Harding Game Notes

No. 5 Harding (13-14) vs. No. 1 Arkansas Tech (21-8)

Location: Bruin Fieldhouse, Bartlesville, Okla.

Time: 2:15 p.m.

Series: Tech leads 61-55

Coaches: Harding – Jeff Morgan (362-236, 21st season at HU; 379-246, 22nd season overall); Arkansas Tech - Doug Karleskint (90-32, 4th season at Tech)

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 second straight appearance in the GAC Tournament semifinals Saturday when the Bisons meet No. 1 seed Arkansas Tech in Bartlesville, Okla., at 2:15 p.m.

• Harding enters the game 13-14 overall and is now 2-2 in its three appearances at the GAC Tournament. Arkansas Tech is 21-8 and ranked No. 7 in the NcAA Division II Central Region Rankings. Harding and Arkansas Tech have met seven times in neutral site matches but never at the GAC Tournament.

• Harding earned its berth in the semifinals with a 77-65 victory over East Central on Thursday. The Bisons made 12 3-pointers, including eight in the first half. Hayden Johnson led Harding with 24 points, and Weston Jameson had 17 points and a career-high 11 assists. Will Francis added 14 points.

• Arkansas Tech slid past No. 8 seed Southeastern Oklahoma 63-58 on Thursday. Darrick Little and Marshawn Arnold both came off the bench to score 14 points each. Tech shot only 32 percent.

• With its 12 3-pointers made against East Central, Harding extended its GAC single-season record for 3-pointers in a season with 281. Arkansas Tech set the record at 266 in 2011-12. Harding's total is also a school record.

Inside the Series:
•    Harding and Arkansas Tech are meeting for the 117th time with the Wonder Boys leading the series 61-55. Arkansas Tech has won both meetings this season by one point in each game. The teams will be playing their eight neutral site matchup. The first neutral site meeting was at the AIC Tournament in Pine Bluff, Ark., in 1968 (HU won 81-76). The last three meetings have been in Southaven, Miss., in the Gulf South Conference Tournament. The Bisons won two of those three, including the 2011 GSC Tournament championship.
 
•    In the two meetings between the Bisons and Wonder Boys this season, Jacob Gibson has been Harding's top scorer, averaging 16.5 points. He has made 9-of-15 (60%) 3-point attempts. Harding made 22 3-pointers but had 26 assists and 31 turnovers and shot only 58 percent (21-of-36) on free throws.

•    Bobby Hatchett was Tech's top scorer in the two previous matchups, averging 16.5 points. He has made 14-of-15 free throws in the two games and also led the team with 7.5 rebounds per game.

Additional Harding Notes:
•    Upcoming milestones: Hayden Johnson needs two 3-pointers to become only the fifth Harding player with 150 career 3-pointers ... Johnson is 18th on HU's career scoring list (1,298 points) and needs seven points to pass Tim Vick (1971-75, 1,304 points) for 17th ... Weston Jameson needs 28 assists to move past Steven Barnett (486, 2005-09) into third on Harding's career assist list ... Jacob Gibson needs 12 3s to set Harding's single-season record.

•    Harding's Weston Jameson leads the GAC with 5.7 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 3.9 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 1,104 points in the three seasons the Bisons have been members of the GAC and is the conference's career scoring leader.

Opponent Notes:
•    Arkansas Tech is a charter member of the Great American Conference and is located in Russellville, Ark. Tech has had two players drafted in the NBA Draft: Deward Dopson by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 6th Round in 1951 and Ken Saylors by the St. Louis Spirits in the 2nd Round in 1963.

•    The Wonder Boys are 21-8 overall and won the GAC regular season championship with a 15-5 record. Tech enters the game on a GAC-best five-game winning streak and has won 10 of its last 11 games. The Wonder Boys' only loss in the last 11 games was a 70-49 defeat at Arkansas-Monticello.

•    Doug Karleskint, a 2003 graduate of MidAmerica Nazarene, is in his fourth season as head coach at Arkansas Tech. It is his first NCAA coaching job.

•    The Harding-Arkansas Tech game is a matchup of the top offense in the GAC against the top defense in the conference. Harding is averaging a GAC-best 76.7 points, while Arkansas Tech allows a GAC-low 67.2 points.

•    Both teams rely on the 3-pointer. Harding makes a GAC-best 10.4 3-pointers per game, and Arkansas Tech is second in the GAC in making 37.2 percent of its 3-point attempts.