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Setting the Scene
- The first of eight home games for the SWOSU Men's Basketball team over the final 12 games of the season begins on Thursday evening at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center against Harding
- The Bulldogs will be looking for their second straight home win against the Bisons, a team that SWOSU is just 3-8 against during the Great American Conference era
- SWOSU enters the game after defeating Oklahoma Baptist 83-73 on Saturday, a win that snapped a five-game slide to open the month of January
- Harding enters the game on a three-game winning streak, tied for the longest active streak in the league, with wins against Arkansas Tech, Southern Arkansas and Henderson State last week
- SWOSU is 3-4 at home this season, with wins in two of their last three games played inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
 
The Opponent
Harding (10-5, 7-4 GAC)
- Tied for third in the Great American Conference standings with Arkansas Tech at 7-4 after going 3-0 against in-state foes last week
- Ranked fifth in the GAC in scoring with 77.7 points per game while holding their opponents to 71.1 points per game for a scoring margin of +6.7
- Harding's offense features three of the top 15 scorers in the league: Tim Wagner (19.5 ppg), Stefan Andelkovic (14.1 ppg) and Will Francis (14.1 ppg)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (55-46, 4th season; 463-342 career, 28th season)
- In his fourth season as the head coach of the Bulldogs, having led SWOSU to at least 16 wins in each of his first three years at the helm
- Has coached five players at SWOSU that earned All-GAC distinction, including one GAC Player of the Year (Rod Camphor) and one GAC Defensive Player of the Year (Michael Bradley)
- Previously spent 25 years at Northwestern Oklahoma State, coaching the men's basketball team for 21 seasons before taking over as the school's athletic director
- In 27 years as a head coach, Battisti has a career record of 464-342 (.582) and he is 1-6 against Harding as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Harding: Jeff Morgan (408-266, 24th season)
- Has served as the head coach at Harding since the 1993-94 season, leading the Bisons to three conference championships and six NCAA Division II tournament appearances
- Also serves on the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships Committee and he's the GAC's representative on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)
 
Checking the Standings
- #18/12 Arkansas-Monticello suffered their first defeat on Saturday, but they maintain a two-game lead on the rest of the league with a 10-1 mark in league play
- East Central is alone in second place at 8-3 after having their winning streak snapped by Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday
- Both of SWOSU's opponents this week - Harding and Arkansas Tech - are tied for third place in the standings at 7-4, one game ahead of Henderson and Ouachita at 6-5
- Southern Nazarene and Southern Arkansas each have five conference wins and they're just ahead of Northwestern and Southeastern for the final spot in the GAC Tournament
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/14/2012       Weatherford, Okla.     W 85-67
*2/11/2012       Searcy, Ark.                L 76-79
*1/3/2013         Searcy, Ark.                L 54-76
*2/9/2013         Weatherford, Okla.     W 71-60
*1/2/2014         Weatherford, Okla.     L 65-89
*2/8/2014         Searcy, Ark.                L 71-89
*11/22/2014     Searcy, Ark.                L 52-64
*2/7/2015         Weatherford, Okla.     L 52-79
*11/21/2015     Weatherford, Okla.     W 81-76
*1/30/2016       Searcy, Ark.                L 59-84
*11/19/2016     Searcy, Ark.                L 50-77
 
GAC Era: Harding leads 8-3
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 3-2
In Searcy: Harding leads 6-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- Saturday's win over Oklahoma Baptist marked the fourth time this season the Bulldogs have had four players score more than 10 points in a game (Washburn, Southern Arkansas, Panhandle State)
- Markeise Champion led the Bulldogs with a season-high 23 points, his second straight game with more than 20 points
- SWOSU's leading scorer, Devin Pugh, added 16 points to up his scoring average for the year to 13.8 points per game
- Reshardd Harris reached the 20-point plateau for the third time this season with an even 20 at OBU, giving him an average of 10.1 points per game for the year
- Collin Jennings was one rebound shy of his first double-double after totaling 11 points and nine rebounds with four assists against Oklahoma Baptist
- SWOSU outrebounded Oklahoma Baptist 43-32 on Saturday, with the +11 margin being the highest rebounding margin for the Dawgs in a game this season
- The Bulldogs 47.8% (32-for-67) field goal shooting at Oklahoma Baptist also represents a new season high
- SWOSU has tied a season-low in back-to-back games with just seven turnovers
 
Looking Ahead
- The Pioneer Cellular Event Center will be the site of the NCAA Division II Showcase on Saturday as the Bulldogs host Arkansas Tech at 1:00 pm
- After that, the Bulldogs are on the road for three straight games before returning home for six of the final seven games of the regular season