4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 5
USAO Fieldhouse | Chickasha, Okla.
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University hits the road for the first time in 2019 against Sooner Athletic Conference foe USAO
• The Stars' contest against Mid-America Christian originally set for Thursday has been rescheduled for Jan. 29 at Abe Lemons Arena
• USAO's game vs. Southwestern Christian originally scheduled for Thursday has been moved to Jan. 22 in Bethany, Okla.
ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City (8-2, 3-1 SAC) overpowered Bacone 97-71 on Dec. 15 at Abe Lemons Arena to end the 2018 part of the schedule
• Trae Bryant, a 6-1 Junior from Wilmington, N.C., turned in a career-high 23 points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block. Bryant is averaging 11.7 points and 2.9 assists
• Anthony Davis, a 6-7 junior from Lewisville, Texas, notched his best game of the season with 17 points and 163 rebounds. Davis averages 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
• The Stars sink 78.4 percent of their free throws to rate fifth in the NAIA, while Eric McCollum grabs 3.5 offensive rebounds per game to rank fourth nationally. To see where OCU ranks among the NAIA Division I statistical leaders, click here
• OCU went to 12th in the newest NAIA top 25. 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 defeated USAO 114-108 on Feb. 1, 2018 in Chickasha. The Stars were led by Terence Bonhomme who had 28 points, four rebounds. and four assists. OCU leads the all-time series between the two programs 38-20
ABOUT THE DROVERS
• USAO (8-2, 2-1 SAC) topped Texas Wesleyan 94-81 at home on Dec. 13 in Chickasha, Okla.
• Clay Long, a 6-0 junior, set a career highs shooting 8-of-11 from 3-point land and scoring 27 points. Long is averaging 6.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and shoots 42.5 percent from beyond the arc per game
• Dedrian Parmer, a 6-6 sophomore, logged 22 points, seven rebounds, two steals, a block and an assist in the victory. Parmer produces 10.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest
• USAO is sixth in the NAIA grabbing 33.2 defensive rebounds a contest
• USAO was picked to finish in fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches poll.
ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (68-33, 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
Chris Francis (56-39, fourth season with USAO)
• Francis spent a year as an assistant coach at LSU Shreveport, a Red River Athletic Conference school with a reputation for high-quality basketball, before coming to USAO. In the year he was there, the Pilots made an appearance in the semi-finals of the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship in Kansas City, Mo.
• Francis started his collegiate coaching career as a student assistant at Rogers State University in 2011-12 as the Hillcats made an appearance in the quarterfinals at the NAIA Division I Tournament
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
• USAO provides live video of its contests on its YouTube channel
