SHAWNEE – It's March. Let the madness begin.
The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team will take on Arkansas-Monticello in the South Central Region Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
The Bison enter the South Central Regional as the No. 6 seed and will take on GAC Tournament champion and No. 3 seed Arkansas-Monticello. It is the first meeting between these two squads since Feb. 27, 2020, when OBU took a 77-74 home win over the Boll Weevils. UAM won the first six meetings over OBU, but head coach
Jason Eaker is 4-0 against the Weevils since arriving on Bison Hill.
Saturday's contest will be featured on the
Bison Radio Network across the state of Oklahoma and worldwide on the iHeartRadio app with play-by-play man Todd Miller and color commentator Scott Wanish.
The Bison made their first NCAA Tournament appearance a year ago, but never actually took the court as COVID-19 canceled the tournament. OBU returns after making their second consecutive tournament via at-large bid after they fell to Southern Arkansas in the GAC semifinals. UAM makes their first appearance in the NCAA postseason since the 2016-17 season after winning the GAC Tournament over SAU in the final seconds.
Coming into the SAU semifinal game, OBU had connected on 66 3-pointers in their last seven games including 10 or more in six of their last seven games. However, against the Muleriders, OBU hit season-lows across the board from the arc, going 3 of 18 (17%) from deep and 0 of 10 in the second half.
The number 15 in the turnover column seems to be a major key for the Bison this season. When OBU has turned it over 15 times or more, the Bison are 5-4 with four of the five wins being within five points or less, or resulting in a loss. OBU is 10-1 on the season when they commit less than 15 turnovers with seven of those wins being by nine points or more. OBU matched a season-high in turnovers with 18 in their GAC Semifinal loss to Southern Arkansas.
OBU is 24th in the country with 308 assists. OBU has had 15 or more assists in a game 12 times this season including a school and GAC Tournament record 27 against Ouachita. The Bison are 14th in the country in blocked shots with 73 and 26th in total rebounds at 745, going 15-2 this season when out rebounding their opponent.
Jarius Hicklen leads the way for Oklahoma Baptist with 16.4 points per game and 4.1 boards as he has been one of the top scorers in the GAC this season. Hicklen is shooting 43 percent from behind the arc and has scored 20 or more points in six of the 15 games he's played in this season.
Hicklen has been excellent from behind the line since returning to the lineup. Hicklen is 18 of 33 (55%) is his last six games and is averaging 19.5 points during that stretch. Hicklen has set a new career high four times this season including a 31 point outburst with six 3-pointers in the season finale win over Southwestern Oklahoma State.
Brantly Thompson and
Harrison Stoddart each pour in 14.2 points per game with Thompson adding 4.0 assists per game while Stoddart pulls down 7.6 boards per game with 28 blocks, good for 14th in the country. Fellow senior
Jaquan Simms adds 10.9 points per game.
Thompson became the first Bison to reach double digit assists in the win over Ouachita since Vladimir Nemcok did it against Harding on January 6, 2018, and the first to hit 13 since Kendall Parks had 19 against Texas Wesleyan on March 5, 2014.
The Bison must find a way to get
Harrison Stoddart involved offensively. The Bison are 5-5 when Stoddart has four made field goals or less in a game. Though the Bison have founds ways to win, OBU is 10-0 when Stoddart knocks down five or more field goals. Bad games do not keep Stoddart down long, in the seven games he has shot under 50 percent, Stoddart has responded with 50 percent or better from the field in six contests.
Nigel Wilcox adds 8.4 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, and 30 blocks, good for 10th in the country, while
Jordan Thompson scored 7.9 per game.
Trey Green adds nearly five points per game and shoots 55 percent from behind the arc.
Arkansas-Monticello was the Eastern Division champion in the GAC and won its first GAC Tournament title in a thrilling 75-74 win over SAU as they enter the game 16-4 on the year.
Miles Daniels leads the way with 15.4 points per game including 45 percent from deep while Dajuan Jones adds 13.8 points per game. Denzel McDuffy pours in 13.6 points per game and 8.1 boards while Lemmie Howard adds 10.2 points per game.
Tipoff for Saturday's matchup is set for 6 p.m. inside the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock.
