3:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University looks to keep its four-game winning string alive in a Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball contest against North Texas Dallas
• The Stars finish a week with three games Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU concludes its regular-season home slate Feb. 12 against Southwestern Christian
• Tickets cost $7 for adults and $5 for students. All tickets must be purchased via OCU's HomeTown Ticketing portal. No tickets are to be purchased via cash on site. OCU students, faculty and staff gain admission to all OCU regular-season home athletics events free of charge with their ID
• Fans will be required to wear masks in place over their faces while observing social distancing. No concessions will be offered
ABOUT THE STARS
• OCU came up with an 89-83 overtime victory over No. 9-ranked Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (12-10, 11-4 SAC) remained undefeated (3-0) in overtime games this season in collecting their first win over a ranked opponent since March 21, 2019
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Ryan Birt, a 6-foot-2 senior from Plano, Texas, put up career highs with 25 points and six 3-pointers while hauling in eight rebounds for Oklahoma City. He nailed 7 of 11 field-goal attempts, 6 of 7 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Birt provides the Stars with 12.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists a contest on the season
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Rashaun Coleman, a 6-foot senior from Houston, boasted of his eighth 20-point scoring performance of the season with 24 points and four assists Thursday. Coleman hit 9 of his 14 shots from the field and 6 out of 10 3-point tries. Coleman has turned in 15.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.35 steals per game this season
• OCU has limited foes to 25.4 percent shooting past the 3-point line for the best opponents' 3-point shooting percentage for an NAIA team this season
• 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 edged North Texas Dallas 71-70 in overtime Dec. 2 in Dallas in the first meeting ever between the two teams.
Romario Spence hit free throws with 23 seconds left to make the difference. Coleman went for a career-high 27 points
ABOUT THE TRAILBLAZERS
• UNT Dallas fell short to John Brown (Ark.) 73-65 on Thursday in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Trailblazers (8-14, 4-11 SAC) have lost four in a row
• Rodrick Gaines, a 6-2 junior, had a season-high 16 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Gaines shot 6-for-9 from the floor and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. He averages 5.0 points a game while shooting 46.2 percent on 3-point shots this season
• Vernon Johnson, a 6-3 freshman, tops North Texas Dallas with 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds a game
• Conference coaches placed the Trailblazers at 12th in the preseason league poll
ABOUT THE COACHES
Mark Berokoff (first season with OCU)
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Mark Berokoff guided Randall to three national championships and a national runner-up finish in nine years as head coach of the Saints. Berokoff's record with Randall was 147-122. Randall regularly challenged SAC squads and defeated OCU twice during that time
• Berokoff coached five national player of the year honorees, 16 all-Americans, three national tournament outstanding player award winners and one scholar all-American with Randall. Berokoff was two-time national coach of the year
• Berokoff's coaching career includes experience on the high school, college and professional levels. His combined head-coaching record over 19 years in the college and prep ranks is 372-199
Joshua Howard (second season with UNTD, 14-18)
• Drafted from Wake Forest in 2003, Howard had an 11-year career in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Minnesota Timberwolves
• Played on Dallas Mavericks squad that reached 2003 NBA Finals. Averaged 14.3 points in 507 career games played in the NBA
• 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year at Wake Forest
ON THE AIR
• Oklahoma City University athletics provides live and on-demand audio and video of its contests on OCU's BlueFrame platform as well as live statistics. Cost to watch OCU athletics live is $4.99 per game, while there is a men's basketball season pass available for $52
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Andrew Himes provides the play-by-play. Himes enters his 11th season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 14 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
