Men's Basketball 1/24/2020 1:07:00 PM

OCU vs. Mid-America Christian men's basketball preview

Stars test themselves against Mid-America Christian, one of two unbeaten teams remaining in NAIA this season

3:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University goes toe-to-toe with Mid-America Christian, ranked second in NAIA Division I
• The Stars seek their first win against a top-25 foe in their third meeting against a rated opponent this season
• 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
• USAO outlasted the Stars 96-90 in overtime Thursday in Chickasha, Okla. Oklahoma City (10-8, 3-6 Sooner Athletic Conference) went to overtime for the second consecutive game. The Stars, 2-3 in overtime games this season, stormed back from a second-half 15-point deficit to get to the extra period
• Eddie Smith, a 6-foot-2 freshman from Birmingham, Ala., equaled his season highs with 17 points and four 3-pointers. Smith added five rebounds and three assists while shooting 4-for-9 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the foul line. Smith provides OCU with 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game with a 41.5 percent 3-point shooting percentage
• Rashaun Coleman, a 6-foot junior from Houston, produced 14 points, three rebounds and two steals. Coleman collects 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.44 thefts a contest
• Oklahoma City has permitted opponents to hit 29.2 percent of their 3-point shots to hold third in NAIA Division I this season. 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 holds the lead in the all-time series against Mid-America Christian 20-11
• Mid-America Christian topped the Stars 80-70 on Feb. 23, 2019 inside the Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City. Anthony Davis contributed 10 points

ABOUT THE EVANGELS
• Mid-America Christian slipped past Southwestern Christian 96-91 on Thursday in Oklahoma City. The Evangels (18-0, 9-0 SAC) prevailed thanks to Terrance Jones' go-ahead basket with 2:04 to go, then Tony Dorsey contributed clinching free throws with 16 seconds remaining
• Ashford Golden, a 6-6 senior, fueled Mid-America Christian with 21 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. Golden averages 17.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.11 steals and 1.06 blocked shots a contest
• The Evangels lead NAIA Division I with a 52.5 percent team field-goal percentage
• Mid-America Christian garnered the third spot in the preseason SAC coaches' poll

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

Josh Gamblin (105-51, fifth season with MACU)
• Gamblin notched his 100th career victory Jan. 4 against John Brown (Ark.). Gamblin became the hoopdirt.com coach of the week for Jan. 13-19, while Mid-America picked up National Association of Basketball Coaches team of the week for Dec. 30-Jan. 5
• In his first season with Mid-America Christian, Gamblin took the Evangels to their first ever NAIA national championship, defeating No. 1-ranked Georgetown (Ky.) 100-99 in overtime. He became the youngest coach (27) in college basketball history to win a national championship at a four-year institution. Gamblin collected the 2015-16 Rawlings-NAIA Division I coach of the year and also has received the Dr. James Naismith-Emil S. Liston Sports Award
• He joined Mid-America after a tenure at the University of Oklahoma, where Gamblin was a graduate assistant under head coach Lon Kruger

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

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

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

#13 Eddie Smith: G; 6' 2"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

#13 Eddie Smith
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: G

Players Mentioned

#23 Anthony Davis

#2 Rashaun Coleman

#13 Eddie Smith

Players Mentioned

#23 Anthony Davis

#2 Rashaun Coleman

#13 Eddie Smith