SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team (11-10, 8-7 GAC) returns home to face Arkansas Tech (11-10, 9-6 GAC) on Thursday and Harding (5-16, 1-14) on Saturday inside the Noble Complex.
Tomorrow's matchup is set for 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's game will take place at 3:00 p.m.
Thursday's contest with the Wonder Boys is being presented by Tinker Federal Credit Union. Details on winning an Apple Watch 8 and a gift basket with $350 in gift cards can be found by going here.
Each game will be called on the Bison Radio Network featuring the play-by-play of Todd Miller and the color commentary of Scott Wanish.
THE RACE TO MARCH
OBU looks to build upon its momentum after snapping its five-game losing streak on Sunday versus Henderson State. The Bison are tied for fifth in the latest GAC standings with an 8-7 record after starting its conference slate 7-2. With seven league games remaining, Oklahoma Baptist will have to make a push to secure a spot in the conference tournament.
The season's final stretch includes four teams currently ranked above OBU in the GAC standings, including the No. 17 team in the country, Southern Nazarene. The Bison have a 1-3 record against those squads, having lost to SNU (80-66), SAU (88-83), and SEOSU (80-85) earlier this year.
LAST TIME VERSUS ARKANSAS TECH
When the two met for first time this season, OBU beat a streaking ATU team 77-74 inside a hostile environment in Russellville. It was the third-straight victory of the season and the fifth consecutive over Tech for the Bison, as ATU hasn't beaten the green and gold since a Feb. 21 meeting in 2019.
Oklahoma Baptist shot 53.1% from the floor and 40% (8-20) from long range as it built a 38-28 halftime lead and ran with it. The Bison bench picked up the slack, totaling 40 points to ATU's 25. Additionally, OBU forced 15 turnovers, including 10 steals. Paul King and Ricky Brown led the club with 21 and 17 points, respectively. Trey Doomes added 11 points, while Ethan Scott went a perfect 3-3 from the beyond the arc for nine points.
THE CENTURY MARK
Trey Green will become the 13th player in Oklahoma Baptist history to tally 100 career games on Thursday. Green, a senior from Kingfisher, Okla., has made 46 career starts and is the longest tenured Bison on the roster. Nigel Wilcox is the next closest with 58 games played on Bison Hill. Green is just the third to reach the century mark in the Division II era, joining past teammates Brantly Thompson (135) and Harrison Stoddart (130).
Green has scored 325 points shooting 42.8% from the field, and knocked down 67 three-pointers in his career. He adds 258 rebounds, 113 assists, and 65 steals. This season, Green has career-best averages in points (4.8), rebounds (4.4), minutes played (27.3), assists (2.1), and steals (1.1).
MIDWEST CITY PRODUCT
D.J. Freeman, a sophomore forward not even 30 miles from home, is having a career year. The high-flyer has the third-best scoring average on the team (12.7), the fourth-most rebounds in the GAC (130), and the most blocked shots for OBU (22). Furthermore, he has the best shooting percentage (.636) of players with 100-plus attempts. All but one are career bests, as he needs four blocks to eclipse last year's total for denials (25).
Last week, he averaged 19.5 ppg on 61.9% shooting, including a career-high 23-point performance in the win against Henderson. He led the Bison in field-goal percentage, rebounds (19), blocks (4), free throw makes (12-13), and tied for steals (5).
SCOUTING THE WONDER BOYS
Arkansas Tech makes the trek to Shawnee for its 17th all-time meeting versus Oklahoma Baptist, trailing 7-9 in the all-time series. The Wonder Boys have an 11-10 overall record, including a 9-6 mark in conference play, good for fourth place in the GAC. After falling to OBU on Jan. 14, ATU won its next three contests before dropping the last four coming into Thursday. Tech's most recent loss came at the hands of Southeastern Oklahoma State in Russellville, 68-61.
Despite forcing the most turnovers in the conference (16.1 per game), Tech has also conceded the second-most (301). In fact, during its four-game skid, the Wonder Boys have turned the ball over 65 times. ATU has also had trouble shooting from deep, as its 27.1% shooting three-point percentage is last in the conference and ranks 286th of 290 ranked teams in DII.
On the bright side, the Wonder Boys have the third-best scoring defense (65.8 ppg), average the third-most free throw attempts per game (20.1), and have the second-most blocks in the GAC (72).
Sophomore guard Taelon Peter leads the way for ATU, scoring 14.1 ppg, while guard Andre Leavell checks in with 10.3 ppg. Peter also paces the team in rebounds (114) and totals the conference's sixth-most steals (34). Leavell adds a team-high 70 assists, which ranks seventh in the league, to go along with 24 steals. OBU held the duo at bay for a combined 12 points (Peter (9), Leavell (2)) earlier this season.
Forwards Wes Harris and Tommy Kamarad are averaging 9.2 and 8.5 ppg, led by Harris' 61.2% field goal percentage. Kamarad's damage has come beyond the arc, netting 21-48 (43.7%) from deep. He has scored 60 points in the last four games, averaging 15.0 per contest.
Kamarad went for a season-high 22 points, which included a 4-5 showing from three-point land, against the Bison. D'Rell Roberts and Nike Gosnell round out the notables, averaging 7.0 and 6.8 ppg.
SCOUTING THE BISONS
Harding will take on Southern Nazarene before venturing to the Noble Complex on Saturday. The Bisons own a 5-16 overall record and a 1-14 conference mark, which is last in the GAC. HU has lost nine straight, including its most recent against East Central on Feb. 4.
Despite their record, the Bisons score the seventh-most points per game in the conference (73.0). However, allowing 78.8 ppg puts HU in last place in the league for scoring margin as they lose by 5.7 ppg. HU nearly beat OBU three weeks ago, taking the Bison down to the wire in a 64-62 defeat in Searcy. In the game's final seconds, two free throws from Paul King secured the Jan. 12 victory for Oklahoma Baptist.
Junior Center Taylor Currie leads the Great American Conference in 12 different categories, including the fourth-best scoring average in the country, 23.4 ppg. He accounts for 32% of Harding's offense and has charted 11 double-doubles, which is the fourth most in DII. He totals 208 rebounds (9.9), 204 field goals, and 30 blocks.
Trailing Currie at 10.0 ppg is redshirt freshman Keyln McBride, who has the fifth-most three-pointers (48) in the GAC. He is netting 42.5% of his attempts from deep and has four games with four-plus makes. Furthermore, the guard ranks second in assists behind J.T. Smith's 55. Smith has a scoring average of 4.8 ppg.
