Ivan Saicic scored five points, six rebounds and one block against Midwestern State (Texas).

Men's Basketball 11/14/2017 10:38:00 PM

Midwestern State knocks off OCU 85-56 in exhibition

Stars assist on 15 of 18 field goals in Tuesday’s contest

Box Score WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Oklahoma City University fell to NCAA Division II Midwestern State (Texas) 85-56 in an exhibition Tuesday at the D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
Samuel Williams, a senior from Reno, Nev., led the Stars with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists. Williams, the reigning Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball player of the week, entered Tuesday's contest averaging 19.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
OCU went toe-to-toe with the Mustangs early in the first half, jumping to a four-point lead and holding onto the lead for nearly two minutes. Midwestern State, picked to finish fourth in the annual preseason Lone Star Conference poll, responded with a quick 7-0 run and eventually built its lead to 39 points late in the second half.
"There is a lot for us to learn in a game like that," OCU head coach Vinay Patel said. "The good thing is that Midwestern State exposed a lot of our weaknesses and now we have some time in our schedule to go back and clean up some things. I was proud that our guys continued to battle until the final horn, and am excited to get back into practice this week and start improving."
While Midwestern State held the Stars to just 30.5 percent shooting from the field, 27.8 percent from behind the arc and outrebounded OCU by 14, Patel believes there were still some positive takeaways from Tuesday's exhibition.
"A bright spot in these back to back games has been the play of Mark Howell," Patel said. "We knew it would take some time to get him going, but he continues to improve for us. Hopefully we can get our team healed up from some minor injuries and get ready to take the floor again soon."
Howell, a 5-11 junior from Grand Prairie, Texas, had eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals against the Mustangs. In Monday's 102-89 win over Randall, Howell dished eight assists and had just one turnover.
The Stars assisted on 15 of their 18 made baskets on Tuesday, snagged 15 offensive rebounds and turned those rebounds into five second-chance points. OCU also forced the Mustangs into 17 turnovers and held them to 31.8 percent from 3-point range.
Oklahoma City returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday for an exhibition against NCAA Division II Texas A&M Commerce at the A&M Commerce Field House.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Mark Howell: G; 5' 11"; Junior

#23 Samuel Williams: F; 6' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#4 Mark Howell
: 5' 11"; Junior
: G

#23 Samuel Williams
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F

Players Mentioned

#4 Mark Howell

#23 Samuel Williams

Players Mentioned

#4 Mark Howell

#23 Samuel Williams