COVERAGE LINKS | GAME NOTES

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - Henderson State looks for a season split against arch-rival Ouachita Baptist when the Tigers walk over to the Duke Wells Center for the season's second Battle of the Ravine Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. 

REDDIES REPORT (7-14, 6-10 GAC)
Henderson St. took a big step forward last Thursday with a win over the GAC's third ranked Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers before suffering a setback with a loss two days later to Southwestern Oklahoma State. Now at 6-10 in GAC play and still one game out of eighth, HSU looks for another big step in the right direction with a win Thursday.

Standing in the way of a much-needed victory is cross-street rival Ouachita Baptist. In what will be the 219th all-time meeting, the overall series is tied, 109-109. The home team has won each of the last three meetings, while the Reddies have not fallen at home to the Tigers since the 2017-18 season. Though HSU has won five of the last seven games in the rivalry, all seven contests have been decided by single digits, including four decided by six points or fewer.

Earlier this season at Bill Vining Arena, Henderson got blasted from behind the perimeter as Ouachita Baptist made 16-of-24 (66.7%) three-pointers, eight of which came in the first half. The Reddies only made 11 total field-goals in those 20 minutes, with two of them coming from long range. Despite the three-point shooting discrepancy, HSU remained close till the very end, falling 91-85.

The Reddies were able to dominate in the paint in the first meeting, outscoring OUA 48-24. A big part of that was Tomislav Miholjcic, who will be playing in his final regular season Battle of the Ravine, as the Belgrade, Serbia, native recorded a season-high 22 points and nine rebounds. The fifth-year big man is in the midst of a career year, seeing 26.2 minutes, 11.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, all of which are career highs.

Missing from HSU's offense that night east of Highway 7 was Clarence King, who only finished with five points. When King, Malek Davis and Zyon Patterson each score eight or more points in GAC games this season, the Reddies are 6-2. In conference games in which all three have not scored at least eight points, Henderson is 0-8.    

SCOUTING OUACHITA BAPTIST (7-14, 5-11 GAC)
Following Ouachita Baptist's victory over Henderson State in the season's first meeting, the Tigers proceeded to drop three straight. Southwestern Oklahoma State's coming to Bill Vining Arena put a brief pause on OUA's skid as Ouachita managed a 77-66 victory before falling to Northwestern Oklahoma State in overtime, 82-78. Those recent losses have the purple-and-yellow 12th in the GAC standings and two games out of eighth place.

In what was OUA's second victory over Henderson in the last three meetings, junior guard Emorie Knox made history, tying an NCAA Division II record after going 10-for-10 from three-point range. Knox's 39 points and 10 three-pointers are the most in a single game by anyone in the GAC so far this season, while his 39 points were unofficially an NCAA-era school record.

Junior forward Terran Williams is leading the Tigers with 13.7 points per game, having scored 14 or more in seven of OUA's last eight outings. Against the Reddies, Williams scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting while also hitting 6-of-7 free-throws. Behind Williams is the aforementioned Knox with 13.0 points per game as he is shooting 40.7 percent from three-point range.