SHAWNEE – With the Great American Conference schedule past its halfway point, rematches are coming for Oklahoma Baptist this week with games at Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello.
The Bison visit SAU on Jan. 30 for a 7:30 p.m. matchup before a Feb. 1 date with UAM. That latter contest starts at 3 p.m. inside Steelman Fieldhouse. Earlier this season, OBU won 74-56 over the Boll Weevils before an 82-79 victory against the Muleriders.
OBU is coming off an 83-77 win at home against Southwestern Oklahoma State. That boosted the team's record to 12-6 and 9-3 in the GAC. At this time, coach
Jason Eaker's squad sits in second place and two games back of Southern Nazarene.
Historically, the Bison have struggled against SAU, with the team from Magnolia, Ark., holding a 13-6 series advantage. Plus, the Muleriders have only lost once in eight tries when playing OBU at home. As for the UAM series, which is tied 9-9, the Bison are 3-5 in Monticello and have been defeated the previous two times at Steelman.
The Bison Sports Network crew of Todd Miller and Scott Wanish will have the call of the games on KGFF.com. Below are notes on all three teams.
Bison Notes
- The Bison found a solid shooting touch against SWOSU on Jan. 25. Of the 29 two-point attempts they took, OBU made 22 of those. That was a 75.8 percent mark.
- Terry Coner Jr., who had been dealing with sickness recently, had a strong game, scoring 22 with four assists. That was the fourth time this season he tallied at least 20 points.
- Coner Jr. ranks tenth in the GAC this year in points per game (15.6).
- Daniel Ransom has been a steady force the last eight games. He's averaged 12.6 points, 6.3 boards, collected a team-high eight steals and shot 43.8 percent overall. Plus, he has hit 83.3 percent (30-36) from the free throw line and 38.9 from deep.
- Senior forward Nathan Wilson continues to be solid in the front court. He leads the GAC with a career-high 26 blocks and is second in defensive rebounds (5.56) and rebounds per game (8.2).
- Redshirt sophomore Ethan Scott remains the conference leader in three-point shooting. His 48 makes and 47.1 percent mark are No. 1 in the GAC.
- Also of note, JC Curry is someone you don't want to put on the free throw line. He ranks top-six with 94 attempts, 80 makes and an 85.1 percent mark.
- As a team, OBU is second in the GAC and 58th nationally with 15.8 free throw makes per game.
Muleriders Notes
- SAU has won three of four after a 66-61 win over Henderson State last weekend. They are 8-10 overall and 5-7 in the GAC.
- The Muleriders lead the conference in blocks (3.1), offensive rebounds per game (11.94) and three-point attempts per game (27.6).
- In the previous matchup with OBU, Southern Arkansas converted 10-of-29 (34.5%) from deep.
- They also put four players in double figures: Kris Cook (19), Rashad Bishop (18), BJ Davis (16) and Carel Ray Jr. (11).
- This season, Davis ranks second in the conference in three-point attempts (121) and fourth in percentage (37.2).
- SAU does a good job in transition. Its 10.44 fastbreak points per game rank fourth in the GAC.
- They also have a solid bench presence. With 28.11 bench points per game, SAU checks in at third in the GAC in that category.
Boll Weevils Notes
- Monticello is on a five-game losing streak after dropping a 48-40 decision to Arkansas Tech on Jan. 25.
- UAM is 4-14 this season and 1-11 in the GAC.
- In the previous matchup against OBU, the Weevils struggled offensively, converting 38 percent from the field, 31 from three and just 43.8 percent from the foul line.
- UAM's offense has had a rough go this season. With a 57.4 scoring average and 41.3 percent shooting mark, they rank last (12th) in those categories in the GAC.
- Seth Grandberry represents Monticello's top scoring option. His 16 points per game ranks eighth in the league. He is also tops in minutes played per game (36:13).
