SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist returns to the Noble Complex tonight for a 7:30 p.m. contest against Southern Arkansas ahead of a 3:00 p.m meeting with Arkansas Monticello on Saturday in Shawnee. Thursday is part two of OBU's four-game homestand.
The Bison Sports Network's Todd Miller and Scott Wanish will be on the call for both games.
OPENING TIP OFF
The Bison look to get back on track after dropping its last four, most recently to Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene last week. With four regular-season games remaining, OBU will have to make a late push to punch their ticket to the 2024 Great American Conference tournament. Oklahoma Baptist currently sits in a tie for eighth, alongside East Central and Southern Arkansas, with a 7-11 GAC record. They are only two games out of fourth place in the latest league standings.
GETTING DOWN TO IT
Oklahoma Baptist lost its 10th conference game of the season by five points or less last Saturday against Northwestern. The Bison have played well in those 10 matchups despite falling in the end. OBU shot 46.6 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from range while scoring 72.7 points per game. Meanwhile, opposing clubs averaged 76.0 points per contest with clips of 47.6 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from deep.
What plagued Oklahoma Baptist the most was its turnovers and inefficiency at the free throw line. OBU shot just 69.3 percent at the charity stripe and committed 10.6 turnovers per game, both figures worse than the opposition.
Oddly enough, in the Bison's seven wins, the shooting numbers took a dip. OBU paired a 42.6 percent field-goal mark with a 33.1 percent figure from three-point range. However, they sunk 74.4 percent of their attempts from the free throw line, adding 48 more makes in three fewer games.
In the wins, Terry Coner Jr., Ricky Brown, and Daniel Ransom led the Bison in scoring. Coner headed the trio at 14.4 ppg, while Brown and Ransom followed with 14.0 and 13.9 points per contest. Nathan Wilson averaged 8.9 rebounds per game while contributing 11.0 points a game. Rounding out the group averaging double figures was Trevin Wade at 11.1 ppg.
CONER & BROWN
Regardless of the outcomes of the last four games, the duo of Coner and Brown have showed up. Coner averaged 17.0 points per game on 43.1 percent shooting, while knocking down 36.8 percent (7-19) of his three-point attempts. Additionally, the rookie nailed 11-of-14 (78.6%) from the charity stripe.
He was just as effective defensively, poking away the second-most steals (5) on the team during the span. He turned in two 19-point performances against Harding and Northwestern. On Saturday versus the Rangers, Coner sunk 3-of-6 from deep and went 4-for-5 at the free throw line.
On the year, Coner leads OBU with a 16.5 points per game average, eighth-most in the GAC and first among freshmen. He has the opportunity to become the first rookie in the program's Division II era to lead the team in scoring.
Brown averaged 16.3 ppg in the last four contests, shooting a blistering 41.7 percent from deep and an identical field-goal mark (43.1%) to Coner's. The guard sunk 14 triples during the stretch, including six makes against Southern Nazarene. Brown has four other games in his collegiate career with six makes from range, including four with the green and gold. Brown also shot a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line, paced the team in steals (6), and committed just three turnovers.
The Valdosta, Ga. native is having the best season of his career, averaging 13.7 ppg, while shooting 36.6 percent from three-point land. With 67 makes from range, Brown leads OBU and ranks sixth in the GAC. The 6-foot-2 marksman is also approaching history. Only Jaquan Simms stands in the way of Brown breaking the program's DII record for threes in a season. Simms sunk 77 in the 2019-20 season. With four guaranteed games remaining, Brown could eclipse the figure, especially after posting back-to-back games with five makes last week.
Also of note, no hooper has more three-pointers (119) in their first two seasons at OBU (DII era) than Brown. Only three, including Brown, have breached the century mark: Jaquan Simms (109) and Brantly Thompson (107).
SCOUTING SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
Southern Arkansas brings a 9-15 overall mark with a 7-11 tally in the conference into the week. The Muleriders have lost three straight after falling 77-66 at home against Harding on Saturday. Aside from their 11-point loss to HU, SAU lost its other two games by two points. In fact, they've lost eight conference games by six or fewer points this season.
SAU's 70.1 ppg scoring average ranks ninth in the Great American Conference, while its defense limits opponents to 71.1 ppg per game, a -1.0 scoring margin. Southern Arkansas is shooting 43.2 percent from the floor, the league's lowest rate, and 30.5 percent from three-point range, which also ranks last.
Carel Ray Jr. leads the team in scoring at 17.9 ppg, shooting 43.8 percent from the floor. In the last three games, Ray has averaged 25.6 ppg, including a season-high outpour of 29 points against Southeastern Oklahoma State on Feb. 10. The guard also leads the GAC with 188 rebounds, an average of 8.2 per game. Furthermore, he is on track to have the highest scoring average in a single season in SAU's GAC history.
Gregory Hammond Jr. and Anthony Igiede are the Muleriders' next-highest producers at 12.0 and 10.8 ppg. Hammonds adds the most blocks (20) and the second-most rebounds (128) for SAU but has committed a team-high in turnovers (50). Igiede has the third-most boards (120) and is an 84.9 percent free throw shooter, the squad's best mark.
Southern Arkansas owns a 12-5 all-time lead over Oklahoma Baptist and has won the last two meetings. The last time OBU beat the Muleriders was a season ago, 76-74 on a buzzer-beating tip-in. It was the first win in Magnolia in the program's history.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS MONTICELLO
Arkansas Monticello will face Southern Nazarene today before heading to Shawnee on Saturday for its matchup with the Bison. The Boll Weevils are 11-12 overall and are tied for fourth in the GAC with a 9-9 conference record. It is the most league wins for UAM since the 2020-21 season when they finished 12-4.
The Boll Weevils are one of the stingiest in the league, allowing just 67.0 ppg, which ranks second in the GAC and 27th nationally. Offensively, UAM is the worst offense in the conference. They score 64.4 ppg, 279th of the 289 ranked teams in Division II.
Arkansas Monticello has won two straight, drawing victories over Southern Arkansas (67-65) and Henderson State (74-67) last week. The club shot above 44.0 percent from the floor and sunk 10 threes in both games.
UAM is led by Isaac Jackson, who owns the GAC's highest scoring average at 20.8 ppg. When he met the Bison in January, Jackson recorded 21 points while shooting 8-of-16 from the field. On the season, the guard shoots a staggering 48.7 field-goal percentage and has sunk 38.0 percent of his attempts from range. He is also among the league's best at the free throw line, with a clip of 81.0 percent.
Junior guard Zane Nelson trails with a 19.3 ppg average, the third-best scoring rate in the league. Nelson has the most triples (45) on the team and the second-most rebounds (103). Earlier this season, Nelson went for 23 points and eight boards versus OBU in Monticello. The duo account for 62.1 percent of UAM's offense.
