Setting the Scene
• SWOSU Basketball is set to make their final road trip of the 2019-20 season this weekend as they head to Arkadelphia, Ark., for a pair of Great American Conference contests
• The Bulldogs will first match up against Henderson State, a team currently sitting third place in the GAC standings, on Thursday night, before venturing across the street on Saturday to take on Ouachita
• SWOSU has dropped nine straight games against Henderson State, including a 92-74 setback on January 11th in Weatherford, which came two days after snapping a six-game slide against Ouachita with a 67-61 victory over the Tigers at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
• The Bulldogs have went 1-1 in all seven weekends during the 2020 calendar year and they're currently tied with Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas for seventh place in the GAC standings with four games to play
 
About the Opponent
Henderson State (17-7, 12-6 GAC)
• The Reddies have won three of their last four games after dropping back-to-back games at Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist at the end of January
• Henderson State features the third-highest scoring offense in the GAC (84.0 ppg) while limiting opponents to 73.4 points per game, which ranks fifth-best among GAC teams
• HSU is 11-1 this season inside the Duke Wells Center, with their lone loss coming two games ago as they dropped an 81-80 contest to Arkansas-Monticello
 
Ouachita (10-13, 7-11 GAC)
• The Tigers enter the week having dropped two straight games, falling in rivalry action against Henderson State last Thursday and at Southern Arkansas on Saturday
• Ouachita is currently one game behind SWOSU's three-way tie for seventh in the standings at 7-11 and they are 6-6 at Bill Vining Arena this season
• Ouachita features one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the conference at 69.6 points per game, but their defense is ranked fourth and holding opponents to 72.3 points on average
 
SWOSU Notes
• Kamden Gipson hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer in the Bulldogs 76-74 overtime win at Northwestern on Thursday, giving SWOSU their first win in Alva since 1996 and Gipson his second game-winning shot in the past four games
• Damion Thornton matched a career-high with 29 points in the Northwestern win while also recording his sixth double-double with a career-best 14 rebounds
• Thornton currently ranks fifth in the GAC in scoring (19.3 ppg), third in rebounding (8.1 rpg) and third in steals (2.0 spg)
• Marquis Johnson led the Bulldogs with 10 points and six rebounds at Southern Nazarene on Saturday, his 8th double digit scoring contest in the last 10 outings, and he's currently second on the team with 11.2 points per game for the year
• SWOSU ranks third in the conference with 204 steals (8.5 per game) this season and they've forced a league-high 459 turnovers (19.1 per game), which helps the Dawgs lead the league with a turnover margin of +4.7
• Jaylan Williams has hit multiple three-pointers in 10 of the last 11 games, a streak dating back to the Bulldogs first matchup with Ouachita, and he's tied for fifth in the conference with 65 made three-pointers this season
• The Bulldogs enter the weekend tied for seventh in the GAC standings and needing to remain among the top eight in the conference to qualify for the 2020 GAC Tournament
• SWOSU is searching for their first postseason berth since 2015-16, when they earned the No. 4 seed in the GAC Tournament before falling to Southern Arkansas in the quarterfinals in Bartlesville
 
Looking Ahead
• The final weekend of the regular season will see SWOSU host two conference rivals from Arkansas at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
• SWOSU will welcome Harding to Weatherford on Thursday evening before hosting Arkansas Tech next Saturday for Senior Day and the regular season finale