COVERAGE LINKS | GAME NOTES | TICKETS
 
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Henderson State will gear up for one final ride inside the Duke Wells Center this season when Arkansas Tech comes to Arkadelphia Thursday, Feb. 23. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. with Senior Night festivities to take place in between the women's and men's game as HSU will honor recognize seniors Malik Riddle and Franck Kamgain.
 
REDDIES REPORT
After winning four of its last five games, Henderson State has put itself in good position to make the 2023 GAC Tournament. With just two contests remaining in the regular season, HSU is 9-11 in conference play and is currently the seven seed with a one-game lead on both Southwestern Oklahoma State and Ouachita Baptist. Currently, the Reddies hold the tiebreaker over both SWOSU and OUA. A win on Thursday or a Ouachita Baptist loss at Southern Arkansas would clinch a spot in the postseason tournament for the red-and-gray for the fifth consecutive season.
 
A Senior Night victory would also mark the fourth consecutive year Henderson has won double-digit conference games in a season with a full slate of league games (2020 featured only in-state GAC competition). In head coach Jimmy Elgas' eight seasons at HSU, he has won 10 or more league games within the parameters laid out in all but two years.
 
Henderson has scored 82 or more points in three of its last four victories. Prior to that, HSU had not scored 82 points since Jan. 2 when Lyon College came to town. The Reddies now own the eighth-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 71.3 points per game while holding opponents to 71.5 points per game, which is sixth in the league. Henderson also stands as the top rebounding team in the league, averaging 37.4 combined team rebounds and 26.3 defensive boards per game.
 
The last time HSU and Arkansas Tech played each other in Arkadelphia, the Wonder Boys came out with the 84-78 victory in overtime. Prior to that, however, the Reddies had not lost to ATU inside the Duke Wells Center since Feb. 18, 2017. Thursday will be the 175th all-time meeting between the two in-state programs with Henderson holding the 91-83 series advantage.
 
SCOUTING ARKANSAS TECH
Arkansas Tech has already clinched a spot in the 2023 GAC Tournament for just the second time in five seasons. The 12-8 Wonder Boys could claim their most conference wins in a single season since the 2016-17 campaign with a win on Thursday. That year, ATU received an at-large bid to the NCAA Central Regional after reaching the conference semifinals.
 
The league's current four seed could still play its way into the two seed as Arkansas Tech sits just one game back of Southern Arkansas and Southeastern Oklahoma St. With the Wonder Boys having beaten Southern Nazarene earlier in the year and splitting the head-to-head series with Southeastern, ATU holds the quality-of-win tiebreaker over SE. With a win on Thursday plus a Savage Storm loss in either of their last two games, Tech would meet Southern Arkansas in the series final where the winner would get the No. 2 seed.
 
Arkansas Tech is tied for third in the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to 66.4 points per game while its offense manages just 66.8 points per game for 11th in the league. Sophomore guard Taelon Peter gets the Wonder Boys offense going with 14.7 points per game, which is 11th in the GAC. Peter is also third in the conference with 1.8 steals per game.