GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 14-12 (12-8 GAC)	HENDERSON STATE REDDIES 12-14 (9-11 GAC)	SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS 17-9 (13-7 GAC)
Thursday, February 23 | 7:30 p.m. Duke Wells Center | Arkadelphia, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO Saturday, February 18 | 3 p.m. Tucker Coliseum | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO GAME NOTES

 

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TIPPING OFF
The final week of the regular season has arrived and for the first time since the 2017-18 season, the Arkansas Tech men's basketball team is playing to improve their seeding in the upcoming Great American Conference Tournament as they officially clinched their spot last Saturday with their win against Southwestern Oklahoma.
 
Currently sitting in fourth place, the Wonder Boys are also a mere game back of second place Southern Arkansas, Tech's opponent on Saturday, so a successful week of action could see the Wonder Boys enter the tournament as high as the No. 2 seed.
 
In getting to that point, the Wonder Boys will be looking to sweep the season series against Henderson State as they won the initial meeting at home, 73-64 back in mid-December. As far as the SAU game, the Wonder Boys will be looking for revenge from an earlier season defeat on the road, 62-53.
 
In terms of all-time series histories, this will be the 177th meeting between Tech and Henderson State and the 186th meeting against Southern Arkansas. Against Henderson, Tech trails the series 92-85, but have won the last three. Against Southern Arkansas, Tech leads the series 107-79, but have lost the last five meetings.
 

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Talking Tech
The Wonder Boys enter play this weekend with a 14-12 overall record and are locked into the upcoming GAC Tournament. Tech is currently in fourth place in the league standings at 12-8, but stand possibly climb as high as second as they are also one game back of being tied for second.
 
The Wonder Boys are coming off a pair of big wins at home that helped secure their tournament berth. This past Thursday, Tech had one of their best offensive games as they shot nearly 60% for the game en route to an 88-79 win over Northwestern Oklahoma. They then followed it up with a blowout win, 78-64, over Southwestern Oklahoma.
 
Statistically, the Wonder Boys are averaging 66.8 ppg and rank 11th in the GAC. On the defensive end of the court, the Wonder Boys rank fourth in the league in scoring defense, giving up an average of 66.4 ppg. In terms of field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense, the Wonder Boys are 11th in the conference in field goal percentage as they shoot at an overall clip of .439 (625-of-1,1424) and limit their opponents to a .426 mark (592-of-1,389) to rank third.
 
From beyond-the-arc, the Wonder Boys shoot at a clip of .285 (153-of-536) to rank 12th in the GAC while their opponents make three-pointers at a mark of .339 (190-of-560) to rank seventh. From the free throw line, the Wonder Boys shoot .656 as a team (334-of-509) to rank 11th.
 
Individually, the Wonder Boys have two players averaging double figures in scoring. Taelon Peter leads the way at 14.7 ppg. Andre Leavell is next and rounds out double-figure scoring with an average of 10.0 ppg. Three other Wonder Boys are scoring at least 7.0 ppg as well.
 
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 108-84 record. Overall, Downey is in his 16th season as a head coach and has career record of 274-190.
 

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Scouting the Reddies
Henderson State enters this weekend at 12-14 overall and are 9-11 in the GAC. Despite losing their most-recent game against East Central, the Reddies are one of the hottest teams in the GAC over the last few weeks as they won four-straight prior to pull them back into contention for making the GAC Tournament. As of now, the Reddies are in seventh place and would be among the eight-team field.
 
Statistically, the Reddies are averaging 71.3 ppg on offense to rank eighth in the GAC and are giving up an average of 71.5 ppg to rank sixth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, HSU shoots at a .446 clip overall (685-of-1,536) to rank 10th in the league and allow opponents to shoot at a mark of .440 (669-of-1,520) to rank fifth.
 
From three-point range, the Reddies shoot at a .333 clip (145-of-435) to rank eighth in the GAC and allow opponents to shoot .349 (226-of-647) from range to rank eighth. At the charity stripe, the Reddies shoot .733 (340-of-464) to rank fourth in the GAC.
 
Individually, the Reddies have four players scoring in double figures and are led by Franck Kamgain at 13.7 ppg. Alvin Miles is next in scoring at 11.7 ppg followed by Malik Riddle at 11.1 ppg. Tomislav Miholjcic rounds out double-figure scoring at 10.4 ppg.
 
The Reddies are coached by Jimmy Elgas, who is in his eighth season as head coach at Henderson. In his time as a head coach at HSU, Elgas has amassed a 120-100 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.
 

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Scouting the Muleriders
Southern Arkansas enters this weekend's games with a 17-9 overall record and are 13-7 in GAC play. Prior to playing Tech on Saturday, the Muleriders will have played at home against Ouachita on Thursday night. Heading into their game with Ouachita, Southern Arkansas is looking to get back into the win column after falling into a four-game losing streak that started on the road at East Central back on February 11.
 
Despite the recent skid, the Muleirders have clinched spot in the upcoming GAC Tournament and currently sit in second place in the standings.
 
Statistically for the year, the Muleriders are averaging 76.7 ppg on offense to rank third in the GAC and are giving up an average of 71.3 ppg to rank fifth in the GAC. In terms of field goal percentages, SAU shoots at a .457 clip overall (733-of-1,605) to rank eighth in the league and allow opponents to shoot at a mark of .437 (648-of-1,482) to rank fourth.
 
From three-point range, the Muleriders shoot at a .356 clip (240-of-675) to rank fifth in the GAC and allow opponents to shoot .336 (185-of-550) from range to rank fifth. At the charity stripe, the Muleriders shoot .702 (288-of-410) to rank eighth in the GAC.
 
Individually, the Muleriders have five players scoring in double figures with Gregory Hammond Jr. leading the way at 12.3 ppg. LaTreavin Black is next in scoring at 11.5 ppg followed by Blake Rogers at 10.9 ppg. Carel Ray Jr. and Kris Wyche round out double-figure scoring at 10.5 and 10.0 ppg, respectively.
 
The Muleirders are coached by Logan Quinn, who is in his first season as head coach at Southern Arkansas. No stranger to Mulerider basketball, however, Quinn assumed the head coaching role at SAU after serving the past three seasons as an assistant coach where he helped the Muleriders make their first-ever NCAA National Tournament in 2020-21.