TIPPING OFF
The final weekend of the regular season has arrived and the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team is set to close out the 2021-22 campaign with a home game against Henderson State on Thursday and a road game at Southern Arkansas on Saturday.
The Wonder Boys will be looking to end a difficult season filled with adversity on a high note, starting first with their final home game of the year against Henderson State. Prior to the start of the game, the team will honor its three departing seniors in Tony Hall, Kevin Howard and Cameron Kennedy.
Those three have been major bright spots for the Wonder Boys this season. Hall is the team's leading scorer at 13.6 ppg and has scored in double figures in nine-straight games. Kennedy has made over 60 three-pointers and his three-point field goal percentage ranks ninth in all of NCAA Division II. Howard was a stable figure in the starting lineup through the first 17 games of the season, but has been limited down the stretch due to injury.
Remarkably, at the close of the weekend, the Wonder Boys will end up having played all 28 of their scheduled regular season games, That seemed like an unlikely possibility back at the start of the spring semester when they had five-straight games postponed due to COVID protocols.
All five of those games have been made up as a result of a grueling ironman-type schedule that has seen the Wonder Boys play 16 games in just 39 days dating back to January 15 and will see them play 18 games in 42 days by the end of the season.
TECH TIDBITS
The Wonder Boys enter play on this final weekend of the regular season 9-17 overall and are 9-14 in the Great American Conference. The Wonder Boys have lost their last three games.
So far this year, the Wonder Boys are averaging 70.2 ppg and rank seventh in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Wonder Boys rank seventh in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 70.8 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Wonder Boys are fourth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .455 (700-of-1,539) and are limiting their opponents to a .441 mark (649-of-1,473) to rank eighth.
From beyond-the-arc, the Wonder Boys are shoot at a clip of .364 (206-of-566) to rank third in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .359 (204-of-568) to rank 11th. From the free throw line, the Wonder Boys are shooting .676 as a team (219-of-324) to rank 11th.
Individually, the Wonder Boys have two players averaging double figures in scoring. Tony Hall leads the way at 13.6 ppg while Cameron Kennedy rounds out double-figure scoring with 11.2 ppg. The Wonder Boys are also pretty balanced in their scoring with three 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 a 93-71 record. Overall, Downey is in his 15th season as a head coach and has career record of 259-177.
SCOUTING THE REDDIES
Henderson State enters Thursday night's game against Arkansas Tech 16-10 overall and 12-8 in league play. The Reddies are coming off a win their last time out, beating East Central on the road, 90-71.
Statistically this season, the Reddies average 70.0 ppg on offense to rank ninth in the GAC and give up an average of 68.2 ppg to rank fourth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, Henderson shoots at a .424 clip overall (666-of-1,570) to rank 11th and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .418 (594-of- 1,420) to rank first.
From three-point range, the Reddies shoot at a .331 clip (160- of-484) to rank 11th in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .312 (195-of-625) from range to rank second. At the charity stripe, the Reddies shoot .739 (328-of-444) to rank third in the GAC.
Individually, the Reddies have two players scoring in double figures and are led by Malik Riddle and Alvin Miles at 10.0 ppg, respectively.
The Reddies are coached by Jimmy Elgas, who is in his seventh season at Henderson State. In his time as a head coach at HSU, Elgas has amassed a 108-83 record. In 2019-20, Elgas had his best year at Henderson, leading the Reddies to a 23-8 overall record and captured the GAC Tournament Championship.
SCOUTING THE MULERIDERS
Southern Arkansas enters Saturday's GAC game against Arkansas Tech at 16-10 overall and 12-8 in league play. Prior to playing the Wonder Boys at home on Saturday, the Muleriders will have played Ouachita on the road on Thursday night. Heading into the weekend of action, the Muleriders are coming off a 76-72 loss on the road at Oklahoma Baptist.
Statistically this season, the Muleriders average 75.3 ppg on offense to rank third in the GAC and give up an average of 66.9 ppg to also rank third in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, Southern Arkansas shoots at a .434 clip overall (699-of-1,610) to rank eighth and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .427 (623-of-1,460) to rank second.
From three-point range, the Muleriders shoot at a .336 clip (216-of-643) to rank seventh in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .300 (167-of-556) from range to rank first. At the charity stripe, the Muleriders shoot .683 (344-of-504) to rank 10th in the GAC.
Individually, the Muleriders have four player scoring in double figures and are led by Devante Brooks at 17.7 ppg. Behind Brooks is Aaron Lucas at 13.8 ppg. Jalen Brooks and Blake Rogers round out double-figure scoring at 12.6 ppg and 10.2 ppg, respectively.
The Muleriders are coached by Andy Sharpe, who is in his 10th season at SAU. In his time as a head coach at SAU, Sharpe has amassed a 144-130 record. Last season, he led the Muleriders to a share of the GAC East Division Championship and advanced to the NCAA South Central Region Tournament for the first time in program history.
