MAGNOLIA, Ark. - The wait is over. It has been nearly ten months since a Southern Arkansas University athletic program played in a competitive, regular season contest, but that ends on Thursday night as the Mulerider Men's Basketball program bookends a Great American Conference doubleheader in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off from inside the Duke Wells Center against the GAC's defending tournament champion in Henderson State as divisional play opens league wide. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com. 

MULERIDERS ENTERING 2021
>>> A new season, albeit under difficult and odd circumstances, begins for the Mulerider Men's Basketball program. Southern Arkansas enters the 20-game, conference-only spring slate as the preseason favorite in the Great American Conference's Eastern Division after head coaches of the five additional league schools in Arkansas positioned the Muleriders to the top of the coaches poll with 24 total points and four of the division's six-place votes. SAU also received a single vote to win the league title outright.
>>> A year after finishing 13-16 overall with a 10-12 mark in league play, the Muleriders are focused on taking the next step against a Natural State schedule that will pit SAU against its fellow Arkansas schools four times each over the next two months with an even ten games both at home and on the road.
>>> The team's 13 wins marked the sixth-consecutive season that the program reached that win threshold. SAU posted a 5-5 record against GAC Eastern Division opponents a year ago which included a sweep of Harding, splits with Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech and Ouachita and a pair of defeats to Henderson State. The Muleriders earned the No. 7 seed in the GAC tournament as they continued their league-best tournament appearance streak.
>>> On Saturday, January 9, the SAU Men will be the first SAU athletic program to take to a playing surface for a competitive NCAA-sanctioned event in Magnolia since March 11 when the SAU Men's and Women's Tennis teams each earned victories over Emporia State. That span, which is an obvious department-record for time elapsed between events, will end at 304 days come tip-off against the Tigers of Ouachita.
>>> Southern Arkansas finished 10-3 at home inside the W.T. Watson Athletic Center last season. It marks the program's third-straight year with at least ten victories in Magnolia. Since the 2017-18 season, the Muleriders own a 33-8 mark in Magnolia which at one point included 14-straight wins. Additionally, SAU once carried a 16-game home winning streak against in-state GAC opposition which began with a 69-67 win over Ouachita on January 21, 2017. Southern Arkansas followed that victory with 15-consecutive wins over in-state league foes through the 2019-20 season, before Henderson State toppled the Muleriders 95-80 on February 6, 2020.
>>> Several new faces will take to the court for the Muleriders this spring. Head coach Andy Sharpe, who enters his ninth season in the top chair of the SAU bench, and assistant coach Logan Quinn, entering year two, signed four junior college transfers in Kris Wyche (Seminole State), Blake Rogers (Jones College), Tyler Garrett (Labette CC) and Victor Ihrihri (San Diego City College), during the previous recruiting period. That class can be classified as a reload rather than a rebuild as the Muleriders retained 4,969 of the team's 5,850 total minutes played from a season ago; just under 85% of the team's on-court action last year returns. Of the 881 minutes lost, 856 were spread across three players that started a collective 11 games and accounted for just 73 of the team's 698 successful field goal attempts.
>>> Headlining the group of returners are the Brooks brothers; senior forward Devante and junior combo Jalen, who each earned All-Great American Conference honors following the 2019-20 season. 
>>> Devante was the second-leading scorer for SAU last season (14.1 ppg) and led the conference in rebounding (9.1 rpg). He closed out last year's regular season with his eighth double-double effort of the campaign which saw him set a program and GAC record with 23 rebounds. D. Brooks enters 2021 with 704 career rebounds (2nd, SAU), while his 416 defensive boards are second in program history; 14 back of the program record. His 288 offensive rebounds are 71 more than the number two player on the Mulerider career charts. 
>>> Jalen added 214 rebounds (80 OFF/134 DEF) last season which was the sixth-best single season total in program history and his 13.3 ppg rated as a top 20 mark in the conference. He finished with four double-doubles and scored 20+ points six times including a career-high 28 in a home win over Oklahoma Baptist. 
>>> Senior trigger man Aaron Lucas, who last season led the team in scoring with 14.5 ppg, and in minutes played with over 1,000, provides key experience in the Mulerider backcourt. He posted top 10 league marks in assists (4.1) and steals (1.8) average last season.
>>> Redshirt Senior Charlie Thomas returns for his final year as a Mulerider and will once again be relied upon to offer an imposing presence in the SAU front court. In limited action last season, Thomas shot just under 57% from the floor. A trio of players who saw action as true freshmen a year ago are back for their sophomore seasons. Guard Dodge Brown, SAU's top three-point shooter as a rookie, played in all 29 games last season making seven starts, while forward Jessie Davis Jr. saw time in 25 games finishing with the third-highest shooting clip on the team at over 50%. Guard Josh Ukpe will look to expand upon the experience gained in six games last season.
>>> Key defenders in senior guard Trey Davis and redshirt sophomore guard Trent Ivy combined to average nearly two steals and a half block per game in 2019-20. Ivy ranked third on the team in assists last season, while Davis logged over 20 minutes per game and the duo each finished in the top five on the team in rebounds and rebounding average. Additionally, Southern Arkansas will benefit from the services of two freshmen who spent the last season in a redshirt role for the program: guard Connor Harvey and forward Logan Bradley.
>>> Despite a league-low scoring output a season ago (68.9 ppg), the Muleriders relied on their defense as the squad employed the second-best scoring defense in the GAC (68.2 ppg) and the fifth-best field goal percentage defense (43.6%) with both marks ranking in the top 35 nationally. Opponents struggled even more from three-point range as SAU allowed only a 32.5% success rate; second-best effort in the GAC. The team's 210 steals were a top five mark in the conference and the group's turnover margin of 15.3 ranked fourth in the GAC.

