Men's Basketball | 11/8/2018 5:27:00 PM
6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9
Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University squares off with Northern New Mexico in the Mid-America Christian Classic
• The game will take place on the campus of Mid-America Christian
ABOUT THE STARS
• Six Stars reached double figures in scoring in a 97-58 romp on Wednesday night at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (2-1) led from the 16:46 mark of the first half on
• Chris Williams, a 6-foot-2 senior from Denver, ignited the Stars with 23 points, three rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes. He shot 6-for-10 from the floor and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. Williams provides OCU with 22.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.33 steals while shooting 50 percent from 3-point range
• Eric Wattree, a 6-3 junior from Port Orchard, Wash., chipped in 16 points and 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Wattree supplies the Stars with 9.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest
• OCU ranks 18th in NAIA Division I with 14.3 offensive rebounds a game. See how OCU compares with the rest of the NAIA statistically this season here
• OCU has been slotted at No. 5 in the preseason NAIA Division I rankings. Oklahoma City has made 24 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 first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches poll. OCU owns 13 SAC regular-season titles and nine SAC Tournament crowns
• Oklahoma City sank Northern New Mexico 95-86 on Nov. 8, 2017 at the Gaulke Activity Center. Elijah Christman had 11 points and four rebounds
ABOUT THE EAGLES
• Northern New Mexico derailed Fort Lewis (Colo.) 76-61 on Nov. 2 in Espanola, N.M. Northern New Mexico improved to 3-0 this season
• Naquwan Solomon, a 6-4 junior, had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Solomon averages 17.3 points and 8.0 rebounds a game
• The Eagles top NAIA Division II with 36.0 assists a game and a 2.92-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio
ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (62-32, fourth season with OCU)
• Patel has guided three OCU all-Americans, including the Stars' first first-teamer since 2008, 2017 Sooner Athletic Conference player of the year, the 2017 and 2018 SAC co-defensive player of the year, a finalist for the Dark Horse Dunker competition, 11 all-conference performers and four academic all-SAC choices. He is the 2018 John Hudson SAC coach of the year
• 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
Ryan Cordova (81-128, eighth season with Northern New Mexico)
• Cordova was named 2015 Association of Independent Institutions' Coach of the Year after guiding his team to a 19-12 record
• In 2000 he worked for the New Mexico Slam, a Semi-Professional basketball team playing in the IBL. While at the Slam, he worked alongside coaches like John Whisenant, the former WNBA General Manager/Head Coach; as well as Rob Robbins, former UNM Lobo and Denver Nugget.
• Cordova also works as athletic director at Northern New Mexico College, and has kept the Eagles as a Champions of Character 5 Star Institution for six consecutive years
ON THE AIR
• Follow the game via live stats
