Harding Game Notes

No. 8 Harding (15-14) vs. No. 1 Minnesota State-Mankato (29-4)

Location: Taylor Center, Mankato, Minn.

Time: 5 p.m.

Series: Minnesota State-Mankato leads 1-0

Coaches: Harding – Jeff Morgan (364-236, 21st season at HU; 381-246, 22nd season overall); Minnestoa State-Mankato - Matt Margenthaler (283-114, 13th season at Minnesota State-Mankato)

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)

• No. 8 seed Harding makes its fifth appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament after winning the Great American Conference Tournament on Sunday in Bartlesville, Okla., and earning the conference's first automatic berth.

• Harding is playing in consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history. The Bisons' other NCAA trips came in 2003 (Winter Park, Fla.), 2008 (Lakeland, Fla.), 2011 (Huntsville, Ala.), and 2013 (Mankato, Minn.).

• Harding won its first NCAA Tournament game last season with a 75-71 victory over Central Missouri in the Central Region quarterfinals. The Bisons then fell 86-65 to Minnesota State-Mankato in the semifinals.

• Harding entered the GAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed but defeated No. 4 seed East Central (77-65), No. 1 seed Arkansas Tech (83-64), and No. 6 Henderson State (93-86, 2ot) to win its first GAC Tournament title.

• Harding senior guard Weston Jameson won the GAC Tournament MVP. He averaged 21.7 points and made 14-of-21 3-pointers in the three games. Senior Hayden Johnson and sophomore Blake McNair also earned All-Tournament honors.

Inside the Series:
•    Harding and Minnesota State-Mankato are meeting for the second time. The Mavericks defeated the Bisons 86-65 in the semifinals of the 2013 Central Region Tournament in Mankato.
 
•    Minnesota State-Mankato had three players--Assem Marei, Jarvis Williams, and Gage Wooten--score 16 points each to lead the Mavericks. Minnesota State-Mankato outscored Harding 23-5 at the free throw line and outrebounded Harding 39-20.

•    Harding was led in scoring by freshman Andraz Kavas who had 15 points. Zach Roddenberry added 10 points. Weston Jameson led Harding in rebounds with four. The Bisons shot 45.8 percent but made only 6-of-21 3-pointers (28.6 percent).

Additional Harding Notes:
•    Upcoming milestones: Hayden Johnson has 151 3-pointers and needs six more to move into fourth at Harding in career 3-pointers ... Johnson is 16th on HU's career scoring list (1,334 points) and needs 11 points to pass Charles Gardner (1979-82, 1,344 points) for 15th ... Weston Jameson needs 15 assists to move past Steven Barnett (486, 2005-09) into third on Harding's career assist list ... Jacob Gibson needs five 3s to set Harding's single-season record.

•    Harding has made a school and GAC-record 310 3-pointers this season and enters the NCAA Tournament with a streak of six consecutive games with 11 3-pointers or more. The Bisons made a season-high 16 3-pointers in the GAC Championship Game against Henderson State. All five of Harding's starters have made 38 3-pointers or more this season.


•    Weston Jameson leads the GAC and ranks second in Division II with 3.82 assists-per-turnover. He will be the top performer in the conference in that category for the third consecutive season. His assist-to-turnover ratio was 1.8 in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

•    Harding senior Hayden Johnson has scored 1,140 points in the three seasons the Bisons have been members of the GAC and is the conference's career scoring leader.

Opponent Notes:
•    Minnesota State has set a new single-season record with 29 wins this season, after defeating Winona State 75-66 to win the NSIC Tournament championship. The Mavericks have now won 13 straight games and have five players averaging at least 11.2 points per game during that stretch.

•    Five Mavericks are averaging at least 10.9 points per game on the season, including junior Assem Marei, who is leading the team with 16.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Junior  Zach Monaghan is averaging 15.3 points and 8.1 assists per game, while senior Gage Wooten is averaging 13.6 points per game, while shooting 61.3% from the field.

•    Minnesota State is currently on a 13-game winning streak with five of its wins coming at Taylor Center. During that stretch, the five MSU starters have averaged at least 11.2 points per game.

•    Matt Margenthaler is in his 13th season as head coach at Minnesota State-Mankato. He has a 283-114 record.