OCU at Bacone men's basketball preview

Stars aim to get above .500 in away games this season

Lou Dunbar ranks eighth in the NAIA with 3.09 treys per game this season.

Men's Basketball | 2/10/2017 1:37:00 PM

5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11
Palmer Center Gym in Muskogee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City makes a trip to Muskogee, Okla., for a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup with Bacone.

ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City edged John Brown (Ark.) 76-72 on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena in Oklahoma City. The Stars (17-6, 8-5 SAC) remained in a tie for second place in the conference.
Xavier Smith, a 6-foot-9 senior from Richardson, Texas, produced his 12th double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds as well as five blocked shots. He is averaging 15.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.52 blocks per contest, which is second in the NAIA.
Tyler Alderman, a 6-9 senior out of Fisher, Ind., scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots. Alderman averages 11.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.13 rejections a game. Lou Dunbar, a 6-3 junior from Seabrook, Texas, had nine points and a team-leading four assists while going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Dunbar leads OCU with 15.9 points as well as 2.8 rebounds per game. He ranks eighth in the NAIA with 3.1 made 3-pointers per game.
OCU stands second in the NAIA in blocks per game (5.39) and third in total blocks (124). To see how the Stars compare to the rest of the NAIA statistically, click here.
The Stars stood at No. 18 in the latest NAIA Division I poll. The Stars have been picked to take second in the SAC according to the preseason coaches' poll. Oklahoma City owns six NAIA national championships won in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008.
The Stars have a 3-0 edge in the all-time series. OCU trampled the Warriors 86-63 earlier this season on Jan. 28 at Abe Lemons Arena. Dunbar led all scorers with 26 points.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS: Bacone fell to St. Gregory's 78-62 on Thursday in Shawnee, Okla. The Warriors (14-8, 6-4 SAC) never led in the game and trailed by as many as 18 in the second half.
Brandon Scott, a 6-6 senior, had 16 points, seven rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot in the loss. He averaging 12.0, 4.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.78 steals per game. Brandon Chatman, a 6-foot senior, provided 12 points, three rebounds and three assists. He is the leading scorer for Bacone, averaging 12.1 points as well as 2.79 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.21 steals per contest.
Bacone currently ranks 21st in Division I with 8.39 steals per game. The Warriors were expected to finish last in the 10-team SAC.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Vinay Patel is in his second season as OCU head coach. In his first year, Oklahoma City finished 15-11 and tied for second in the Sooner Athletic conference. 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 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.
Alan Foster has directed Bacone to a 283-381 record in his 17th season at the helm. 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.

QUOTABLE: "Bacone is a scary opponent. [Southwestern Assemblies of God] just went over there and got beat, and Bacone did a great job against us last game in the first half. They're very athletic, and their post players can cause us some problems because of how athletic they are. Any time you play on the road in this league, it's going to be tough." – Patel on the matchup with Bacone

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, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Receive the latest OCU athletic headlines via e-mail by going here.
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. Listen to the game live by visiting OCU's Stretch portal here. Andrew Himes provides the commentary. 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.

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Players Mentioned

#22 Lou Dunbar: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#4 Tyler Alderman: C; 6' 9"; Senior

#11 Xavier Smith: C; 6' 9"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#22 Lou Dunbar
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#4 Tyler Alderman
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C

#11 Xavier Smith
: 6' 9"; Senior
: C

Players Mentioned

#22 Lou Dunbar

#4 Tyler Alderman

#11 Xavier Smith

Players Mentioned

#22 Lou Dunbar

#4 Tyler Alderman

#11 Xavier Smith