SHAWNEE – Back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020-21, Oklahoma Baptist (27-3) takes on Harding (24-7) in the first round of the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament on March 14 at 2:30 p.m.
The postseason contest comes inside Lee Arena on the campus of Washburn University in Topeka. Whichever team wins will advance to play either Central Missouri or Rogers State on Sunday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m.
This is the first-ever NCAA tourney game, and first-ever postseason meeting, between the two schools. Historically, the Bison lead 13-7 including winning both regular-season contests earlier this year by 78-73 and 73-67 scores.
Todd Miller and Dave Myrick will be on site for the radio broadcast of the game on KGFF. Below are notes on the teams.
For the Bison:
OBU's 27 wins are the most in the D2 era and most since attaining 32 in 2011-12.
In games away from Shawnee, the Bison produced a 14-3 record during the regular season.
The Bison have played in two other NCAA Tournament games: vs. Arkansas-Monticello and Lubbock Christian in March of 2021. OBU won over UAM 76-57 and lost to Lubbock 79-55.
Here are the best individual game-highs from those contests:
- Points & Assists: Brantly Thompson scored 17 with four assists vs. UAM
- Rebounds: Nigel Wilcox secured 15 against UAM
Below are the Bison's best NCAA statistical marks heading into the NCAA Tournament:
- No. 7 with a .900 winning percentage.
- No. 24 in field goal percentage defense (40.8).
- No. 27 in turnover margin (3.2).
- No. 31 in three-point field goal percentage defense (30.6).
- No. 34 in scoring margin (9.5).
- No. 38 in scoring defense (68.1).
Now a look at OBU's top individuals:
- Terry Coner Jr. is No. 27 in D2 with a 20.3 scoring average and No. 12 with 173 made free throws. He averaged 21.0 points per game against Harding earlier this year.
- Sophomore Erik Madrid ranks No. 71 with 38 blocks with a 1.27 per game average (91st). For the 7-foot-2 center, he averaged 9.5 points and 4.0 rebounds versus HU.
- Freshman Christian Hodge's 51 steals are slotted 89th in Division II.
- While those three crack the NCAA statistical database, this Bison squad is deep with a total of seven players tallying at least 5.6 points per game.
- In addition to Coner Jr., Jackson Greene and Joshua Udoumoh each average 13.0 points per contest.
Coach Jason Eaker's Thoughts: "For us to win, we must get back to our winning recipe: defense, rebounding and taking care of the ball. Our deflections, steals, blocks and tenacity on defense will be key. If that happens, that will allow us to get out in transition and score before they set their defense."
A Key Stat: Speaking of transition, in the two regular-season contests versus Harding, the Bison forced 20 turnovers and outscored HU 20-4 in fastbreak points.
For Harding:
Harding navigated the GAC Tournament and beat fourth seed Southern Nazarene to capture its second consecutive conference tournament championship.
HU is riding an 11-game winning streak, its longest in school history.
This will be Harding's eighth all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament. They previously made trips in 2003, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2025.
Three players headline Harding's squad: GAC Freshman of the Year Reggie Webster; All-GAC First Team Keyln McBride and second-team honoree Wesley Booker.
During the regular season, Booker averaged 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds against OBU while McBride averaged 15. As for Webster, while he only shot 10.5 percent (2-19), he got to the foul line 17 times and converted 82.4 percent of those (14).
A Key Stat: Harding is the No. 1 team in the GAC in threes per game. They average 9.0 deep shots per contest.