SCOUTING THE REDDIES
>>> Henderson State enters the new season on the heels of an impressive campaign a year ago that included winning the Great American Conference Tournament title as the No. 3 seed with victories over Arkansas-Monticello, Southeastern Oklahoma State and Oklahoma Baptist.
>>> HSU posted a 23-8 record last season with a 15-7 mark in GAC play. The Reddies closed out the season with four-consecutive wins and qualified for the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament which unfortunately was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
>>> Thursday night's season-opening action will pit the top two teams in the GAC's Eastern Division against each other as the Reddies placed second with 22 total points and the remaining two first-place votes.
>>> Henderson State's Duke Wells Center has proven to be a tough place to play for opponents as the Reddies have constructed a 24-4 mark at home since the start of the 2018-19 season, which includes winning 13 of 14 contests in Arkadelphia last season. The Muleriders have struggled in Clark County since the two teams joined the GAC in 2011-12 posting just two victories in nine trips.
>>> Several familiar faces will take the court for HSU on Thursday as All-GAC forward Raekwon Rogers along with seniors Quawn Marshall, Jeremiah Toney and Xavier Davenport return for the Reddies.
>>> A season ago, Henderson State finished its campaign ranked in the top 30 of eight statistical categories nationally, including FG% defense (40.1%; 6th), free throw attempts (732; 10th), turnovers forced (16.9, 15th), total steals (269, 18th), free throws made (505; 19th), three-point FG% defense (31.7%, 21st), steals per game (8.7, 22nd), and scoring offense (84.1, 30th).

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
>>> Ouachita finished eighth in the Great American Conference in 2019-20 after posting a 12-16 record overall with a 9-13 ledger in league play. The two teams split the season series last year with the Tigers winning 68-67 in Arkadelphia, while Southern Arkansas won big in a 30-point blowout at home. 
>>> Southern Arkansas has won four of its last six meetings with the Tigers, but the Muleriders are winless in their last two matchups inside Bill Vining Arena. In the each team's second league game of the year in 2019-20, the Tigers held off a surging SAU squad that nearly overcame a ten-point deficit in the final five minutes of play.
>>> Entering the 2021 spring season, Ouachita was picked to finish fifth in the GAC's Eastern Division with 11 total points.
>>> The Tigers return six lettermen from a season ago, including three key starters in Kendarious Smith (11.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 48.8 FG Pct), Matt Stanley (9.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG) and Larenz Nero (4.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.9 APG). 
>>> Last season, the Tigers posted the 19th-best free throw percentage in the country at 78.2% which led the Great American Conference. 
>>> In 28 games during the 2019-20 season, Ouachita averaged just under 70 ppg, while opponents scored at a clip of 73.4 ppg; the fourth-best scoring defense in the GAC. 

