SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's (3-3) Great American Conference slate begins this week with home games against Arkansas-Monticello (3-4) and Southern Arkansas (3-3). On Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. the Bison play the Boll Weevils before a Saturday, Dec. 7 matchup with the Muleriders. That game is slated for a 3 p.m. tip.
The series with UAM has been very close with the Weevils leading 9-8. They have also won three of the last four. As for the matchup with SAU, the team from Magnolia, Ark., leads 13-5 and have won three straight in the series.
As usual, the Bison Sports Network's Todd Miller and Scott Wanish will be on the call of these games.
Here are notes for the three schools as GAC action begins.
Bison Notes
- In a familiar tune to last season, OBU lost two close games at the Dallas Baptist Thanksgiving Classic.
- The green and gold fell 90-88 to the sixth-ranked Patriots before a 68-64 defeat to Texas A&M International. Dating back to last season, OBU is 4-15 in games decided by single digits.
- Leading the charge last week was Ricky Brown. He shot 65 percent from the field, 54.5 percent from deep and averaged 16.5 points per game. The Valdosta, Ga., native is 17th in the GAC in three-pointers made per game (1.8) and 18th in percentage (39.3).
- Teammate Ethan Scott continued his strong shooting from downtown going 4-of-6 from range vs. DBU and TAMIU. His current percentage of 51.2 is best in OBU history and 17th in the nation.
- On the defensive end, Nathan Wilson tallied a pair of blocks, four steals and accumulated 17 rebounds last week. He is 26th in DII in blocks per game (1.83) and 28th in rebounding (9.0).
- Terry Coner Jr., so far this season, has ranked highly in several GAC categories: ninth in points (16.2), second in free throw percentage (92.0) and fourth with 13 steals.
- As a team, OBU's 76.2 free throw percentage is the best in its D2 era dating back to the 2015-16 transitional year. That total is also 46th in the country and fourth-best in the GAC.
- Also of note, the Bison are doing a great job of not fouling. They have a top-50 NCAA mark and lead the conference at 14.8 fouls per game.
Weevils Notes
- UAM is coming off a 67-44 loss at Southern Nazarene on Dec. 3. To date, Monticello is 0-4 away from home and 3-4 overall.
- Furthermore, the Weevils' three wins have come against two NCCAA schools – Champion Christian and Ecclesia – as well as NAIA program Arkansas Baptist.
- There are 287 teams ranked statistically in D2. UAM is 284th in scoring offense at 60 points per game. UAM's turnover margin is troublesome, too. Its mark of -3.7 is 263rd nationally.
- Only one player has averaged double-digit scoring totals so far for UAM, Seth Grandberry. He's scoring 12.3 points per game and is making 78.6 percent from the foul line.
- Defensively, Harouna Sissoko has 11 blocks which is the currently second in the GAC.
- Jamir Turner is a pretty good rebounder. His 6.9 average is seventh-best in the league while his 48 total boards are fourth.
Muleriders Notes
- Like UAM, Southern Arkansas has yet to win away from home. That said, all three of their road losses have come by single digits. Most notably, SAU lost to No. 1 Minnesota State-Mankato 71-67 in Kansas City on Nov. 8.
- Most recently, the Muleriders fell 71-65 at Angelo State on Nov. 30.
- The defense of Southern Arkansas has been solid. They are 14th in the nation in three-point field-goal percentage defense (26.2%), and fourth in the GAC in overall field-goal percentage defense (41.3) and scoring defense (70.3 ppg).
- Rashad Bishop has been on fire to start the year. He's fourth in the nation and first in the GAC with a 72.7 field-goal percentage. He leads SAU with a 12.3 scoring average too.
- Sophomore Anthony Igiede has made 41.7 percent from deep so far. That's good for 14th in the GAC. Plus, he's sixth with 12 steals and third with eight blocks.
- As a team, SAU has been outstanding rebounding the ball on the offensive end. They collect 14.5 offensive rebounds per game which is good for 21st nationally and tops in the conference.
