SHAWNEE – After a 15-day Christmas break layoff, the 8-3 Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team is back in action. This time, the Bison will host Northwestern Oklahoma State on Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m. inside the Noble Complex.
OBU's fine start to the season also includes a 5-0 Great American Conference mark. To date, there's only one other GAC school with an unblemished record: Southern Nazarene.
Saturday's matchup with Northwestern is the 31st game between the schools dating back to January 2007. The Bison lead 20-10 but have lost two of the last three to the Rangers. Of note, Northwestern defeated OBU 81-76 in Shawnee back on Feb. 17, 2024. That marked the first road victory by the Rangers since Feb. 15, 2018.
As usual, Todd Miller and Scott Wanish will be on the call of the game for the Bison Sports Network. Below are notes on both teams.
Bison Notes
- OBU defeated Southwestern 78-63 back on Dec. 19. The Bison held the Bulldogs to 34.4 percent shooting, the best defensive performance of the season by OBU.
- Terry Coner Jr. scored a team-high 17 points while Danie Ransom added 15 points and eight rebounds, tying his season-best.
- Plus, Nathan Wilson contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
- Wilson leads the GAC with 19 blocks and is second with 100 rebounds. The senior's block total is also 34th in the nation.
- The Bison's rebounding ability has been a key reason they are off to a good start. At plus 6.4, OBU leads the GAC and ranks 40th in the country.
- OBU has outrebounded nine of 11 opponents this year.
- Redshirt sophomore Ethan Scott continued his three-point barrage adding two more at SWOSU. He ranks third in D2 with a 55.7 percent mark while also checking in at No. 30 with 3.09 threes per game.
- Should the Bison win on Saturday, they'll be 9-3. The last time that happened was the 2020-21 season, when the program made the NCAA Tournament.
Rangers Notes
- Northwestern defeated East Central 77-67 on Dec. 19 and moved its record to 6-5 and 3-2 in the GAC.
- The win came at a cost though. Northwestern's leading scorer, Cam McDowell, who is fourth in the country in points (24.9), was ejected late in the game and will miss Saturday's contest.
- However, the Rangers do have another potent scorer: Max Alexander. His 23.3 average is 10th in the nation. Alexander also ranks 36th in assists (4.9).
- After McDowell and Alexander, the next highest scorer for Northwestern is Justin Norris (8.9).
- Northwestern's defense creates a lot of havoc. They force 16.09 turnovers per game. That's No. 1 in the GAC and 48th nationally.
- Aiding the Rangers defensively is Kabeya Tshibangu. His 11 blocks are eighth in the conference. He's also fifth in rebounding (6.8).
- Also of note, the Rangers are the top free throw shooting team in the country at 84.3 percent.
