3:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University wraps up the first semester of the men's basketball season with a Sooner Athletic Conference tilt against North Texas Dallas
• OCU has taken wins in all three of the home games this week leading up to Saturday's contest. The Stars resume the 2022-23 season Jan. 5 at Panhandle State
• 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
ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City secured a 72-62 win against Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (6-6, 4-2 SAC) kept Southwestern Assemblies of God to 33.3 percent from the field for the Lions' lowest shooting percentage of the season
• Avery Jackson, a 6-foot-3 freshman studying political science from Frisco, Texas, produced 23 points, eight rebounds and three steals with six of his points coming in the final 1:26. He made 8 of his 12 field-goal attempts and each of his six shots from the foul line. Jackson records 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.08 steals per game while shooting 53.4 percent from the field and 48.8 percent from 3-point range on the season
• Dravon Clayborn, a 6-2 senior business adminstration major from Evanston, Ill., and Kori Guest, a 6-6 senior criminal justice major from Tulsa, Okla., each scored 19 points with 8-for-12 shooting from the field. Guest snagged eight rebounds and downed five 3-pointers. Guest has put together 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds a contest this season
• OCU ranks 25th in the NAIA this season with 29.7 defensive rebounds a game
• The Stars came in seventh 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 got out to a 2-0 lead in the all-time series last season. On Jan. 29, the Stars swept the home-and-home season series with a 75-63 victory at Abe Lemons Arena. Guest contributed 10 points and five rebounds
ABOUT THE TRAILBLAZERS
• UNT Dallas nipped Science & Arts 104-101 on Saturday in Chickasha, Okla. Curtis Coleman sank three free throws with no time showing on the clock to lift the Trailblazers (5-3, 3-2 SAC)
• Coleman, a 5-10 junior, had a season-high 28 points to go with four assists. He shot 10-for-16 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the 3-point line. Coleman has averaged 12.3 points and 3.2 assists a game this season
• UNT Dallas was picked to finish 12th in the SAC prior to the season
ABOUT THE COACHES
Mark Berokoff (second season with OCU, 23-20)
• Mark Berokoff directed Oklahoma City to a 17-14 record in his first season as the Stars' head coach. The Stars collected the No. 3 seed in the SAC Tournament and earned their most conference wins since 2009-10 with a 15-7 mark
• Berokoff directed Randall to three national championships and a national runner-up showing in nine years as head coach of the Saints. Berokoff led Randall to a 147-122 mark. Randall annually squared off with SAC teams and knocked off OCU twice in that span
• Berokoff produced five national player of the year honorees, 16 all-Americans, three national tournament outstanding player award winners and one scholar all-American with Randall. Berkoff became two-time national coach of the year
• Berokoff's coaching career spans the high school, college and professional levels. His combined head-coaching record over 20 years in the college and prep ranks was 389-213 entering the 2022-23 season
Joshua Howard (third season with UNTD, 23-25)
• 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. Cost to watch OCU athletics live is $4.99 per game, while there is a men's basketball season pass available for $44
• Andrew Himes announces the action. Himes enters his 12th season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 15 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
