Harding Game Notes

Harding Men's Basketball

Harding (12-9, 9-6) at Henderson State (10-13, 6-9)

Location: Duke Wells Center, Arkadelphia, Ark.

Time: 7 p.m.

Series: HSU leads 72-40

Coaches: Harding – Jeff Morgan (361-231, 21st season at HU; 378-241, 22nd season overall); Henderson State - Doug Nichols (40-37, 3rd season at HSU)

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 and Henderson State will play a make-up game Monday at 7 p.m. at the Duke Wells Center. The game was originally scheduled for last Thursday but was postponed due to a malfunctioning scoreboard.

• Harding enters the game 12-9 overall and 9-6 in the GAC. The Bisons are in fourth place in the GAC standings among tournament-eligible teams. Henderson State is 10-13 overall and 6-9 in conference play. The Reddies are in sixth place in the GAC.

• Harding is coming off an 81-64 victory over Ouachita Baptist on Saturday at Rhodes Field House. The Bisons trailed by 12 in the first half but outscored the Tigers 48-33 in the second half. Hayden Johnson led Harding with 24 points. Jacob Gibson had 21.

• Henderson State is coming off a 58-56 road loss at Arkansas Tech on Saturday. Tech's Tyler Friedel hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining. Kevin Kozan made three 3-pointers and led the Reddies with 13 points. Taylor Smith had 11.

• Harding enters the game ranked No. 1 in the GAC in five different statistical categories. The Bisons top the conference in free throw pct. (72.3), assists (15.3), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4), defensive rebound pct. (76.2) and 3-pointers made (10.0).

Inside the Series:
•    Harding and Henderson State are meeting for the 113th time with the Reddies leading the series 72-39. Henderson State leads 38-14 in games played in Arkadelphia, but Harding has won six of the last nine meetings at the Duke Wells Center.

•    Harding won the first meeting between the teams this season, 89-71 at the Rhodes Field House. Jacob Gibson made 8-of-16 3-pointers in the game and led the Bisons with 36 points. Harding made 12 3-pointers total and shot 52 percent overall. Harding held a 34-22 points-in-the-paint advantage.

•    Henderson State matched Harding's 12 3-pointers in the game. Deoirvay Johnson came off the bench, made 6-of-8 from 3-point range, and scored 26 points. The Reddies were outrebounded 39-24 and went to the free throw line only 11 times, hitting nine.

Additional Harding Notes:
•    Upcoming milestones: Weston Jameson needs 35 assists to move past Darren McCrillis (456, 2000-04) into fourth on Harding's career assist list ... Hayden Johnson needs six blocked shots to pass Zach Roddenberry for third place on Harding's career list ... Johnson is 22nd on HU's career scoring list (1,170 points) and needs 27 points to pass Trent Morgan (2006-10, 1,196 points) for 21st ... Jacob Gibson needs five 3-pointers to move into HU's single season top 10.

•    Harding guard Weston Jameson leads the Great American Conference in both assists per game (5.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.8). Jameson leads Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio and ranks 29th in assists.

•    In its third season in the GAC, Harding is 15-10 vs. Oklahoma opponents and 15-11 vs. Arkansas opponents.

•    Sophomore Jacob Gibson needs only five 3s to move into Harding's single-season top 10. He has 59 3-pointers this season with 46 of those coming in the last 11 games, and average of 4.30 per game. He averaged 9.0 points in the season's first 10 games and 20.5 points in the last 11.

Opponent Notes:
•    Henderson State is a charter member of the Great American Conference and is located in Arkadelphia, Ark. Henderson State was founded in 1890 as Arkansas Methodist College.

•    The Reddies are 10-13 overall and 6-9 in conference play. Henderson State has a 4-5 home record and has won three of its last four at the Duke Wells Center.

•    Doug Nichols, a 2005 graduate of Texas A&M, is in his third season at Henderson State. It is his first head coaching position.

•    Henderson State leads the Great American Conference in 3-point field goal percentage at 9.8 percent. There are three Reddies in the top five in the GAC in 3-point field goal percentage, including conference leader Taylor Smith, who is 38-of-76 (50 percent) this season. Deoirvay Johnson is second (45.9 percent) and Kevin Kozan is fifth at 41.2 percent.

•    The Reddies are one of the top shooting teams in the GAC. Henderson State leads the conference in both field goal percentage (46.4) and 3-point field goal percentage (39.8) and ranks sixth in free throw percentage (68.0).