ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — The Henderson State men's basketball team, winners of five-straight, will look to continue their winning ways on Thursday evening when they host rival Ouachita Baptist at 7:30 p.m. in the Duke Wells Center.
REDDIES REPORT
- The Reddies (11-3, 6-2) are in a three-way tie for first place in the GAC after going 2-0 in Oklahoma last weekend. HSU defeated Northwestern Oklahoma State 84-69 on Thursday and followed it up with a 92-74 win at Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday. Henderson has won five-straight games, including four-consecutive conference contests.
- Henderson's balanced scoring has been one of its keys all season offensively. The Reddies had five players score in double figures in both of their wins last week and have put four or more players in double figures in 11 of their 14 games this season. HSU has 10 players who average over 13 minutes per contest and all of them are shooting 41% from the floor or better this year.
- HSU is 7-0 this season in the home confines of the Duke Wells Center and has won 18 of its last 21 home games dating back to 2018-19. The Reddies' average margin of victory in home contests this year is 26 points. That margin of victory drops only slightly when taking only GAC games into account (21.3 points).
- The Reddies have held five-straight opponents to a shooting percentage of under 40%. Henderson is fourth in all of NCAA DII in field goal percentage defense (38.1%) and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.6%). HSU is holding conference opponents to a shooting percentage of 36% this season — a mark which would lead the country if it applied to the entire schedule.
- Anthony Lupardus and Chris Owens are both on hot shooting streaks for HSU. Lupardus is 27-for-46 from 3-point range in his last eight games (58.7%) while Owens is shooting 75% from the floor (33-of-44) in his last seven. The pair are a combined 31-of-47 from 3-point range (66%) in their last seven contests.
- Thursday's Battle of the Ravine matchup is the 209th meeting all-time between Henderson and Ouachita Baptist. The Tigers lead the series 107-101 but the Reddies swept both meetings last season for the first time since 2005-06.
SCOUTING OUACHITA BAPTIST
- Ouachita Baptist enters Thursday's game 6-7 overall and 3-5 in GAC play. The Tigers have lost their last three contests after winning four-straight from the end of November to the beginning of January. OBU is led by head coach Dennis Nutt, who is in his ninth season at the school.
- The Tigers top weapon is senior guard Trey Harris, who averages a team-high 10.8 points per game this year. Harris has scored in double figures in each of the last five games for OBU. Junior guard Kendarious Smith is also an important cog for Ouachita and averages 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
- As a team, OBU is 10th in the GAC in scoring offense (70.4 points per game) but fourth in scoring defense (69.9 points allowed per game) and field goal percentage defense (42.6% shooting for opponents). The Tigers are the second-best free throw shooting team in the conference (78.5%).
