8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8
Pickens-Springer Gymnasium | Bethany, Okla.
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University meets Southwestern Christian in what has typically been a nail-biting contest
• Oklahoma City looks to win 10th straight in the series between the two teams
• Oklahoma City enters looking to rebound from the last time out
ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City (8-3, 3-2 SAC) stumbled against USAO 70-55 on Jan. 5, in Chickasha, Okla., at USAO Fieldhouse
• Anthony Davis, a 6-7 junior from Lewisville, Texas, had team highs with 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. Davis averages 12.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
• Elijah Christman, a 6-5 senior from Justin, Texas, recorded 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. Christman is averaging 11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists
• The Stars sink 78.0 percent of their free throws to rate fifth in the NAIA, while Eric McCollum grabs 3.2 offensive rebounds per game to rank 12th 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
• OCU holds an 10-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Stars defeated Southwestern Christian 112-92 on Feb. 15 in Bethany, Okla. Ivan Saicic powered the Stars with 27 points and nine assists
ABOUT THE EAGLES
• Southwestern Christian picked up a road win against Mid-America Christian 61-58 on Saturday in Oklahoma City. The Eagles (8-4, 4-3 SAC) absorbed their second consecutive road loss
• Patrick White, a 6-4 senior, powered Southwestern Christian with 17 points, two assists and two steals on an 6-for-12 shooting effort from the field. White averages 11.9 points and 5.0 rebounds a game
• Southwestern Christian secures 15.54 offensive rebounds a game as a team to rank third among the NAIA
• League coaches placed Southwestern Christian at ninth in the preseason SAC poll
ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (68-34, 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
Jon Mack (28-20, second season with Southwestern Christian)
• Arrived at Southwestern Christian after guiding Valley Forge (Pa.) to a 287 victories in 17 years
• Took Valley Forge to 11 consecutive National Christian College Athletic Association Division II Tournament trips with national runner-up finishes in 2009, 2011 and 2012
• Four-time NCCAA Division II coach of the year
• Held position of athletic director for 13 years at Valley Forge
ON THE AIR
• Southwestern Christian will offer a live video broadcast on its YouTube channel as well as live stats via Dak Stats
• 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
