8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University returns home to play Wayland Baptist (Texas), who trail the Stars by one game in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball standings.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, while OCU students, faculty and staff are allowed into all regular-season OCU athletics events for free with their ID. If the Stars score 70 points, fans will get a prize from Raising Cane's. For the OCU athletics visitors guide, click here.
ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City erased a first-half deficit and stormed back to defeat USAO 89-82 on Jan. 23 in Chickasha, Okla. The Stars (8-6, 5-3 SAC) have trailed at halftime for five consecutive games.
Noel Allen, a 6-foot-6 senior from Guttenberg, N.J., notched his second double-double in as many games with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while adding a block and two assists. On the season, Allen averages 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds a game but he has posted 11.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest in seven January games. Allen became SAC player of the week for Jan. 18-24. Dorion Gigger, a 6-5 junior from Oklahoma City, also recorded a double-double with 16 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Gigger leads OCU with 8.8 rebounds a game, while adding 10.9 points per game. Lou Dunbar, a 6-3 sophomore from Seabrook, Texas, tallied 18 points, three steals, three rebounds and an assist. Dunbar supplies the Stars with 11.1 points a game with a 41.3 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.OCU gathers 34.1 defensive rebounds to rank 19th in NAIA Division I led by Gigger's 6.2 per game, which ranks 15th. To see how OCU ranks statistically in the NAIA, click here.
The Stars have been slotted to take sixth in the SAC according to the preseason coaches poll. Oklahoma City has won or shared the SAC regular-season championship 12 times, most recently in 2007-08. Oklahoma City owns six NAIA national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
OCU owns a 41-13 advantage in the all-time series against Wayland Baptist. Last season, the two teams split the regular-season series, however the Pioneers knocked the Stars out of the SAC Tournament in the semifinals 77-62 on March 6, 2015 at Abe Lemons Arena. ABOUT THE PIONEERS: Wayland Baptist fended off 16th-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) 76-75 on Jan. 23 in Waxahachie, Texas. Maurice Redmond scored with 1:53 left to provide the winning points for WBU (12-7, 4-4 SAC).
Jordan Johnson, a 6-3 senior, led the Pioneers with 16 points and nine rebounds. Johnson provides WBU with 11.9 points and 6.6 rebounds a game. Redmond, a 6-3 junior, contributed 15 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists. Redmond registers 14.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals a game.
The Pioneers are the top team among NAIA schools in steals per game (11.10) and fourth in scoring offense per game (94.1). In the SAC preseason poll, Wayland Baptist was projected to finish tied with Mid-American Christian in second place.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Vinay Patel embarks on his first season as OCU head coach. He came to Oklahoma City after spending one season as Rogers State's assistant coach. He aided Rogers State to a 20-8 season led by conference player of the year Frederico Santos. Patel spent nine years as assistant at West Texas A&M. During that time, West Texas went to the NCAA Division II Tournament five times, won the Lone Star Conference championship and took two Lone Star South Division titles. He elevated to the interim head-coaching position before he ended his time at West Texas A&M.
Ty Harrelson is in his first season as the Pioneers men's head basketball coach. The Wayland Baptist alum graduated in 2003 and has spent the last 12 years playing and coaching abroad. Most recently, he helped guide the South West Slammers, a semi-professional Australian basketball team, to the playoffs as a player-head coach while averaging a triple-double.
FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest from OCU athletics through several ways.
Check out OCU athletics on several social media platforms by looking up the handle @ocustars. The Stars are on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and new for 2015-16, Instagram.
Fans can sign up to receive the latest OCU athletic headlines via e-mail by going here.
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.
ON THE AIR: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. Follow the game via live audio, stats and video by visiting OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Cost to watch the game is $7.95 per game, $29.95 to see all 2015-16 home games and $79.95 to watch all of OCU's action in every sport in 2015-16.
Andrew Himes calls the action. Himes, in his fifth season as the voice of the Stars, has been broadcasting OCU games for eight years starting on color commentary as an OCU student.
