Harding Men's Basketball Battles Southwestern Oklahoma Saturday in Weatherford

Harding (1-2, 1-0) at Southwestern Okla. (2-1, 1-0)
Nov. 21, 2015 • Pioneer Event Center • Weatherford, Okla. • 3 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Radio: KVHU 95.3-FM
Internet:
   Audio: www.HardingSports.com
   Video: www.HardingSports.com
Live Stats: www.HardingSports.com

THE COACHES
Jeff Morgan, Harding
   at Harding: 379-253 (22nd season)
   Career: 396-263 (23rd season)
   vs. Southwestern Okla.: 9-5
Bob Battisti,
   at SWOSU: 33-23 (3rd season)
   Career: 442-319 (27th season)

THE SERIES
Series Record: HU leads 9-6
in Weatherford: SWOSU leads 5-3
First Meeting: SWOSU 82-79 (11/16/1968)
Last Meeting: HU 79-52 (2/7/2015)
Current Streak: HU, 4 games

Harding and Southwestern Oklahoma both won their GAC openers and look to remain undefeated in conference play when the teams meet Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Pioneer Event Center in Weatherford, Oklahoma.

Harding will be looking to win both ends of the Northwestern Oklahoma/Southwestern Oklahoma road trip for the first time in four tries. The Bisons defeated Northwestern 82-63 on Thursday.

Harding shot 53 percent and had four players score 10 or more points in the victory over Northwestern Oklahoma. Kavas led the Bisons with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Will Francis scored 17, and Stefan Andelkovic started and scored 15.

Southwestern Oklahoma defeated Arkansas Tech 88-63 on Saturday in Weatherford in a game that featured 57 fouls and 80 free throws. Martell Collins and Emeche Wells led the Bulldogs with 16 points each. Southwestern made 34 free throws.

Andraz Kavas enters the game with 980 career points. With 20 points, Kavas would become the 35th player in Harding history to score more than 1,000 points in his career.

Harding Team Notes:
Senior Jacob Gibson made his 140th career 3-pointer against Northern State. He currently ranks ninth in career 3-pointers at Harding and needs four more to pass Matt Hall (2003-08) for eighth and six more to pass Stephen Blake (2008-11) for seventh.

Senior Blake McNair is one of only three Harding players to rank in the top 10 in program history in both 3-point field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage. McNair is eighth in 3-point percentage (40.5) and fourth in free-throw percentage (85.6). The other two on both lists are Stephen Blake (2008-11) and Aaron Farley (1998-03).

Through three games, Harding ranks second in the Great American Conference in field-goal percentage at 47.3 percent. The Bisons are third in the conference in field-goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to only 42.1 percent shooting.

Andraz Kavas has led the Bisons in scoring in all three games and has scored 24 points or more in each of the three. He leads the GAC with 26.3 points per game. Southern Arkansas' Jaron Davis is second at 22.7 points per game.

Series Notes:
Harding and Southwestern Oklahoma are meeting for the 16th time with the Bisons leading 9-5. The Bulldogs have won five of the eight meetings in Weatherford, but the Bisons have won the last two. Harding has swept the series each of the last two years.

Last season, Harding won both matchups. The Bisons won 64-52 in Searcy on Nov. 22 and 79-52 in Weatherford on Feb. 7. Harding shot 55 percent in the two games and limited Southwestern to only 33 percent.   The Bisons made 22 3-pointers and shot 49 percent from 3-point range, and the Bulldogs made only four 3-pointers and shot 12 percent.

Series Individual Records, Harding vs. Southwestern Okla.:
   Points - 36, Hayden Johnson (2/8/2014)
   Rebounds - 17, Lavern Floyd (2/26/2000)
   Assists - 9, Weston Jameson (1/2/2014)

Opponent Notes:
Southwestern Oklahoma enters the game 2-1 overall and 1-0 in GAC games. The Bulldogs will be playing their fourth straight home game to open the season. Southwestern has won two straight.

Southwestern leads the GAC in both field-goal percentage defense (39.7) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (22.6). The Bulldogs held Arkansas Tech to only 30 percent shooting from the field and 23 percent from 3-point range.

Emeche Wells, a senior from Roseville, Minnesota, has nine steals through three games and leads the GAC in the category

Bob Battisti enters his third season at SWOSU in 2015-16 after being tabbed as the 14th men's basketball coach in Bulldog basketball history in April 2013. Battisti came to SWOSU after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Christian.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#21 Will Francis: G; 6' 5"; Junior

#15 Jacob Gibson: G; 6' 5"; Senior

#44 Andraz Kavas: F; 6' 10"; Senior

#23 Blake McNair: G; 6' 4"; Senior

#42 Stefan Andelkovic: F; 6' 8"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#21 Will Francis
: 6' 5"; Junior
: G

#15 Jacob Gibson
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G

#44 Andraz Kavas
: 6' 10"; Senior
: F

#23 Blake McNair
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G

#42 Stefan Andelkovic
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F