GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH GOLDEN SUNS 5-1 (2-0 GAC)	HENDERSON STATE REDDIES 5-2 (1-1 GAC)
Saturday, December 11 | 1 p.m. Duke Wells Center | Arkadelphia, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES (PDF) | HSU NOTES

TIPPING OFF

Coming off a hot 2-0 start with a pair of wins, one at home in Tucker and one on the road, The Arkansas Tech Golden Suns opened GAC play Strong and look to continue that with this weeks contest.

The Golden Suns will get their opportunity to continue their GAC play strong this week with a single road game. Arkansas Tech finds themselves traveling down to Arkadelphia, Ark. to go head- to-head with the Henderson State Reddies in a Saturday afternoon clash. The game in Arkadelphia against Henderson State is scheduled for a tipoff time of 1 p.m..

With a 5-1 start to the year, the Golden Suns have shown that they are a team with a lot of resilience as they were able to hold onto the lead against Ouachita Baptist in their GAC opener in Tucker Coliseum and walk out with a 90-84 win, despite 43 points from Ouachita freshmen Aspen Thornton, who leads all of division II in points per game. They once again showed their ability to withstand pressure holding on to defeat Arkansas-Monticello on the road 72-66.

Also, the Golden Suns displayed the ability to make adjustments and find another level of both offense and defense to pull away from their opponents. In their home opener, the Golden Suns held just a three-point lead at halftime over Champion Christian and went on to win by 29 points. Against Angelo State, they were down by 8 at the half, but Tech went on to score 34 points in the third quarter to give them the edge and pull out the 76-63 victory.
 

TECH TIDBITS

Arkansas Tech enters this weekend with a 5-1 overall record and a 2-0 record among conference opponents. Their last two games proved to be a test of endurance, but found themselves prevailing in both contests and securing a perfect start to GAC play with a 90-84 win over Ouachita and a 72-66 win over Arkansas-Monticello.

Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 79.2 ppg and rank fifth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank sixth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 67.2 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are seventh in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .423 (173-of- 409) and are limiting their opponents to a .379 mark (146-of- 385) to rank sixth.

From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .273 (30-of-110) to rank 12th in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .274 (32-of-117) to rank fourth. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .792 as a team (99-of-125) to rank third.

Individually, the Golden Suns have four players average double figures in scoring. Ashlei Lopez leads the way at 19.0 ppg. Kaley Shipman is next at 18.5 ppg. Sydnee Wynn and Jayana Sanders are the other two in double figures scoring at 11.8 ppg and 10.0 ppg, respectively.

The Golden Suns are coached by Dave Wilbers, who is in his 15th season on the sidelines at Tech. A member of the 300-career win club, Wilbers has a career record of 317-96. Overall in his time at Tech, Wilbers has kept the Golden Suns as perennial contenders in the GAC, the region and the nation, winning 20 or more games nine times, capturing seven conference regular championships, five conference tournament championships and advancing to nine NCAA Regional Tournaments.
 

SCOUTING THE REDDIES

Henderson State enters Saturday's conference game at 5-2 overall with a 1-1 record in conference play and are coming off of a loss their last time out against Southern Arkansas. Prior to that game, Henderson pulled off a big first GAC win 75-39 over Arkansas-Monticello in Arkadelphia.

In the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Henderson finished 7-6 overall and 7-5 in conference to finish second in the GAC East.

Statistically this season, the Reddies average 81.6 ppg on offense to rank second in the GAC and give up an average of 68.6 ppg to rank seventh in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, HSU shoots at a .442 clip overall (226-of-511) to rank second and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .374 (174-of-465) to rank third.

From three-point range, the Reddies shoot at a .358 clip (48-of-134) to rank fourth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .308 (41-of-133) from range to rank seventh. At the charity stripe, the Reddies shoot .664 (71-of-107) to rank 11th in the GAC.

Individually, the Reddies have two players scoring in double figures and are led by Maci Mains with 15.4 ppg followed by Ashley Farrar averaging 13.3 ppg. HSU has two others averaging at least 9.0 ppg in Karrington Whaley with 9.5 ppg followed by Sonni Martin at 9.2 ppg, respectively.

The Reddies are coached by Jill Thomas, who is in her ninth season at Henderson State. In her time as a head coach at HSU, Thomas has an 111-102 record and has led the Reddies to two GAC Tournament semi-final appearances.