OCU at Bacone men’s basketball preview

Stars look for third straight victory

5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16
Palmer Center Gym in Muskogee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University aims to extend its winning streak to three games with a victory against Bacone on Saturday
• The Stars own a 4-0 advantage in the all-time series between the two programs
• OCU won the last two matchups by an average of 13.0 points

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City (8-2, 2-1 SAC), ranked 23rd in NAIA Division I men's basketball, comes off a 103-95 overtime victory over at John Brown (Ark.) on Saturday. The Stars outscored the Golden Eagles 18-10 in overtime to secure their second win in conference play
• Ridell Camidge, a 6-foot-4 senior from Wilmington, N.C., scored a season-high 42 points in Saturday's win over John Brown, finishing 14-of-22 from the field and knocking down seven treys in the win. For the week of Dec. 4-10, Camidge averaged 30.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game, earning himself SAC player of the week and NAIA national player of the week honors
• Samuel Williams, a 6-foot-8 senior from Reno, Nev., added 27 points and 12 rebounds against the Golden Eagles, his second double-double of the season. Williams ranks 12th in NAIA Division I in offensive rebounds per game with 3.5
• Ivan Saicic, a 6-foot-7 senior from Belgrade, Serbia, tallied eight points and 11 rebounds for the Stars on Saturday. Saicic averages 8.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per contest
• Oklahoma City's offense remains one of the best in the country, as the Stars have posted five games of 100 or more points. OCU ranks ninth in NAIA Division I with an average of 96.1 points per game and 11th in free-throw percentage with a 74.2 percent clip
• The Stars went to 23rd in the latest NAIA Division I top 25 poll. 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
• OCU most recently knocked off Bacone 72-69 on Feb. 11 in Muskogee, Okla. The Stars fell behind by as many as nine points in the second half, but closed the game on an 8-1 run, including a go-ahead alley-oop from Xavier Smith with 12 seconds left

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
• Bacone (2-6, 0-2 SAC) snapped its five-game losing streak with a 103-90 victory over Paul Quinn (Texas) on Tuesday at the Palmer Center Gym. The Warriors outscored Paul Quinn by 15 in the second half and outrebounded their opponent by 10 in the win
• Kevin Pritchett, a 6-foot-3 senior from Los Angeles, leads Bacone with 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. He scored 10 points in 18 minutes against Paul Quinn, and his 8.6 rebounds per game average ranks 23rd in NAIA Division I
• Mauris Hopkins, a 6-foot-5 senior from Chicago, produces 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Against Paul Quinn, Hopkins went for 14 points, 12 boards and eight assists
• Bacone ranks 22nd in NAIA Division I in blocks per game with 3.75 and 33rd in total rebound defense with 34.9
• The Warriors were picked to finish 12th in the SAC according to the preseason coaches poll

MEET THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (44-24, 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

Alan Foster (286-391, 18th season with Bacone)
• Foster, also the Bacone athletic director, became 2004 Red River Athletic Conference coach of the year and guided Bacone to its only NAIA Tournament appearance in 2010

ON THE AIR
• Bacone provides live video of its contests on its YouTube channel
• Oklahoma City University will carry live and on-demand audio of the contest on OCU's Stretch portal
• Andrew Himes describes the play-by-play. Himes enters his seventh season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 10 years starting on color commentary as an OCU student
• Fans can access regular-season broadcasts from NAIA institutions as well as from NAIA Championships postseason contests via Stretch Internet through custom apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Users can search for "NAIA" on the app interfaces on any compatible device, and then download the free NAIA Network app

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#3 Ridell Camidge: F; 6' 4"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#3 Ridell Camidge
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F

Players Mentioned

#24 Ivan Saicic

#23 Samuel Williams

#3 Ridell Camidge

Players Mentioned

#24 Ivan Saicic

#23 Samuel Williams

#3 Ridell Camidge