TIPPING OFF
The final game of a three-game homestand for the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team is set to take place on Monday night against East Central.
This early-week tilt was not originally apart of the schedule but is being played as a makeup contest between the two as their initial January 1 game was postponed due to COVID-19. This will also be the first of five rescheduled games from postponements for the Wonder Boys as their remaining schedule provides little time between games.
Preparation for the next game following Monday's contest between the Wonder Boys and Tigers figures to be streamlined for both as they will turnaround and face one another the next time out later this week. This time, the game will be played at East Central as part of the regular schedule.
That unique quirk in the schedule will play out once more for the Wonder Boys in early February as their makeup road game at Oklahoma Baptist will take place on the Monday (Feb. 7) following the regularly-scheduled Thursday evening game at Tech on February 10.
TECH TIDBITS
The Wonder Boys enter play on Monday 5-8 overall and are 2-6 in the Great American Conference. The Wonder Boys have dropped their last four games. Despite that skid, three of the game have come by a combined margin of 13 points and included consecutive overtime games against Ouachita and Southwestern Oklahoma.
So far this year, the Wonder Boys are averaging 70.1 ppg and rank 10th in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Wonder Boys rank fifth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 69.0 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Wonder Boys are ninth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .439 (355-of-809) and are limiting their opponents to a .417 mark (312-of-748) to rank first.
From beyond-the-arc, the Wonder Boys are shoot at a clip of .318 (90-of-283) to rank 11th in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .353 (94-of-266) to rank 10th. From the free throw line, the Wonder Boys are shooting .665 as a team (111-of-167) to rank 10th.
Individually, the Wonder Boys have player averaging double figures in scoring. Tony Hall leads the way at 12.0 ppg. The Wonder Boys are also pretty balanced in their scoring with five other players averaging at least 7.0 ppg.
The Wonder Boys are coached by Mark Downey, who is in his second season back on the sidelines at Tech after a 10-year hiatus. In his first stint, Downey patrolled the sidelines at Tech for four seasons from 2006-07 - 2009-10. In his final season, Downey guided the Wonder Boys to a program-record 30 wins and during the course of that season, the Wonder Boys were ranked No. 1 in NCAA DII for the first time ever.
In his time at Tech, which is now in its sixth season overall, Downey has amassed an 89-62 record. Overall, Downey is in his 15th season as a head coach and has career record of 255-168.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
East Central enters Monday's game at Arkansas Tech 6-9 overall and 4-5 in league play. The Tigers are coming off a loss in their most-recent game at Southern Nazarene. Prior to that, the Tigers had won three of four, including a 115-113 double overtime win over league-leading Southeastern Oklahoma.
Statistically this season, the Tigers average 76.7 ppg on offense to rank fourth in the GAC and give up an average of 74.1 ppg to rank ninth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, East Central shoots at a .469 clip overall (418-of-891) to rank fourth and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .449 (409-of-911) to rank 10th.
From three-point range, the Tigers shoot at a .341 clip (113-of- 331) to rank sixth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .347 (109-of-314) from range to rank ninth. At the charity stripe, the Tigers shoot .734 (201-of-274) to rank eighth in the GAC.
Individually, the Tigers have four players scoring in double figures and are led by Josh Apple at 16.2 ppg. Behind Apple is Shemar Smith at 12.9 ppg. Jalen Crutchfield and Brennen Burns round out double-figure scoring at 11.2 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.
The Tigers are coached by Max Pendery, who is in his first season at ECU. Prior to becoming head coach, Pendery was an assistant at ECU for the 2020-21 season and helped guide the Tigers to a 10-9 overall record in the COVID-shortened campaign
