Chris Williams posted his fifth performance this season with 25 or more points Saturday.

Men's Basketball 2/20/2019 5:54:00 PM

OCU vs. USAO men's basketball preview

Stars recognize six seniors in final home game of regular season

7:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21
Abe Lemons Arena inside Freede Center

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University looks to gain a favorable position in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings with a victory over USAO
• Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and OCU students, faculty and staff get into all regular-season OCU home athletics events free with their ID
• When the Stars score 70 points, fans get a 2-for-1 combo coupon for Raising Cane's
• The Stars is tied for fourth place in the SAC standings

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City took an 86-74 loss to Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Saturday in Plainview, Texas. The Stars (17-9, 12-8 SAC) shot a season-low 59.3 percent from the free-throw line
• Chris Williams, a 6-foot-2 senior from Denver, collected 28 points, four assists and four steals while hitting 4-for-11 from beyond the 3-point line in a non-starting role for the first time this season. He has produced 19.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.54 steals per game. His 86.8 percent free-throw shooting ranks fifth nationally
• Eric Wattree, a 6-3 junior from Spokane, Wash., supplied OCU with season highs in scoring (17 points), assists (four) and treys (five). Wattree shot 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Wattree contributes 8.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists a game
• The Stars connect on 77.6 percent of their free throws to rank fifth in the NAIA, while Elijah Christman hits 51.5 percent of his 3-point tries to rank fourth nationally. To see where OCU ranks among the NAIA Division I statistical leaders, click 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 holds a 38-21 advantage in the all-time series. USAO dealt the Stars a 70-55 setback Jan. 5 in Chickasha, Okla. Anthony Davis had 11 points, 12 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals

ABOUT THE DROVERS
• USAO edged 23rd-ranked John Brown (Ark.) 72-71 on Saturday in Siloam Springs, Ark. Geno Artison's putback as time expired lifted the Drovers (19-9, 13-7 SAC)
• Dedrian Parmer, a 6-6 junior, boosted the Drovers with 25 points, five rebounds and two thefts. Parmer went 10-for-10 from the floor. Parmer averages 16.0 points and 8.5 rebounds a game while shooting 72.6 percent from the field to rank second in the NAIA
• The Drovers haul in 31.3 defensive rebounds a game to rank fourth in NAIA Division I
• USAO was picked to finish in fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference according to the preseason coaches poll

ABOUT THE COACHES
Vinay Patel (77-40, 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 83-54 in five years

Chris Francis (67-45, fourth season with USAO)
• Directed USAO to its first SAC Tournament crown in 2017
• Francis contributed to LSU-Shreveport's Fab Four appearance in the NAIA Division I Tournament as an assistant coach before coming to USAO
• 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 athletics provides live and on-demand audio, stats and video of its contests on OCU's Stretch portal. Cost to watch the game is $7.95 per game, $34.95 for a men's basketball season pass and $79.95 for an all-season pass in 2018-19
• Andrew Himes will provide the play-by-play. Himes is in 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
• Fans can access regular-season broadcasts from NAIA institutions as well as from NAIA Championships postseason contests via Stretch Internet through custom apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Users can search for "NAIA" on the app interfaces on any compatible device, and then download the free NAIA Network app

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Players Mentioned

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

#23 Anthony Davis: F; 6' 7"; Junior

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

#22 Eric Wattree: G; 6' 3"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

#23 Anthony Davis
: 6' 7"; Junior
: F

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

#22 Eric Wattree
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G