Harding Game Notes

Harding (12-14, 9-11) vs. East Central (15-11, 12-8)

Location: Bruin Fieldhouse, Bartlesville, Okla.

Time: 8 p.m.

Series: ECU leads 9-7

Coaches: Harding – Jeff Morgan (361-236, 21st season at HU; 378-246, 22nd season overall); East Central - Ja Havens (15-11, 1st season at ECU)

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. 5 seed Harding will make its third consecutive trip to the Great American Conference Tournament and will take on No. 4 seed East Central in the quarterfinals Thursday at 8 p.m. at Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla.

• Harding enters the game 12-14 overall and 9-11 in the GAC. East Central is 15-11 overall and 12-8 in conference. The teams met twice this season with the Tigers winning 93-83 in Searcy and 74-69 in Ada.

• Harding is coming off an 83-80 loss at Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday. The Bisons made 15 3-pointers and were led in scoring by Hayden Johnson's 24 points. Harding has lost its last five games by a total of 13 points.

• East Central lost 75-72 to Arkansas Tech on Saturday in its regular season finale at home. Henry Pwono led the Tigers with 28 points, shooting 11-of-14 from the field, and had eight rebounds. Arkansas Tech made 15 3-pointers.

• With its 15 3-pointers made against Southeastern Oklahoma, Harding broke the GAC single-season record for 3-pointers in a season with 269. Arkansas Tech set the record at 266 in 2011-12. Harding's total is also a school record.

Inside the Series:
•    Harding and East Central are meeting for the 17th time with the Tigers leading the series 9-7. East Central won both meetings this season. Harding and East Central have met only once at a neutral site. On Nov. 17, 2000, the Bisons and Tigers met in Harding's season opener at the Central Arkansas Invitational in Conway, Ark. East Central defeated Harding 79-77.

•    In the two meetings between the Bisons and Tigers this season, Jacob Gibson has been Harding's top scorer, averaging 18.0 points. He has made 9-of-20 3-point attempts. Harding made 22 3-pointers against East Central and had 32 assists and only 19 turnovers.

•    Brandon Lucas was one of four Tigers who averaged more than 10 points per game against the Bisons. Lucas averaged 17 points and shot 65 percent from the field. East Central shot 56.4 percent against Harding and outrebounded the Bisons 66-53.

Additional Harding Notes:
•    Upcoming milestones: Hayden Johnson needs four 3-pointers to become only the fifth Harding player with 150 career 3-pointers ... Johnson is 18th on HU's career scoring list (1,229 points) and needs 31 points to pass Tim Vick (1971-75, 1,304 points) for 17th ... Weston Jameson needs nine assists to move past Darren McCrillis (456, 2000-04) into fourth on Harding's career assist list ... Jacob Gibson needs 14 3-pointers to set Harding's single-season record.

•    Harding's Weston Jameson leads the GAC with 5.5 assists per game. The last Bison to lead a conference in assists was Hubie Smith, who averaged 7.1 assists to lead the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference in 1980-81.

•    Jameson also leads the GAC with 3.7 assists-per-turnover. He is on pace to 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 1,080 points in the three seasons the Bisons have been members of the GAC and is the conference's career scoring leader.

Opponent Notes:
•    East Central is a charter member of the Great American Conference and is located in Ada, Okla. Former St. Louis Cardinal Harry Brecheen, football player Mark Gastineau, golfer Gil Morgan, and baseball Hall of Famers Paul and Lloyd Waner are all alumni of East Central.

•    The Tigers are 15-11 overall and 12-8 in the GAC. East Central was 0-2 in neutral site games this season. The Tigers lost 72-62 to Angelo State on Nov. 8 and lost 81-67 to Midwestern State on Nov. 9. Both games were at the Southwestern Oklahoma State Classic in Weatherford, Okla.

•    Ja Havens, a 1999 graduate of Northeastern State, is in his first season as head coach at East Central. He spent the previous eight seasons at Drury, helping lead the Panthers to the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship.

•    Harding and East Central are the top two teams in the Great American Conference in free throw percentage. Both teams are shooting 71.6 percent on the season.