SHAWNEE – Two games come this week for the 20th-ranked Oklahoma Baptist men's basketball team. The first: a Thursday, Jan. 22 rivalry contest versus No. 18 Southern Nazarene. The second: Southwestern Oklahoma State on Jan. 24. Both games are slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip inside the Noble Complex.
Thursday's game with SNU, the 120th meeting in the long-standing series, will mark the first time in the D2 era that two ranked men's teams will have played at OBU's home confines.
Todd Miller and Dave Myrick will have the call on KGFF and the Bison Sports Network.
Bison Notes
- OBU is 14-2 overall, its best start through 16 games since the 2012-13 season (15-1).
- The Bison are also in second place in the GAC with an 8-2 mark.
- Furthermore, the green and gold are ranked No. 20 in the latest NABC DII Top-25 poll. That is the fourth time this season the Bison have been ranked in that poll, the most in school history.
- Terry Coner Jr. is putting together a conference player-of-the-year-type season. He ranks top-10 in the GAC in 12 different categories, most notably scoring (2nd; 20.3).
- The Birmingham, Ala., native's points per game average is the best among any Bison player since OBU joined D2 in 2016-17.
- One of the main reasons for the Bison's success: valuing the ball. OBU's best national mark (17th) is turnovers per game where they only commit 10.6 per contest.
- Also of note, they boast top-50 marks in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.29) and rebounding margin (5.7).
Crimson Storm Notes
- Last week, SNU (13-3) won in triple overtime at Henderson State before falling at Ouachita.
- SNU's defense is its strength. They rank 32nd nationally giving up 67.3 points per game.
- Their offense, though, has had trouble spots. In fact, in last game's loss at Ouachita, SNU was outscored 50-33 after halftime.
- During this season, the Crimson Storm rank seventh in the GAC in three-point percentage (31.3), sixth in field-goal percentage (45.3) and eighth in threes per game (6.3).
- One offensive bright spot: SNU is second in free throw percentage (76.5).
- Individually, Baron Bracey is the GAC leader with six double-doubles. He's also second in rebounds per game (8.2) and fifth in scoring (15.4).
- Tracey Godfrey Jr. is another competent rebounder. His 3.63 offensive boards per game rank him first in the GAC.
Bulldogs Notes
- SWOSU is 6-10 this year after a 74-62 road win at Arkansas-Monticello.
- Earlier this season, the Bison defeated the Bulldogs 78-74.
- A couple things defensively jump out about Southwestern. They rank 43rd in the country in scoring defense (68.7) and three-point percentage defense (30.3).
- As for the Bulldogs offense, they rank 268th (of 289 D2 teams) in scoring (68.3) and 236th in three-point percentage (31.2).
- Ty Frierson leads Southwestern in scoring (12.5) and also ranks fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.08) and third in steals (29).
- Kray Rogers is slotted third in defensive rebounds per game (5.0) while Kayden Carter has 14 blocks, a top-10 GAC mark.
