SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team returns to the Noble Complex on Thursday, riding a two-game winning streak, for a GAC contest versus Harding at 7:30 p.m. This will be the first matchup between the two squads since 2020, where the Bison won 75-59 in Searcy. Thursday night's game is the 13th all-time with the Bisons, with OBU maintaining a 7-5 series lead, including a four-game winning streak.
This will be the only men's basketball contest of the week as Saturday night's matchup against Arkansas Tech was postponed due to adherence to COVID-19 protocols within ATU's program. The two institutions are working to schedule a new date to complete the Great American Conference game.
The game will be streamed live on OBUBison.com and heard on the Bison Sports Network featuring Todd Miller on play-by-play and Scott Wanish on color commentary.
Oklahoma Baptist is coming off a major win over GAC foe Henderson State, having not won in Arkadelphia since 2017. Playing almost exclusively with six players, the Bison halted a second-half HSU rally to win 83-78 last Thursday. Oklahoma Baptist finished shooting 50 percent from the field, including a 56 percent mark in the second half. OBU knocked down a season-high 10 triples tonight, as eight came in the inaugural half.
Senior guard Burke Putnam is on his way to making history this season. He averages a Great American Conference-best 22.0 PPG at an efficient 47.1 shooting percentage. Putnam is on track to average over 20 points per game, which would be the first occurrence by a Bison player since Buck Alexander (20.0 PPG) did so in 1978. Putnam's 28 point performance against Henderson State was his eighth 20-plus point game and second-highest scoring game this season. His outing warranted conference player of the week recognition for a second straight week and the third total time this season. No other Oklahoma Baptist basketball player, men or women, has earned the weekly honor more than twice since OBU joined the GAC. The Tulsa native totals 64 attempts from the free-throw line, making good on 52 shots at an 81.3 percent shooting clip. That is the most in the league as the next closest totals 39. Aside from scoring, Putnam leads the Bison in assists (33), steals (17), and ranks second in rebounds (73).
Senior Brantly Thompson ranks second in scoring, putting in 14.2 PPG, and has eclipsed Harrison Stoddart on the all-time OBU scoring list with 1,241 career points. Thompson has reached double digits in four of the six games. Furthermore, the Tuttle native ranks second in assists (28) and three-pointers (15), despite missing a handful of games. OBU's three-point leader, Jaquan Simms, tallies 22 made buckets from downtown. He averages 11.5 PPG, ranks second in steals, and third in assists (21). Rounding out the perimeter is Jordan Thompson, who is averaging 8.4 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and totals 16 assists.
D.J Freeman and Nigel Wilcox have played with assertion down low, averaging 10.4 and 8.1 PPG. Freeman has become one of the highest-scoring freshmen in the conference while shooting 62 percent from the floor. He boasts the fifth-best ranked field-goal percentage in the GAC, No. 1 among freshmen, while teammate Wilcox is a couple of spots above at No. 2 (67.2%). Wilcox leads the Bison in rebounds (79), including 54 defensive boards and blocks (13). He recorded at least one block in five straight games before his streak ended last week. Justin Tene and D'Michael Bellfield have also anchored the paint, averaging 5.7 and 2.0 PPG. Tene is fourth in rebounds (43) and has made good on 64.1 percent of his shots.
Harding enters Thursday 4-8, including a 2-4 record in the Great American Conference. The Bisons are seventh in the league, holding wins against Southeastern and Ouachita. HU is coming off their most significant victory of the season, upsetting Southeastern 76-73 last week in Searcy. The Bisons snapped the Savage Storm's nine-game winning streak, handing SEOSU their first league loss of the season. In a game that involved 17 lead changes, HU held then-top GAC ranked Southeastern to 37.5 percent shooting from the floor. Harding charted a 45.6 field-goal percentage and forced 14 turnovers.
HU ranks third in the GAC in blocked shots (40) and assists (173). They have the fifth-best scoring offense, averaging 74.2 points per contest, but rank last in defense as they've allowed 79.4 PPG. Harding's offensive attack is headed by sophomore center Taylor Currie, whe averages 18.8 PPG. Currie shoots an efficient 59.5 percent from the floor, leads his squad in rebounds (93), and ranks No. 2 in the GAC for blocks (19). The Bisons' double-digit scorers continue with Stetson Smithson and Ramiro Santiago, who average 16.1 and 11.2 points per game. Santiago leads the team with 26 three-pointers, while Smithson totals 24. Furthermore, Smithson is shooting 47.1 percent from deep, which ranks No. 3 in the GAC.
The Bisons are led by long-time head coach Jeff Morgan, who is in his 29th season with HU. Morgan is the longest tenured coach in the Great American Conference and ranks in the top 20 in career victories among active NCAA Division II coaches. He has a career record of 455-369 and a 438-359 mark at Harding.
The last time the two met, HU put up a resilient fight despite but fell to OBU after the Bison held them to a 22 percent shooting clip in the second half to claim victory. Harrison Stoddart scored 15 points while Jaquan Simms poured in 10.