SCOUTING THE WEEVILS
>>> League rival Arkansas-Monticello begins league play at 1-0 overall on the season after opening its campaign with a 75-45 win over University of the Ozarks on January 3. UAM was picked in a tie at No. 3 with Arkansas Tech in the GAC's Eastern Division.
>>> In 2019-20, UAM posted a 19-13 record with an 11-11 mark in Great American Conference play to earn the No. 6 seed in the league tournament. The Weevils suffered an opening round defeat to eventual tournament champion Henderson State.
>>> The Muleriders saw a three-game win streak against the Weevils snapped on the road last year as UAM claimed a 67-64 win on Feb. 13. 
>>> The Weevils return four lettermen from last season, but only one of which was a starter. Denzel McDuffey (10.7 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 50.4 FG Pct) is the lone UAM starter from the 2019-20 squad to return this spring. 
>>> Arkansas-Monticello relied on extra possessions throughout last season's campaign as the Weevils ranked tenth nationally in total rebounds (1,252) and 13th nationally in total steals (274). UAM also boasted a top 35 scoring offense nationally at 83.5 ppg. Both marks led the Great American Conference. 
>>> Like their longtime league rival, the Weevils were also dominant on the glass as UAM ranked second in the GAC behind the Muleriders with a 4.9 rebound margin and a top 40 mark nationally per game rebounding average (39.13).

SCOUTING THE WONDER BOYS
>>> Arkansas Tech, preseason No. 3 in the GAC's Eastern Division after receiving 14 total points, owns an overtime victory over University of the Ozarks and a convincing win against Southwestern Christian to begin the year.
>>> Last season, the Wonder Boys finished at 12-16 overall and 8-14 in Great American Conference play. ATU placed tenth in the GAC regular season missing the league tournament by a single game. Entering the spring, the Wonder Boys are picked No. 3 alongside Arkansas-Monticello in the GAC's Eastern Division as both teams received 14 total points.
>>> Prior to last season's 68-63 defeat to ATU in Russellville, the Muleriders had won five-straight over the Wonder Boys; a streak that began after four consecutive victories by ATU including a four-point decision in the 2017 GAC Tournament. 
>>> Tony Hall (7.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG) is the lone Wonder Boy starter from last season back for ATU this spring, while four additional lettermen return. ATU will be without the services of two-time All-GAC standout RJ Glasper who transferred to Oral Roberts.
>>> A season ago, the Wonder Boys owned the GAC's fifth-best scoring offense averaging just over 80 points per game, but ranked last in the league in scoring defense as opponents averaged over 83 points against them.
>>> Tech employed a defense that ranked third in the GAC in three-point FG% at 32.8%.

SCOUTING THE BISONS
>>> Harding won 20 games in 2015-16 and recorded 14 wins the following season. However, in the three seasons since, the Bisons have won just 19 games and are coming off a 9-19 season overall with a 4-18 mark in league play which placed HU last in the 2019-20 GAC standings.
>>> The Muleriders have won five of their past seven meetings with Harding which followed a string of six-straight losses to the Bisons. Both of the losses to Harding in their last seven meetings have come on the road in Searcy by an average of 3.5 points. 
>>> In the GAC Eastern Division, the Bisons received just five total points to place sixth in the six-team division.
>>> Despite the struggles of late, optimism abounds in central Arkansas as Harding returns nine lettermen and four of five starters from last season's team, including All-GAC performer Romio Harvey (20.9 PPG, 2.9 APG, 37.6 3-Pt FG Pct). Jordan West (8.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG), Emir Ahmedic (8.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 55.4 FG Pct) and Collier Blackburn (5.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG) also return for the Bisons.
>>> Harvey ranked in the top 40 of Division II in free throw attempts (183) and makes (155), while owning an 84.7% success rate from the line last season. The Bisons shot 74.1% from the free throw line in 2019-20.
>>> HU ranked fourth in the GAC in total blocks (88), made 8.7 three-point shots per game, and collected the third-most defensive rebounds per game (26.96) last year.