Men's Basketball to Start Four Game Homestand

2025-26 Men's Basketball Game Notes

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Reddie men's basketball returns to the Duke Wells Center for the first of a four-game homestand Thursday night. Henderson will face Northwestern Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m.

Henderson State returns to the Duke Wells Center for a four-game homestand, starting with Thursday's second matchup with Northwestern Oklahoma State. The Reddies are looking to end a five-game losing streak, including two consecutive home games.

HSU suffered a buzzer-beating loss in its last time out, 54-53 to Southeastern Oklahoma. The Reddie defense kept the Savage Storm without a field goal for over 11 minutes in the second half; the defense ranks ninth in the GAC in points allowed, giving up 73.6 points per game.

An encouraging note from Saturday's game is that the Henderson offense made the most three-pointers it has made in the last nine games and had the fifth-best three-point shooting percentage of the season. Henderson remains 12th in the conference in three-point field goals and three-point field goal percentage despite the 5-of-15 performance on Saturday.

Despite a significantly smaller input than in most games, the Henderson State bench stayed the best in the league in terms of bench scoring; the team leads the GAC with 23.5 points per game coming from reserve players, even with Saturday's 10-point performance.

Scouting Northwestern Oklahoma

Northwestern Oklahoma State comes into Thursday's game with revenge on its mind after falling to the Reddies 70-61 in Alva just under a month ago. NWOSU has won four of its last five games, with its lone loss in that stretch coming to Harding.

The Rangers pride themselves on their defense, ranking first in the GAC in turnovers forced per game. They also rank second in turnover margin, despite ranking 10th in scoring defense, giving up 74.9 points per game.

NWOSU's offense revolves around GAC-best scorer Max Alexander, who leads the conference with 22.5 points per game. Alexander has also shot a league-leading 120 free throws this season. Northwestern also boasts one of the top three rebounders in the league in Robbie Armbrester.

Last Matchup: Henderson State turned a slim halftime deficit into a convincing road victory by controlling the glass and separating itself after the break, pulling away for a 70-61 win. After trailing 39-37 at halftime, Henderson State used its size and activity to clean up the boards, holding Northwestern Oklahoma without a single second-chance point. The Reddies also controlled the paint, outscoring the Rangers 38-32 in the paint.

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