Ivan Saicic had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Wednesday's loss to Randall.

Men's Basketball 12/1/2017 2:12:00 PM

OCU at Mid-America Christian men’s basketball preview

Stars look to bounce back after first loss of season

5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2
Gaulke Activity Center | Oklahoma City

STATS | WATCH

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University, ranked 12th in NAIA Division I men's basketball, opens Sooner Athletic Conference play with a road matchup against 22nd-ranked Mid-America Christian
• OCU leads the all-time series between the two programs 17-9
• Stars' head coach Vinay Patel is 2-0 in SAC season openers

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City University (6-1) suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday, falling to Randall 116-13 in overtime at the Randall Activities Center. Despite the loss, the Stars shot 54.4 percent from the floor and outrebounded Randall 42-38
• Terence Bonhomme, a 6-foot senior from St. Martinville, La., produced a team-high 26 points, grabbed five rebounds and collected three steals against Randall. He surpassed the 1,000-point mark on Wednesday with 1,004 points in his OCU career
• Ivan Saicic, a 6-7 senior from Belgrade, Serbia, had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on Wednesday. He averages 10.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Stars
• OCU ranks seventh in NAIA Division I men's basketball in points per game (99.4), ninth in overall field goal percentage (51.8) and 16th in free-throw percentage (73.5)
• OCU has been slotted at No. 12 in the preseason NAIA Division I rankings. Oklahoma City has made 23 NAIA Division I Tournament appearances and won six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008
• The Stars have been picked to finish second place in the Sooner Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches poll. OCU owns 12 SAC regular-season titles and nine SAC Tournament crowns
• Oklahoma City last squared off against Mid-America Christian in the final game of the 2016-17 regular season, falling to the Evangels 73-65 on Feb. 25 at the Gaulke Activity Center. The Stars were held to just 36.9 percent from the floor and 25.0 percent from beyond the arc

ABOUT THE EVANGELS
• Mid-America Christian (6-2, 1-0 SAC) opened conference play with an 83-76 victory over Central Christian (Kan.) on Thursday at the Gaulke Activity Center. The Evangels scored 21 points off turnovers and had five players score double-digits
• Jordan Rhodes, a 6-9 senior from Fountain, Colo., scored 17 points, snagged five boards and had one block in Wednesday's win over Central Christian. He averages 15.1 points and ranks second in NAIA Division I in 3-point percentage, shooting 70.6 percent from deep
• Among the NAIA Division I, Mid-America Christian ranks fifth in free-throw percentage (75.9), ninth in field-goal percentage defense (37.1), 10th in 3-point field goals made per game (10.5) and 11th in 3-point field goal percentage (41.4)
• The Evangels were picked to finish third in the SAC preseason coaches poll

MEET THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (42-23, third season with OCU)
• Patel has guided two OCU all-Americans, including the Stars' first first-teamer since 2008; the 2017 Sooner Athletic Conference player of the year, the 2017 SAC co-defensive player of the year, a finalist for the Dark Horse Dunker competition, six all-conference performers and three academic all-SAC choices
• Before coming to OCU, he spent one season as Rogers State's assistant coach and aided the Hillcats to a 20-8 season led by the conference player of the year
• Patel spent nine years as assistant before serving as the head coach 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

Josh Gamblin (50-27, third season with MACU)
• In his first season with Mid-America Christian, Gamblin took the Evangels to their first ever NAIA National Championship, defeating No. 1-ranked Georgetown (Ky.) 100-99 in overtime. He became the youngest coach (27 years old) in college basketball history to win a national championship at a four-year institution
• Gamblin was named 2015-16 Rawlings-NAIA Division I coach of the year and also has received the Dr. James Naismith-Emil S. Liston Sports Award
• He joined MACU after a tenure at the University of Oklahoma, where Gamblin was a graduate assistant under head coach Lon Kruger

ON THE AIR
• Follow along Saturday's action via live stats or watch the game live here. Alex Freedman will provide the play-by-play

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Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme: G; 6' 0"; Senior

#24 Ivan Saicic: F; 6' 7"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

#24 Ivan Saicic
: 6' 7"; Senior
: F

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme

#24 Ivan Saicic

Players Mentioned

#5 Terence Bonhomme

#24 Ivan Saicic