SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team (4-4, 2-1 GAC) looks to get back on track as they'll face East Central (6-3, 1-2 GAC) in a Saturday night matchup inside the Kerr Activities Center in Ada, OK. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
The contest will mark the 160th meeting between the programs. East Central leads the all-time series with an 81-78 record, but has fallen victim to the Bison three consecutive times.
Saturday's game will be called on the Bison Sports Network by the duo of Todd Miller and Scott Wanish can be watched on
ECUTigers.com.
The Bison aim to rebound following the Dec. 10 loss to the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State. Despite a 26-point showing from
Ricky Brown, OBU fell late against SEOSU inside the Noble Complex, marking its first conference defeat.
RICKY'S TIME
After not reaching double figures in six appearances this season, Ricky Brown's production skyrocketed in the last two games. During a two-game span, the Valdosta State transfer has compiled 44 points, coming in matchups against Northwestern Oklahoma State (12/3) and Southeastern Oklahoma State (12/10). The only other Bison this season that compiled the sum in two consecutive games is Paul King, who totaled 54 points versus SWOSU (12/1) and NWOSU (12/3).
In OBU's win over the Rangers, Brown went for 18 points on 7-14 shooting. He added a three-pointer, four rebounds, and one steal. Additionally, the junior went 3-3 from the charity stripe. The Valdosta, GA, native paired the performance with a 26-point outing versus Southeastern to tie his career-high. Two other times, at Valdosta St., Brown went for 26 against Auburn University-Montgomery (12/20/21) and Alabama Huntsville (2/3/22). He knocked down 6-13 (46.2%) from the beyond the arc, one shy of his career mark (7, Alabama Huntsville 2/3/22), and recorded a career-best in steals (5). Brown posted a season-high field-goal percentage (55.6%) to go along with a tie for a season-best in rebounds (6) to complete the stat-sheet-filling night.
Here is a look at how good of a year Brown is having. To date, he totals 74 points in eight games on Bison Hill. It took him 22 games at Valdosta to reach the sum. Brown has already set a career-high in steals (13), eclipsing his previous record of 11 last season (2021-22). Furthermore, the he has not missed a free throw all year. Brown is a perfect 9-9 at the charity stripe and the only OBU player with at least nine attempts and a flawless percentage.
STICKY FINGERS
Acquiring 10.2 steals per contest, Oklahoma Baptist ranks 11th in the country and second in the GAC. The Bison chart 82 steals, totaling 13 four times in a game this season. In fact, OBU has double-figure steals in all but three games. The overall record in games with 10 or more steals is 4-1.
Guards Trey Doomes (18), Paul King (15), D.J. Freeman (14), and Brown (13) each have double figures in the category. The Bison are the only squad with three players with 13 or more steals in the GAC. The next closest, Arkansas Tech and Southwestern, have just two.
FINDING RHYTHM
Freshman guard Ethan Scott has begun to find his rhythm with the Bison this season. After entering last week with 13 points, he erupted for a 12-point outing against Southeastern Oklahoma State, as all of his makes came from behind the arc. This is no surprise after he set the single-season school record for threes at Westmoore (89) and Mustang High School (94). Furthermore, he played 19 minutes of action, the most all season.
He is tied for third in triples on the team (8) and is one of four Bison to collect at least four triples in a game. Among GAC freshmen, Scott is one of five with a least eight three-point makes.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
East Central enters Saturday with a 6-3 overall record, including a 1-2 record in Great American Conference play. The Tigers are coming off a Tuesday night 104-35 win over Randall University after suffering a 63-60 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma State on December 10.
Versus the Saints, ECU forced a season-high 16 turnovers en route to the 69-point victory. A few nights before, East Central fell late against Southwestern, coming within striking distance in the dwindling minutes of the contest. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs closed that door and squeezed out the three-point triumph.
Head coach Daniel Wheeler is in his first season with the Tigers after spending the last seven seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Central Oklahoma. He was a part of the 2021-22 UCO staff that won an MIAA title and punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Wheeler's squad is one of the hottest shooting teams in the country, as their 51.3 team field-goal percentage ranks seventh in DII. The Tigers' efforts translate to the other side of the ball as they hold opponents to a 37.6 percent shooting clip per game. The figure ranks ninth in the nation. Furthermore, East Central ranks 13th in DII in three-point percentage defense (27.3%).
Pacing ECU in scoring is junior Keyon Thomas' 15.2 points per game average, ranking ninth in the GAC. Through nine games, the guard is shooting a scorching 58.1 percent from the field, also ninth in the league, and has dished out 27 assists. Additionally, he is tied for fourth in the conference in steals (16) and is second on the team in assists (27) behind Luke Harper's 37. Harper, a grad-transfer from John Brown University, is at 8.9 ppg, shooting 42.9 percent from the floor.
Scoring 11.4 and 10.7 ppg are guards Barron Tanner Jr. and Leonard Dixon. Tanner leads the Tigers from beyond the arc with 22 triples, cashing on 45.8 percent of his attempts. Guard Ellis Lee Jr. totals a team-best 47 rebounds to go along with a 7.1-point scoring average, while sixth-man Jakeem Acres is scoring 9.6 ppg.
For more information on Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter (@OBU_MBB) and Instagram (OBU_MBB).
