GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 8-6 (6-2 GAC)	ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO BOLL WEEVILS 5-9 (1-7 GAC)	OUACHITA TIGERS 6-6 (4-4 GAC)
Thursday, January 19 | 7:30 p.m. Steelman Fieldhouse | Monticello, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO Saturday, January 14 | 3 p.m. Tucker Coliseum | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO GAME NOTES TECH | UAM | OUA

TIPPING OFF
The Arkansas Tech men's basketball team faced one of its toughest tests of the year this past week as they had home games against two of the top teams in the GAC in Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist.
 
Tech would split the games, but both were extremely competitive and showed that the Wonder Boys very well may have staying power atop the GAC standings for the long haul this season.
 
Awaiting them this week is a road game at Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night and a home game against Ouachita on Saturday afternoon.
 
Saturday's home game is Hometown Heroes Day where any local first responders along with active and retired military members will receive free admission. The promotion is available for both the men's game as well as the women's game, which will take place a couple hours ahead of the Wonder Boys.
 
Earlier this season, the Wonder Boys beat both UAM and Ouachita. The win against UAM came at home back on December 1 and opened GAC play. Two days later, Tech went on the road and beat Ouachita in overtime.
 
In terms of all-time series histories, this will be the 172nd meeting between Tech and UAM and the 179th meeting against Ouachita. Against UAM, Tech leads the series 109-62. Against Ouachita, Tech trails the series 87-92.
 

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Tech Tidbits
The Wonder Boys enter play this weekend with an 8-6 overall record and are 6-2 start in Great American Conference play. This past week, the Wonder Boys split a pair of home games against high-level opponents in Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist.
 
Against SNU, the Wonder Boys had a second-half surge that helped them hand the Crimson Storm their first loss in GAC play. A couple of days later, Tech narrowly lost to Oklahoma Baptist as the Bison edged out the Wonder Boys by three points, 77-74. At 6-2 in league play, Tech is tied for second with Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Arkansas.
 
Statistically, the Wonder Boys are averaging 66.5 ppg and rank 12th in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Wonder Boys rank second in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 64.1 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Wonder Boys are 11th in the conference as they shoot at an overall clip of .427 (337-of-789) and limit their opponents to a .405 mark (306-of-755) to rank second.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Wonder Boys shoot at a clip of .270 (77-of-288) to rank 12th in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .343 (102-of-297) to rank eighth. From the free throw line, the Wonder Boys shoot .638 as a team (180-of-282) to rank 11th.
 
Individually, the Wonder Boys have two players averaging double figures in scoring. Taelon Peter leads the way at 14.6 ppg. Wes Harris is next and rounds out double-figure scoring with an average of 10.5 ppg. Two other Wonder Boys average at least 8.5 ppg.
 
The Wonder Boys are coached by Mark Downey, who is in his third 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 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 seventh season overall, Downey has amassed a 102-77 record. Overall, Downey is in his 16th season as a head coach and has career record of 268-184.
 

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Scouting the Boll Weevils
Arkansas-Monticello enters this weekend with a 5-9 overall record and are 1-7 in GAC play. The Boll Weevils are in the midst of a five-game losing streak, with all of those losses have come in GAC action. The last win for UAM came at home back on December 13 against Langston.
 
Statistically for the year, the Boll Weevils are averaging 66.8 ppg on offense to rank 11th in the GAC and are giving up an average of 68.9 ppg to rank sixth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, UAM shoots at a .455 clip overall (330-of-725) to rank seventh in the league and allow opponents to shoot at a mark of .443 (335-of-756) to rank eighth.
 
From three-point range, the Boll Weevils shoot at a .413 clip (119-of-288) to rank first in the GAC and allow opponents to shoot .347 (100-of-288) from range to rank ninth. At the charity stripe, the Boll Weevils shoot .675 (156-of-231) to rank 10th in the GAC.
 
Individually, the Boll Weevils have five players scoring in double figures and are led by Isaac Jackson and Edwin Louis at 11.6 ppg, respectively. Josh Denton is next in scoring at 10.9 ppg followed by Timur Krupalija at 10.8 ppg. Mario Fantina rounds out double-figure scoring at 10.4 ppg.
 
The Boll Weevils are coached by Chad Tapp, who is in his second season as head coach at UAM. In his first season, Tapp led the Boll Weevils to an overall record of 10-18 and a 6-16 mark in GAC play. Prior to coming to coming to UAM, Tapp spent eight years as head coach at Lyon College.
 
At Lyon, Tapp won 15 or more games five times and totaled 118 wins. He also had three years as head coach at Indiana-South Bend where he won 47 games. Overall, Tapp has 180 career wins as a head coach.
 

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Scouting the Tigers
Ouachita enters this weekend at 6-6 overall and are 4-4 in the GAC. Prior to playing Tech on Saturday, the Tigers will have played at home against Harding on Thursday night. Heading into their game with Harding, Ouachita is looking to add to their modest two-game winning streak as they won both contests at home last week against Southwestern Oklahoma (69-68) and Northwestern Oklahoma (83-75).
 
Statistically, the Tigers are averaging 71.2 ppg on offense to rank seventh in the GAC and are giving up an average of 73.1 ppg to rank eighth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, Ouachita shoots at a .444 clip overall (354-of-798) to rank eighth in the league and allow opponents to shoot at a mark of .480 (352-of-733) to rank 12th.
 
From three-point range, the Tigers shoot at a .283 clip (70-of-247) to rank 11th in the GAC and allow opponents to shoot .380 (98-of-258) from range to rank 12th. At the charity stripe, the Tigers shoot .751 (148-of-197) to rank fourth in the GAC.
 
Individually, the Tigers have three players scoring in double figures and are led by LaQuan Butler Jr. at 15.0 ppg. Ma'Darius Hobson is next in scoring at 14.4 ppg while Tylar Haynes rounds out double-figure scoring at 13.5 ppg. The Tigers also have two other players averaging at least 8.0 ppg.
 
The Tigers are coached by Dennis Nutt, who is in his 13th season as head coach at Ouachita. In his time at Ouachita, Nutt has won 15 or more games four times and has totaled 151 wins.
 
Prior to coming to Ouachita, Nutt had six seasons as head coach at Texas State from 2000-01 – to – 2005-06. At Texas State, Nutt won 72 games. Overall, Nutt has 223 career wins as a head coach.