The Henderson State men's basketball team will play its first home game of the season as the Reddies host East Central in a Great American Conference matchup on Thursday with the opening tip set for 7:30 p.m. at the Duke Wells Center.
 
The HSU women's team will start the day off with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff against East Central.
 
Henderson State enters the contest 0-5 on the season, but the Reddies have been playing without the services of key starters Aaron Cooper and Kaylon Tappin. Both are expected to make their season debut within the next few weeks.
 
The Reddies have also had to play without key impact players Darrian Gray and Toney Foster who will sit out the season due to transfer rules.
 
The Reddies are averaging 62.8 points per game, while their opponents are scoring 70.8 points per contest.
 
Kevin Kozan has led the Reddies this season averaging 14.4 points per game. The junior from New Lenox, Ill. leads the team in 3-point field goals with 11.
 
Zydrunas Jurgutis follows averaging 10.6 points per game. The freshman from Klaipeda, Lithuania is also a 3-point specialist having knocked down 10-of-17 attempts.
 
Henderson State has a lot of young talent that has received plenty of playing time in the early part of the season. The Reddie starting lineup features two true freshmen and a sophomore, along with one junior and a senior.

The HSU freshmen have accounted for 41 percent of the playing time and 43 percent of the scoring thus far this season.
 
Jurgutis is the top scoring rookie averaging 10.6 points per game. Jurgutis has started all five games and averages 29.2 minutes per game.   


Ben Marello is scoring 8.8 points per outing and is shooting 52 percent from the field. Marello has made three starts and compiled 22.8 minutes per game.
 
Also getting a great deal of playing time as a rookie is Eric Dailey who averages 21.8 minutes. The guard from Little Rock averages 4.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
 
Although not a freshman, newcomer Matt Panaggio is a rookie to Henderson. The sophomore from Port Orange, Fla. has started every game this year and is scoring 6.6 points per game while pulling down a team best 5.8 rebounds.
 
East Central has a 3-2 record overall and is 1-1 in league play. The Tigers are coming of a 21-10 season that saw them advance to the GAC championship game.
 
ECU was picked to finish second in the GAC Preseason Coaches Poll and began the year ranked No. 25 in the DII Bulletin Preseason Top 25.
 
The Tigers are one of the top scoring teams in the GAC averaging 81.8 points per game. However, ECU allows 82.4 points per contest with teams outrebounding the Tigers 37.2 to 35.8.   


All-GAC First-Team selection Stirling Thomas leads the Tigers averaging 19.4 points per game. A DII Bulletin Preseason All-America selection, Thoams ranks fourth in the GAC in scoring and is an 83 percent shooter from the foul line sinking 28-of-34 from the charity stripe.
 
Last season, Thomas scored a career-high 36 points against the Reddies at the Duke Wells Center knocking down 11-of-14 field goals including 7-of-8 three-pointers.  He added 24 points in the game in Ada to average 30.0 points against Henderson in the two games.
           
Braxton Reeves is also a big impact player for ECU. The junior forward averages 12.2 points per contest including having 23 points against Concordia-St. Paul.  Reeves averaged 11.0 points in the two games against the Reddies a year ago including 15 points in Arkadelphia.
 
Also averaging double-figures is Deron Hill who is averaging 10.2 points. A 96 percent shooter from the foul line, Hill has converted on 22-of-23 free throws.
 
Henderson State leads the all-time series with the Tigers having a 12-8 advantage. ECU won both meetings last year recording an 88-75 victory over the Reddies in Arkadelphia, followed by a 78-68 win in Ada, Okla. The Reddies had won six straight over the Tigers until last year.
 
All Henderson State Reddie Basketball conference games will be carried on 100.7 FM KDEL in Arkadelphia.
The HSU women will play East Central at 5:30 p.m. with the men's game to follow.
 
R.J. Hawk (@RJHawk) will provide all the play-by-play of Henderson State basketball with color commentary being provided by an assortment of talent including HSU Director of Athletics Shawn Jones (@ReddiesAD), Athletics Media Relations Director Troy Mitchell (@MitchellHSU), and Athletics Media Relations Assistant Hunter Lively (@HLively).
The pregame show will air 15 minutes prior to game time.
Live stats and video streaming will also be available via the HSU Athletics website at www.hsusports.com