OCU vs. John Brown men's basketball preview

Stars host John Brown as schedule gets revamped

3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University has rescheduled its Sooner Athletic Conference tilt against John Brown (Ark.) for Saturday
• The Stars will move its originally scheduled contest at Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) to a later date
• OCU has limited its home contests to essential gameday personnel and prohibited spectators from attending
• Fans can watch Stars home games via the OCU Sports Network
• OCU coaches will join the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers nationwide initiative uniting basketball coaches across the country for a common cause – saving lives from cancer. Coaches across the nation will support childhood cancer awareness during 2021 Suits and Sneakers Week on Jan. 25-31

ABOUT THE STARS
• Texas Wesleyan slipped past Oklahoma City 68-67 on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (0-2, 0-2 SAC) held the Rams to a season-low 39.3 percent field-goal percentage, but Sebastian Karwoski's jumper in the lane with 16 seconds to go made the difference
• Romario Spence, a 6-foot-7 senior from Luton, England, notched his first double-double for OCU with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Spence tallies 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds a contest
• Kori Guest, a 6-6 junior from Tulsa, Okla., put together 15 points and two steals with a team-high three 3-pointers. Guest tops OCU in scoring with 13.5 points and 2.50 steals a game
• Oklahoma City averages 42.0 team rebounds per game. Guest has hit all eight free-throw attempts this season to lead the nation. See how the Stars stack up with the other teams in the NAIA statistically here
• The Stars took the eighth spot in the preseason SAC coaches poll. OCU owns 13 SAC regular-season championships and 10 SAC Tournament titles. Oklahoma City has advanced to the NAIA Division I Championship Tournament 25 times all-time and has won six national championships in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007 and 2008
• Oklahoma City holds a 37-19 advantage against John Brown in the all-time series. The Golden Eagles knocked OCU out of the SAC Tournament 80-65 on March 3, 2020 in Siloam Springs, Ark. John Brown went 3-0 against OCU last season with two wins in overtime
• OCU edged John Brown 74-73 for the 2019 conference tournament championship at Abe Lemons Arena using Trae Bryant's lay-in with 4.6 seconds left

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
• John Brown squeaked past Wayland Baptist (Texas) 72-67 on Jan. 23 in Plainview, Texas. The Golden Eagles (3-3, 3-3 SAC) pulled away from a 63-63 tie with 3:29 left, moving ahead on Noah Taylor's trey at the 3:11 mark
• Densier Carnes, a 6-6 senior, had 17 points and nine rebounds. Carnes is closing in on 1,000 career points with 976 entering Saturday. Carnes averages 15.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 45.5 percent from 3-point range
• John Brown dropped from the top 25 in the latest NAIA rankings after garnering the 10th spot in the preseason ratings
• The Golden Eagles rank ninth in the NAIA by hitting 10.83 3-pointers as a team this season. Taylor's 3.83 3-pointers per game ranks fifth in the country
• SAC coaches had John Brown second the preseason conference poll

MEET THE COACHES
Tim Kisner (first season with OCU)
• Kisner served as an assistant coach at John Brown (Ark.) the previous two seasons. John Brown went 51-16 (.762 winning percentage) with a program record-tying 28 victories last season, two national-tournament berths, two second-place finishes in the SAC and two appearances in the SAC Tournament title game. The Golden Eagles were 44-48 (.478) the two years prior to Kisner's arrival
• Guided Fresno Pacific to 14 victories as head coach in 2015-16, which was a five-game improvement over the previous season
• Started four years at point guard for Central Michigan from 1997-2001, earning spots on the program's all-time list for points, assists, 3-pointers and steals

Jason Beschta (114-82, seventh season with John Brown, 176-118 overall)
• Beschta guided JBU to its second consecutive national-tournament berth and appearance in the conference tournament title game last season. The Golden Eagles equaled their program record with 28 wins
• Prior to his time at JBU, Beschta led the Eagles of Oklahoma Wesleyan for three seasons, amassing a 62-36 record at OKWU. He led the Eagles to a round of 16 finish in the NAIA Division II national tournament in 2012-13, finishing that season 25-10
• Played collegiately at Bryan (Tenn.), racking up 2,138 career points, and he made 432 career 3-pointers for the Lions - both second on the career lists when he graduated

ON THE AIR
• Oklahoma City University athletics provides live and on-demand audio, stats and video of its contests on OCU's BlueFrame platform. Cost to watch OCU athletics is $4.99 per game
• Andrew Himes will provide the play-by-play. Himes enters his 10th season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 13 years starting on color commentary as an OCU student
• OCU has partnered with BlueFrame Technology to create the OCU Sports Network. To watch live video, fans can find the Stars' BlueFrame platform over the web on the SAC Network along with streaming apps for mobile devices (iOS and Android) and televisions including Amazon Fire Tablet, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. The app can be found and installed by searching for the SAC Network

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Players Mentioned

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

#22 Kori Guest: F; 6' 6"; Junior

#32 Romario Spence: F; 6' 7"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

#22 Kori Guest
: 6' 6"; Junior
: F

#32 Romario Spence
: 6' 7"; Senior
: F

Players Mentioned

#3 Trae Bryant

#22 Kori Guest

#32 Romario Spence

Players Mentioned

#3 Trae Bryant

#22 Kori Guest

#32 Romario Spence