SHAWNEE – The Bison will take on the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State in an highly anticipated matchup on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. inside the Noble Complex.
Saturday's game will be called on the Bison Sports Network by the duo of Todd Miller and Scott Wanish.
The contest will be the 164th all-time meeting between the two schools. Southeastern holds a 104-59 overall record against Oklahoma Baptist, including a 11-5 record since OBU joined the Great American Conference.
HOT START
Saturday's victory brought this season's GAC record to 2-0, marking the second two-win start to conference play since Oklahoma Baptist joined the league in 2015. Last season was OBU's first-ever 2-0 conference start, featuring wins over the same teams, Northwestern and Southwestern. Before, the Bison recorded four consecutive (2020, 2019, 2018, 2017) 1-1 splits against GAC affiliates to start league play.
In last season's conference opening wins against NWOSU and SWOSU, OBU shot 47.5 percent from the floor and garnered just seven steals. This year, Oklahoma Baptist finished with a 47.7 field goal percentage and 26 steals. Furthermore, the Bison's forced turnovers total went from 23 in 2021-22 to 44 for the two-game span, highlighted by back-to-back nights with 22 forced turnovers last week.
Per conference-play-only stats, Oklahoma Baptist leads all league schools in total forced mistakes (44) and a 5.50 turnover margin. Additionally, the Bison have a GAC-best 26 steals, an average of 13.0 per contest.
LAST TIME VERSUS SOUTHEASTERN
The last time Oklahoma Baptist faced off against Southeastern, a regular season conference title was on the line. Unfortunately, the highly anticipated matchup between No. 1 and 2 went to way of the opposition as SEOSU won 80-76 in Durant. Both squads shot over 45 percent from the field, led by Southeastern's 50 percent finish. OBU sank 11 from beyond the arc, while the SEOSU netted just four out of 16 attempts. It was one of four times the Bison recorded 11 three-pointers and the ninth occurrence of double-digit makes as a team last season.
Brantly Thompson led the charge with 20 points, while Jaquan Simms and Burke Putnam added 19 and 13 points, respectively.
AN OPPORTUNITY
OBU must continue its defensive hot streak with the league's second-best field-goal percentage (48.2%) and the nation's 10th-best three-point shooting (10.9/gm) squad coming into the Noble Complex. The Bison are the second-best in three-point percentage defense in the GAC, holding teams to a 29.1 percent shooting clip per contest. Last week, Oklahoma Baptist held Northwestern to 3-18 (16.7%) from beyond the arc.
Another stat to note is how often Southeastern commits fouls compared to OBU's success at the free throw line. SEOSU tallies 15.1 fouls per game, ranking fourth among GAC schools. The Bison are netting a league-best 14.7 from the charity stripe per game. With the number of fouls the Savage Storm commit, be looking for Oklahoma Baptist to cash in on all the freebies.
DOUBLE-FIGURE WARRIORS
The duo of point guard Paul King and forward D.J. Freeman has reached double figures in points in every game this season. King averages 20.0 ppg, which is fourth in the GAC, while Freeman is at 13.0 ppg. It ties the longest streak for a pair of Bison since Jarius Hicklen, and Harrison Stoddart met the double-digit mark seven consecutive times during the 2020-21 season. From Feb. 11, 2021, to Mar. 3, 2021, the two combined for 232 points. To date, this season's tandem totals 231 points.
Freeman is OBU's workhorse, clocking a team-high in minutes per game (34.0). It is evident why he leads the Bison in rebounds (51) and blocks (10) while ranking second in steals (13) and free throw makes (22). Among the GAC, Freeman ranks fourth in rebounds, sixth in blocks, and ninth in steals. His companion, King, leads the league in free throws (34), is second in free throw percentage (89.5%), and seventh in assists (29).
For newcomers on Bison Hill in the DII era, King's 140 points through his first seven games are the most since Burke Putnam tallied 160 last season (2021-22). The next closest was Steven Green's (2015-16) total of 131 points through his first seven with OBU.
SCOUTING THE SAVAGE STORM
The reigning GAC regular season champs, Southeastern Oklahoma State, enters the weekend with a 4-3 overall mark, including a 1-1 record in conference play. The Savage Storm are coming off a 94-68 non-conference victory over Arlington Baptist on Tuesday. Before, the SESOU garnered its first league win in a 112-87 defeat against Southwestern Oklahoma State.
Southeastern lost key contributors in Bobby Johnson, Kellen Manek, last season's GAC player of the year Adam Dworsky, and 2021-22 freshman of the year Ante Brzovic. Still, the Savage Storm remains lethal.
SEOSU is one the league's hottest three-point shooting teams, ranking second in three-pointers. The Savage Storm have knocked down 10 or more from deep in all but two contests this year. Most notable was its three-point clinic of 22 makes against SWOSU. It was the second-most three-point buckets in Great American Conference history. Overall, Southeastern is shooting a scorching 41.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Leading the way on the scoring end is junior guard Jett Sternberger. An instrumental part of last season's team, Sternberger has taken over the reins as the squad's leader. Sternberger averages 20.6 ppg, which is third in the GAC and ranks second in free throw makes (29). Additionally, he is shooting 52.1 percent from the floor and boasts the GAC's best free-throw percentage (93.5%).
He is joined in success by newcomer Brennen Burns, who spent last season with East Central. With the Tigers, Burns averaged 9.7 ppg. He has improved his buckets rate to 14.0 per game, which is 11th in the GAC. Burns leads the league in assists (33, 4.7/gm) while shooting a team-high 56.0 percent from the floor. Furthermore, his assist/turnover ratio (2.8) is second in the conference.
Four SESOU players have 13 or more makes from deep this season, led by redshirt freshman Landon Condiff. He tallies 18, earning the total at a 48.6 percent rate from deep. Next is Kody Clouet with 17 and Kyle Leslie at 12. Each shoots over 44 percent, highlighted by Clouet's 51.5 percent clip.
For more information on Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter (@OBU_MBB) and Instagram (OBU_MBB).
