Fresh off an undefeated 2-0 week in conference play, SWOSU Men's Hoops hits the road back across state lines to battle Harding on Thursday and league-leading Arkansas Tech on Saturday.

The Bulldogs are winners of four of their last five dating back to the last game before Christmas Break and sit tied for third in the league standings with a 5-3 record in the GAC. 

SWOSU remains perfect in GAC home games at 4-0 this season but will be away from Weatherford this week where the Dawgs are just 1-7 on the year. The last GAC road trip could potentially prove to have been a kick starter for the road Dawgs though, as SWOSU earned the first road win of the season against Southern Arkansas and narrowly fell to Arkansas-Monticello on the last possession of the game. 

Harding awaits SWOSU on Thursday. The Bisons began conference play 2-0 but have dropped six straight coming into the contest. In eight GAC games, they have averaged 72.4 points per game while surrendering 79.8. SWOSU has won its last five games in Searcy dating back to the 2017-18 season. The Dawgs beat Harding in both meetings last season.

Arkansas Tech will host Northwestern on Thursday before Saturday's matchup with the Bulldogs. The Wonder Boys shoot a GAC best 40% from the three-point line and sit second in the league averaging 7.93 steals per game. Taelon Peter, a 3x GAC Player of the Week, leads the team by scoring 19.2 points per game -- ranking him third around the league in the category. Tech had their 11-game winning streak snapped last Saturday on the road against Southern Nazarene. SWOSU is 1-10 against Arkansas Tech when the game is played in Russellville dating back to 2012. 

Ben Smith has a four-game streak of scoring 20-plus points. He's averaging 19.9 points in GAC play and shooting just shy of the 50% mark overall and 44% from beyond the arc. 

Jacore Williams found his stride last week with back-to-back double-digit scoring performances against Henderson State and Ouachita. He entered the week with 11 points in seven games before posting a double-double against the Reddies and scoring a season high 13 two days later against the Tigers. 

Remaining on the double-double trend, senior Mark Berry had a pair of them last week averaging 13.0 points and 11.0 rebounds. He is shooting 54% on the season from the field and 58% in league games. Berry is tied with Smith as the team's best rebounder averaging 6.8 boards per game. 

In eight games against GAC foes, SWOSU's defense has been tough. The Bulldogs are holding opponents to just under 67 points per game (2nd, GAC) while limiting teams to a league-leading 39.7% field goal percentage and 29.5% from beyond the arc. 

The Bulldogs have also had success getting to the free throw line since GAC play started. SWOSU has attempted the second most foul shots in conference games, 180, though they'll look to improve their sub-70% shooting mark. They've shot 125-for-180 at the charity stripe. 

Dating back to Dec. 14 against Oklahoma Christian, SWOSU has had the same or higher team shooting percentage than their opponent. Since Dec. 14, SWOSU is 4-2 with two losses by a combined three points. 

Against Ouachita, the Bulldogs eclipsed the 50% shooting mark for the second time this season and knocked down 10 three pointers, tying a season high. Both times SWOSU has shot over 50% this season, they have also made 10 three pointers -- against Southern Arkansas and now Ouachita.