OCU at Wayland Baptist men's basketball preview

Stars take 2-2 record against ranked teams this season into game

Eric McCollum contributed 12 points and eight rebounds Thursday night.

Men's Basketball | 2/15/2019 5:30:00 PM

4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16
Hutcherson Center | Plainview, Texas

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University faces Wayland Baptist (Texas) in a showdown of top 20-ranked teams in NAIA Division I men's basketball
• Wayland Baptist enters the game at ninth, while OCU is 18th in the last national rankings
• Wayland Baptist secured a share of the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season championship for the first time

ABOUT THE STARS
• Panhandle State dealt Oklahoma City a 92-70 loss Thursday night in Goodwell, Okla. The Stars (17-8, 12-7 SAC) last lost 63-61 to Langston on Jan. 26 in Langston, Okla.
• Joe Clarke, a 6-foot-3 senior from New Rochelle, N.Y., provided OCU with 15 points and four steals. Clarke had his third consecutive double-digit scoring performance. He picks up 10.6 points and 1.15 thefts per game
• Mark Howell, a 5-11 senior from Grand Prairie, Texas, tallied 14 points while shooting 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Howell scored in double figures for the ninth time this season. Howell contributes 8.3 points, 4.4 assists and 1.40 steals per contest. He ranks second in the SAC in assists per game
• The Stars rates fourth in the NAIA with 78.4 percent shooting from the foul line. Compare OCU with the rest of the NAIA statistically this season here
• OCU returned to the NAIA Top 25 at No. 18. 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's rally fell short in a 76-75 setback to Wayland Baptist on Jan. 10 at Abe Lemons Arena. Howell hit a 3 as time ran out. Oklahoma City holds a 44-19 advantage over Wayland Baptist over the years

ABOUT THE PIONEERS
• Wayland Baptist posted a landmark 85-61 win over Southwestern Christian on Thursday in Plainview, Texas. Wayland Baptist (21-6, 16-3 SAC) holds a three-game lead in the SAC standings with three games to go
• Josh Throns, a 6-5 senior, posted a season-high 28 points and six 3-pointers. Throns chips in 12.4 points and 3.0 rebounds a game while shooting 46.1 percent from 3-point range
• The Pioneers haul down 30.1 defensive rebounds a game to rank fifth nationally
• Wayland Baptist was ticketed to finish fourth in the SAC before the season

ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (77-39, 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 83-53 in five years

Ty Harrelson (85-41, fourth season with Wayland Baptist)
• Brought Wayland Baptist to the NAIA Division I Tournament quarterfinals for the second time ever last season and first time since 1985
• Became an all-American during his playing career at Wayland from 2001-03 and holds multiple school records
• Played and coached professional basketball the past 12 years, most recently in Australia, prior to returning to Texas

ON THE AIR
• Watch the game live or follow the game via live stats

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#4 Mark Howell: G; 5' 11"; Senior

#11 Joe Clarke: G; 6' 3"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#4 Mark Howell
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

#11 Joe Clarke
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

Players Mentioned

#4 Mark Howell

#11 Joe Clarke

Players Mentioned

#4 Mark Howell

#11 Joe Clarke