TIPPING OFF
Coming off a pair of road loses in Oklahoma, Arkansas Tech looks ahead to their two games this week.
The Golden Suns will have one game at home and one on the road this week for two games. Arkansas Tech finds themselves going head- to-head against Henderson State
on Thursday night and Southern Arkansas on Saturday. The game against the Reddies will be Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. in Tucker Coliseum while the game against the Muleriders is set for a tip-off time of 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon in Magnolia.
The Golden Suns dropped their first game of the season against Henderson State on the road 72-77. In their first game against Southern Arkansas , Tech got a 94-84 win at home.
With a 13-11 record on the year, the Golden Suns have shown that they are a team with a lot of resilience. Their 94-84 win against Southern Arkansas at home showed how elite the Golden Suns can be when scoring the ball with two players scoring over 20 points.
Against East Central on the road, the Golden Suns found some hot shooting as the team hit 44.4% of their shots from long range to end the Tigers five game win streak.
The Golden Suns had their best performance of the season against Southern Nazarene on the road where they controlled the entire game and won 80-52. Three members of the Golden Suns hit double figures in scoring, all above 15 points or more. The team also shot a season high 60.0% (6-of-10) from three.
TECH TIDBITS
Arkansas Tech enters this week with a 13-11 overall record and a 10-10 record among conference opponents. Their last outing proved to be a tough 59-90 loss on the road against Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford.
Statistically, this year, the Golden Suns are averaging 74.1 ppg and rank fourth in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Golden Suns rank ninth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 71.2 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Golden Suns are fourth in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .424 (644-of-1518) and are limiting their opponents to a .400 mark (598-of-1496) to rank ninth.
From beyond-the-arc, the Golden Suns are shooting at a clip of .320 (136-of-425) to rank eighth in the GAC while their opponents are making three-pointers at a mark of .330 (153-of- 464) to rank eleventh. From the free throw line, the Golden Suns are shooting .738 as a team (354-of-480) to rank fourth.
Individually, the Golden Suns have three players averaging double figures in scoring. Kaley Shipman leads the way at 16.8 ppg. Jayana Sanders is next at 14.7 ppg. Rounding out the list of the double figure scorers for Arkansas Tech is Ashlei Lopez who is averaging 13.3 ppg .
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 325-106.
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 Thursday's conference game at 16-10 overall with an 11-9 record in conference play and are coming off a win on the road at East Central 63-57.
In their first game against the Golden Suns this season, the Reddies won 77-72 in Arkadelphia. Henderson State senior forward Karrington Whaley proved to be the driving force behind their win with strong inside play putting up a 24 point and 14 rebound double-double.
Statistically this season, the Reddies average 77.7 ppg on offense to rank third in the GAC and give up an average of 71.1 ppg to rank eighth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, HSU shoots at a .427 clip overall (735-of-1722) to rank second and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .396 (642-of- 1620) to rank seventh.
From three-point range, the Reddies shoot at a .355 clip (198- of-557) to rank first in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .320 (139-of-434) from range to rank eighth. At the charity stripe, the Reddies shoot .728 (353-of-485) to rank fifth in the GAC.
Individually, the Reddies have four players scoring in double figures and are led by Ashley Farrar who is averaging 16.8 ppg. Karrington Whaley is next averaging 10.3 ppg and 8.1 rpg. Rounding out the list of double figure scorers for Henderson State is Gracie Raby and Lani Snowden who are at 10.1 and 10.0 ppg this season, respectively.
The Reddies are coached by Jill Thomas, who is in her ninth season at the helm of Henderson State's program. In her time as the Reddies coach, Thomas has amassed a 127-112 overall record and a 98-84 conference record.
SCOUTING THE MULERIDERS
Southern Arkansas enters Saturday's conference game at 12-14 overall with a 7-13 record in conference play and are coming off an 87-67 win on the road over Arkansas-Monticello.
In their first matchup against the Golden Suns this season, the Muleriders went down in defeat in a 94-84 win for Arkansas Tech in Tucker Coliseum.
Statistically this season, the Muleriders average 79.8 ppg on offense to rank second in the GAC and give up an average of 80.3 ppg to rank eleventh in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SAU shoots at a .380 clip overall (699-of-1840) to rank eleventh and is allowing opponents to shoot at a mark of .464 (767-of-1694) to rank last.
From three-point range, the Muleriders shoot at a .310 clip (214-of-690) to rank tenth in the GAC and are allowing their opponents to shoot .321 (143-of-446) from range to rank ninth. At the charity stripe, the Muleriders shoot .674 (384-of-570) to rank eleventh in the GAC.
Individually, the Muleriders have two players scoring in double figures and are led by Kisi Young who is averaging 13.2 ppg. Young is also shooting a solid 53.5% from the floor this season along with a 6.7 rpg average. Rounding out the double figure scorers for Southern Arkansas is Diamond Morris at 11.6 ppg.
The Muleriders are coached by Adam Collins, who is in his fourth season at the helm of Southern Arkansas' program. In his time as the Mulerider's coach, Collins has amassed a 35-56 overall record.
