---

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Basketball goes for their first season sweep of Harding since the formation of the Great American Conference on Thursday evening at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- The Bulldogs earned their lone conference victory to date against the Bisons in Searcy back on December 2nd by a score of 71-70
- A victory for the Bulldogs would not only secure the season sweep, but also pull SWOSU back even with Harding in the league standings
- Harding enters the game off a victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State on Saturday, their second conference win of the season
- SWOSU finished the month of January winless and they look to start fresh in February and snap a nine-game slide
 
The Opponent
Harding (2-16, 2-11 GAC)
- Picked up their second GAC victory on Saturday, defeating Southeastern Oklahoma State 73-67 to snap a four-game losing streak
- Harding is the lowest-scoring team in the conference, averaging 69.8 points per game while their opponents average 80.8 points per contest
- The Bisons are led by Tim Wagner, who ranks ninth in the GAC with 15.5 points per game, and Reggie Anthony with 10.2 points per game
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kris Johnson (1-9, 1st season) * Interim
- Named the interim head coach at SWOSU for the remainder of the 2017-18 season on December 13 following the retirement of head coach Bob Battisti
- Now in his seventh season as an assistant coach at SWOSU, including the last four-plus years as the lead assistant to Battisti
- A native of Kansas City, Mo., Johnson came to SWOSU following a four-year playing career at Northwestern Oklahoma State
 
Harding: Jeff Morgan (414-291, 25th season)
- Has served as the head coach at Harding since the 1993-94 season and it was recently announced that he will take over as the Athletic Director at Harding next August
- Morgan has guided the Bisons to three conference championships and six NCAA Division II tournament appearances and he also serves on the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships Committee
 
Checking the Standings
- Southern Nazarene hung on to defeat Southern Arkansas on Saturday to remain unblemished in GAC play at 13-0
- All three teams tied for second place in the standings - East Central, Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southeastern Oklahoma State - lost road games on Saturday, allowing SNU to open up a five-game lead on the field
- Second place through ninth place in the GAC standings are separated by just two games, with a three-way tie for both second and fifth places
 
The Series (GAC Era)
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
*1/26/2017       Weatherford, Okla.     L 76-83
*12/2/2017       Searcy, Ark.                W 71-70
 
GAC Era: Harding leads 9-4
In Weatherford: Series tied 3-3
In Searcy: Harding leads 6-1
 
SWOSU Notes
- Charles Beauregard, Jr., scored a career-high 41 points at Ouachita, the second-most points scored by a player in the GAC this season
- Beauregard also record the first 40-point game by a Bulldog player in 20 years, dating back to Derrick Bogay scoring 48 points against Central Oklahoma in 1998
- Devin Pugh has scored 20 or more points in two of the last three games, increasing his scoring average to 13.3 points per game for the year
- Geoffery Hightower scored a season-high eight points for SWOSU at Ouachita, knocking down 2-of-4 three-point attempts and his first two free throws of the season
- Nick Shoemaker extended his streak of games with a made three-pointer to 34 after hitting 2-of-8 attempts from long range against Ouachita
- Shoemaker has now connected on 135 three-pointers in his career and he is three away from tying Trent Washington (138, 2013-15) for sixth at SWOSU in the NCAA Division II era
- Collin Jennings dished out five assists at Ouachita and he's averaging a team-best 3.3 assists per game in 10 games this season
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs close out the weekend by hosting Arkansas Tech on Saturday at 1:00 pm inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- SWOSU heads back to Arkansas next weekend for conference games against Southern Arkansas (Feb. 8) and Arkansas-Monticello (Feb. 10)