Henderson State will spend three days in southern Oklahoma when it plays East Central and Southeastern Oklahoma St. in a span of 48 hours. Up first is the Tigers from inside the Kerr Activities Center in Ada, Oklahoma Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
REDDIES REPORT
After trailing by 16 points in the first half against Ouachita Baptist Monday, Henderson stormed all the way back to take the lead with 4:55 remaining in the game before OUA pulled it out, 74-69. The loss to the Tigers marked the first time since 2018 that HSU’s men have fallen to their cross-street rival.
Alvin Miles was a big reason the Reddies were able to get back into Monday’s contest, scoring 15 of his season-high 19 points in the first half to stay within reach. After being below the 10-point scoring average for four games, Miles (10.2) rejoins Franck Kamgain (14.1) and Tomislav Miholjcic (10.4) as the only players on the squad to average double figures.
Back on January 5, Henderson claimed its biggest win of the season after defeating Oklahoma Baptist on the road, 75-72. Since then, the Reddies have lost five of six and have scored 70 or more once. Those numbers have HSU averaging 69.2 points per game, which is 10th in the GAC.
Henderson’s defense continues to be among the top-half of the league, holding teams to 68.5 points per game while shooting just 43.5 percent from the field, which is fifth and sixth in the GAC, respectively. The Reddies are also sixth with a plus-0.71 turnover margin, averaging 13.1 giveaways per game while forcing 13.8 turnovers.
Outside of last season’s game in Ada that saw HSU win 90-71, the recent matchups between East Central and Henderson have yielded classics. 2020 on East Central’s home floor had the Reddies pull out a five-point overtime victory while 2022 had the red-and-gray pull out another overtime victory here in Arkadelphia, 70-69. Thursday’s contest will be the 35th all-time meeting as both teams have won 17 of the head-to-head matchups.
SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
East Central comes into Thursday’s contest losers of its last two by a combined 28 points. Most recently, ECU lost at home against Southeastern Oklahoma State – HSU’s opponent on Saturday – 83-71. The Savage Storm went 18-of-23 from the free-throw line compared to the Tigers’ 10-of-15.
Graduate student Quinton Johnson II established himself as the scoring leader of the group after putting up 20 against SE, bringing his average to 14.4 points per game. Johnson II has scored in double figures in six of the seven contests he has participated in this season. The Tigers’ second leading scorer, junior Keyon Thomas, is shooting 51.6 percent from the field while also averaging 1.5 steals per game, which is 13th in the conference.
East Central owns the fifth ranked scoring offense (74.4 points per game) and third ranked scoring defense (65.9 ppg) in the league. The Tigers are also shooting 47.8 percent from the field, which is third best in the conference, while holding opponents to a league-low 40.3 field-goal percentage. Henderson will have to try to get after them on the glass, where they are 10th in combined team rebounds (31.6) and last in team offensive boards (6.8).
