Men's Basketball 2/6/2013 3:17:00 PM

OCU at USAO men's basketball preview

Stars come off last-second win over Mid-America Christian

Jamil Donovan is second in NAIA Division I in assist/turnover ratio.

8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7
USAO Fieldhouse in Chickasha, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks for a fifth straight win in a road contest against Sooner Athletic Conference foe USAO.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU erased a 12-point second-half lead and nipped 25th-ranked Mid-America Christian 65-63 Tuesday at the Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City. The win was the fourth straight for the Stars and improved their record to 12-7 overall and 5-6 in SAC play.
Guard Terry Johnson led the Stars with 16 points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes of action. The 6-foot junior from Chicago went 7-for-8 at the charity strip and is ninth in NAIA Division I with a 0.85 free throw percentage. Johnson is second on the team with 15.2 point per game on 42 percent shooting from the floor.
Junior Kaleb Smith notched 14 points and scored the game-winning bucket against Mid-America Christian. The 6-foot-5 forward from Choctaw, Okla., posted his second straight double-digit point performance and fifth of the season. Smith averages 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per outing.
Charlton Jones, a senior from Katy, Texas, scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and passed out six assists in the 65-63 victory. The 6-foot-1 guard is ranked seventh in NAIA Division I in assists/turnover ratio (2.8) and eighth in assists per game (6.3). Jones is first on the team in assists (6.3), rebounds (5.4) and steals (1.42) per game.
The Stars are fifth in NAIA Division I in free throw percentage (0.74) while freshman guard Jamil Donovan is second in assist/turnover ratio (4.0). To see how OCU stacks up with the rest of the NAIA, click here.
The Stars were projected to finish fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference in the preseason. OCU owns six national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU leads the all-time series against USAO 31-15. The Stars edged the Drovers 76-70 on Jan. 5 at Abe Lemons Arena.

ABOUT THE DROVERS: USAO fell 72-56 to John Brown (Ark.) on Jan. 31 at Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Drovers enter the contest with an overall record of 11-7 and 4-6 record in SAC play.
Brandon Cutler paced the Drovers with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. The 6-foot-8 center averages 14.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Shavon Scott added eight points and five rebounds against the Golden Eagles. Scott averages 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.
Leading-scorer Norris Rumph was held to six points but snagged five rebounds and passed out four assists in the loss. Rumph leads USAO in points (15.3), assists (3.2) and steals (1.33) per game and is seventh in NAIA Division in 3-point field goal percentage (0.48).
The Drovers are 12th in NAIA Division I in assist/turnover ratio (1.1) and 21st in turnover margin (3.0). USAO was picked to finish sixth in SAC preseason coaches' poll.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Dionne Phelps has led the Stars to a 19-17 record in his second season as OCU coach. Phelps took over the Stars after serving as assistant coach for Oklahoma, which featured future No. 1 NBA Draft pick Blake Griffin during his tenure. Phelps has been a part of four conference title teams as well as three NCAA Tournament teams during his 23-year coaching career. Phelps played for Texas Lutheran, eventually joining the Bulldog Athletic Hall of Fame.
Brisco McPherson has guided USAO to a 303-327 record in 22 seasons and led the Drovers to the NAIA title in 2002. He picked up his 300th win Thursday against Rogers State. McPherson also serves at USAO's athletic director.

QUOTABLE: “He doesn't score a lot of points, but I tell you what, for a freshman like Jamil Donovan going out there, I thought he changed the tempo of the game by getting up the pressure. A couple of times I think I kept him in there too long, but he's a fighter. He did a great job, too.” – Phelps on Donovan

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/ocustars.
Be sure to catch the OCU Athletics Update video program weekly on ocusports.com, the OCU YouTube Channel or on OCU Athletics' Facebook page. Click here to see the latest edition or see our video channel in the upper right-hand corner of our home page.
Know when the game is happening by calling the OCU athletics hotline at (405) 208-5400. Get conference scores and highlights by calling the SAC Hotline at (405) 878-2110.

ON THE AIR: USAO will provide live stats for the game. To follow via live stats, click here.
OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. To access the live audio for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Andrew Himes will provide the play-by-play of the game.

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