ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State will hit the road for its final contest of the calendar year on Wednesday when the Reddies travel to Pittsburg, Kansas to take on Pittsburg State of the MIAA at 6 p.m.
REDDIES REPORT
- Henderson will be looking to get back on its feet Wednesday after dropping an 86-82 heartbreaker on Saturday in Monticello, Arkansas to UAM. The Reddies led by as many as 19 points in the game, and had an advantage of 16 at half, but were out-scored 60-40 in the second period of their second-straight road loss.
- The Reddies have been on the wrong side of some hot shooting performances in their last two defeats. Harding hit 13 3-pointers in its victory over HSU two weeks ago and UAM shot 52.5% in the second half to help the Weevils rally for the win. Despite the two losses, Henderson continues to lead the GAC in field goal percentage defense (39.1% shooting for opponents), blocks (3.8 per game) and steals (10.3 per game).
- HSU is second in the league in turnover margin (+5.22) and is forcing more opponent turnovers per contest (19.6 per game) than any team in the GAC. The Reddies are also second in the conference in scoring margin this season (+14.1).
- Junior guard Chris Parker is eighth in the GAC in scoring with an average of 16.4 points per game. Parker has scored in double figures in eight of the Reddies' nine contests so far this year. Junior forward Raekwon Rogers, who averages 11.4 points, is third in the conference in rebounding (8.1 per game) and eighth in field goal percentage (54.4%). Junior guard Quawn Marshall is the league-leader in steals per game (2.9) and is one of just three players in the GAC with 20 or more steals this season despite missing two games.
- Wednesday is just the third all-time meeting between Henderson State and Pitt State and the first clash of the two schools since the 2008-09 season. The Gorillas won the previous two matchups 101-71 in 1994-95 and won the only meeting of this millennium 65-55. The trip is the Reddies' first to the state of Kansas since 2017-18 when they faced Wichita State in an exhibition. The contest is HSU's first non-exhibition game in the Sunflower state since its last meeting with Pitt State on Nov. 29, 2008.
SCOUTING PITT STATE
- Pittsburg State enters Wednesday night's contest 4-3 on the year and 0-2 in the MIAA after dropping back-to-back contests to Missouri Southern and Washburn. The Gorillas are led by third year head coach Kim Anderson, who was at Missouri from 2014-17. Anderson has led Pitt State to back-to-back 17-13 seasons in his first two years at the school.
- The Gorillas' top option offensively is senior guard Marcel Cherry, who averages a team-leading 11.6 points per game. A very balanced team, Pitt State has 10 different players who average 14 or more minutes per game, four who averages double figures in points, and have been lead in scoring by a different player in six of its seven contests this year.
- PSU is eighth in the MIAA in scoring defense (68.9 points per game allowed) and 10th in scoring offense (72.4 points per game). The Gorillas are, however, one of the best rebounding teams in the league and lead the conference in offensive rebounds per game (13), and total rebounds per game (41).
