OCU at Langston men's basketball preview

Stars look to even up the season series on the road

4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26
C. Felton Gayles Fieldhouse | Langston, Okla.

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City looks to upend Langston, ranked among the NAIA's top 10, on the road

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City University rallied past Central Christian (Kan.) 79-69 on Thursday night at Abe Lemons Arena. Chris Williams buried a 3-pointer to put the Stars (11-6, 6-5 Sooner Athletic Conference on top for good with 1:35 remaining
• Williams, a 6-foot-2 senior from Denver, posted 17 points, shooting 4-for-5 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He accumulates 18.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.50 steals per game
• Elijah Christman, a 6-5 senior from Justin, Texas, pushed OCU with 18 points and five rebounds while sinking all six of his field-goal tries and each of his four 3-point attempts. Christman averages 10.9 points and 6.0 rebounds a contest
• The Stars knock in 76.6 percent of their free-throw attempts to rate fifth in NAIA Division I. Compare OCU with the rest of the NAIA statistically this season here
• 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 leads the all-time record against Langston 21-5. OCU dropped a 93-84 contest to Langston on Nov. 29, 2019. Williams topped the Stars with 23 points, four rebounds and two steals

ABOUT THE LIONS
• Langston stomped Southwestern Christian 100-59 on Thursday night in Bethany, Okla. Offensively, the Lions (16-4, 8-3 SAC) knocked down 61 percent from the field overall, 10-of-22 from 3-point range and forced 29 turnovers on the night
• Malik Young, a 6-1 senior, collected 18 points, four rebounds and a steal. Young averages 10.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.00 steal per game
• Jerami Grace, 6-3 senior, tallied 14 points, four assists, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Grace chips in 8.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest
• The Lions went to eighth in the most recent NAIA Division I rankings
• Langston was chosen sixth in the preseason SAC coaches poll

ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (71-37, 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. His overall coaching mark stands at 77-51 in five years

Stan Holt (101-44, fifth season with Langston)
• Langston has posted three consecutive 20-win seasons and NAIA Division I Tournament appearances under Holt
• Guided Langston to the 2017 NAIA Division I Tournament quarterfinals
• Directed the Lions to the 2016 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 25-7 mark

ON THE AIR
• Oklahoma City University will carry live and on-demand audio of the contest on OCU's Stretch portal
• Andrew Himes provides the play-by-play. Himes enters his eighth season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 11 years starting on color commentary as an OCU student
• Follow along Saturday's game via live stats

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Players Mentioned

#10 Elijah Christman: F; 6' 5"; Senior

#2 Chris Williams: G; 6' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#10 Elijah Christman
: 6' 5"; Senior
: F

#2 Chris Williams
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

Players Mentioned

#10 Elijah Christman

#2 Chris Williams

Players Mentioned

#10 Elijah Christman

#2 Chris Williams