SHAWNEE – The end of the regular season is here for No. 7 Oklahoma Baptist (24-2, 18-2 GAC) as it prepares for two games this week.
On Feb. 26 at 7:30, OBU travels to Northwestern before a Saturday, Feb. 28 versus East Central in Shawnee. That latter contest is also slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
The Bison have previously beaten the Rangers, 85-77, in early January. As for the ECU matchup, the team from Ada is the last to beat OBU, winning 91-76 on Dec. 18. Todd Miller and Dave Myrick will be on the call on KGFF. Below are notes on the teams.
For the Bison:
The team's 15-game winning streak is the fourth-longest in D2 and most for the program since 2011-12.
OBU's defensive and rebounding ability cannot be understated. They boast top-27 NCAA marks in field-goal and three-point percentage defense. The Bison also lead the GAC in rebounds per game (38.19) and are second in defensive boards (25.08).
GAC Defensive Player of the Week
Christian Hodge is a big reason why. The freshman is the only player in the conference to rank in the top three in steals (1.9) and blocks (1.1).
As for rebounding,
Erik Madrid ranks eighth in the GAC (5.8) while
Joshua Udoumoh sits in 16th (5.2).
Scoring wise,
Terry Coner Jr., is second in scoring at 20.3 points. He's only been held under 10 points once this season (vs. ECU - 12/18). Also, Coner Jr., became the 66th player in school history to notch at least 500 points in a season after his performances last week.
Should the Bison win at home against ECU, they'll have completed just the 10th undefeated home slate in school history. They are currently 12-0 at the Noble Complex.
For the Rangers:
Northwestern is 11-15 this season with an 8-12 conference mark. They currently sit in a tie for sixth place with SWOSU in the standings.
Eight of their 11 wins have come inside Percefull Fieldhouse.
NWOSU's best trait is forcing turnovers. They rank 27th in Division II in that category (16.0).
Offensively, the Rangers are seventh in the GAC in scoring (71.2) and 11th in effective field goal percentage (48.5).
As for defense and rebounding, they are near the bottom in the GAC. NWOSU's 30.77 rebounds per game is slotted 11th while they give up the 11th-most points per game (75.6).
Individually, Max Alexander is the key for the Rangers. He leads the GAC and is fifth nationally in points per game (23.0). He's also second in free throw attempts (185). Cam'Ron Brown is second in steals (1.92).
For the Tigers:
ECU is 14-12 this season, 9-11 in GAC play and sit in fifth in the conference standings.
Most recently, the Tigers won 64-61 over Arkansas Tech on Feb. 21. That was their third win in the last four games.
As mentioned above, ECU was the last team to beat the Bison. In that Dec. 18 game, they scored 91 points, their third-highest total of the year.
Their best marks include three-point percentage defense (34th; 30.7) and 46th nationally in scoring defense (68.7). As for GAC statistical rankings, ECU shoots 48 percent from the field. That's No. 1.
Rustin Coffey leads the Tigers in scoring (13.6) while Jaden Miller averages 10.9 points and is the GAC leader with 204 assists.
Defensively, Race Herr is fourth in blocks (27).
