OCU vs. Bacone men's basketball preview

Stars step out of conference play against Bacone

Troy Cagle hit 43.8 percent of his 3-point shots last season at Young Harris (Ga.).

Men's Basketball | 1/15/2020 3:39:00 PM

7:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University meets Bacone, which has entered the NAIA Division II independent ranks
• The Stars continue a stretch of three games this week
• 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

ABOUT THE STARS
• OCU pummeled Southwestern Christian 85-65 on Tuesday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (9-6, 3-4 Sooner Athletic Conference) held Southwestern Christian's top two scorers Derek Dantzler-Fulner and Ron Washington to a combined 11 points, 16 points below their average
• Trae Bryant, a 6-foot-1 senior from Wilmington, N.C., matched his career bests with 23 points and seven 3-pointers to go with three rebounds and four assists. Bryant shot 8-for-14 from the floor and 7-for-11 on 3-point shots. He previously had 23 points and seven treys vs. Bacone on Dec. 15, 2018 at Abe Lemons Arena. Bryant accrues 16.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists a contest with 50 percent shooting from 3-point land
• Rashaun Coleman, a 6-foot junior from Houston, turned in season highs with 20 points and four steals. Coleman added four rebounds and five assists. Coleman racks up 12.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.47 steals per game
• Oklahoma City has allowed the lowest opposing 3-point field-goal percentage in NAIA Division I at 27.4 percent this season. Eric Wattree has hit 50 percent of his 3-point shots to rank eighth nationally. The national leaders include those who have played 75 percent of his team's games. Compare OCU with the rest of the NAIA statistically this season here
• The Stars have been slotted to take fifth place in the SAC according to the preseason coaches poll. OCU owns 13 SAC regular-season championships and 10 SAC Tournament titles. Oklahoma City reached the NAIA Division I Championship Tournament for the 25th time last season and has won six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008
• OCU has won all eight meetings with Bacone
• The Stars crushed Bacone 100-62 on Jan. 31, 2019 in Muskogee, Okla. Bryant tallied 15 points in 15 minutes of play

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
• Kansas Christian clipped Bacone 80-79 on Friday in Muskogee, Okla. Joseph Johnson's free throw with 2:00 left gave Bacone (0-14) a 77-76 lead, but Elijah Ransom scored to put Kansas Christian on top again with 44 seconds remaining
• DeAndre Love, a 6-5 freshman, propelled Bacone with 20 points and a season-best 18 rebounds. Love added three assists and two blocked shots. Love averages 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds a contest
• The Warriors rank 46th in NAIA Division II with 10.93 offensive rebounds per game

MEET THE COACHES
Hank Aldous (first season with OCU)
• Served as graduate assistant at the University of Denver prior to coming to OCU
• Became Southern Athletic Association player of the year as a senior at Hendrix (Ark.) during his playing career
• Aldous led Hendrix to two conference titles and its first conference tournament crown ever, becoming the SAA Tournament most valuable player. Hendrix made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament

Carl Cowan (2-39, first season with Bacone)
• Bacone went 0-21 in the SAC in its final season as a member of the conference last season
• Cowan, also the Bacone athletic director, graduated from Northeastern State University in 2006 with a bachelor of science degree in elementary education
• He started his coaching career at Locust Grove High School in 2006 and spent the last 10 years at Beggs

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, $29.95 for a men's basketball season pass and $74.95 for an all-season pass for 2019-20
• Andrew Himes will provide the play-by-play. Himes enters his ninth season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 12 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

#3 Trae Bryant: G; 6' 1"; Senior

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

#2 Rashaun Coleman: G; 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#3 Trae Bryant
: 6' 1"; Senior
: G

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

#2 Rashaun Coleman
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G

Players Mentioned

#3 Trae Bryant

#22 Eric Wattree

#2 Rashaun Coleman

Players Mentioned

#3 Trae Bryant

#22 Eric Wattree

#2 Rashaun Coleman