8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11
Abe Lemons Arena
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University opens a two-game homestand against Sooner Athletic Conference foe Northwestern Oklahoma State inside Abe Lemons Arena.
OCU will recognize 2009 NAIA baseball player of the year Brent Weaver prior to the game. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students. Admission is free for all OCU athletic events to OCU faculty, staff and students with their ID.
ABOUT THE STARS: No. 6 Southern Nazarene outlasted OCU 70-61 on Monday in Bethany, Okla. The Stars (11-7, 9-6 SAC) trailed 60-59 with 1:28 remaining before Southern Nazarene scored eight consecutive points to put the game away. OCU struggled from the free-throw line, making just 12 of 22 for the game.
Chris Brown, a 6-foot senior from Spencer, Okla., led the Stars with 19 points. Brown averages a team-high 17.6 points a game.
Kavon Lytch, a 6-7 junior from Brooklyn, N.Y., recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Lytch averages 14.0 points and 8.3 rebounds on the season. Jerome Phillips, a 6-5 senior from Chickasha, Okla., added 10 points and seven rebounds.
OCU ranks sixth in NAIA Division I with 5.06 blocks per game. Bryant Williams, a 6-9 junior from Austin, Texas, leads the SAC and ranks sixth nationally with 2.39 blocks per game.
OCU is ranked 20th in NAIA Division I. In the preseason, the Stars have been picked to finish sixth in the Sooner Athletic Conference. OCU has captured the SAC regular-season crown 13 times.
OCU has gone 39-23 all-time against Northwestern. The Stars defeated Northwestern 69-55 on Jan. 16 in Alva, Okla. Brown led OCU with 23 points, while Lytch had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
ABOUT THE RANGERS: Northwestern defeated USAO 69-55 on Saturday in Chickasha, Okla. Northwestern (10-12, 5-10 SAC) has now won two of its last three games.
The Rangers closed the game on a 20-6 run to put away USAO. Northwestern limited USAO to just 16 second-half points.
Brandon Dixon, a 6-7 senior, paced Northwestern with 19 points and seven rebounds. Dixon averages a team-high 16.5 points and 7.8 rebounds. Brandon Brown added 17 points. Brown, a 5-9 senior, is averaging 13.8 points.
Northwestern had been picked to finish seventh in the conference by league coaches in the preseason.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Kevin Morrissey enters his first full season as OCU head coach. Morrissey spent the previous four seasons as St. Gregory's coach. He also has been an assistant at Missouri State and Texas-Pan American. Morrissey played his college ball at Oklahoma Baptist and Oral Roberts and high school at Bishop McGuinness in Oklahoma City.
Andrew Brown is in his third season as Northwestern head coach. He has guided the Rangers to a 48-35 record. Prior to becoming head coach, Brown was an assistant to Bob Battisti for three seasons, helping the Rangers to the 2007 NAIA Division I Tournament quarterfinals.
FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
Become a fan of the Oklahoma City University Stars on Facebook by going to www.facebook.com/ocustars.
Become a follower of the OCU Stars on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ocustars.
Check out video of the Stars in action at www.youtube.com/oklahomacityuniver.
Listen to past game broadcasts and pregame and postgame interviews on the OCU pod center by clicking here.
Know when the game is happening and get scores and highlights following by calling the OCU athletics hotline at (405) 208-5400. Get conference results and highlights by calling the SAC Hotline at (405) 878-2110.
ON THE AIR: The game will broadcast via the OCU athletics web site. Andrew Himes will handle the play-by-play. Click here to listen to the broadcast, here for the live stats and here for details on the video stream.
