OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City men's basketball returns to action this week with games at Langston on Thursday and at home against Central Christian on Saturday.
 
The game at LU begins at 8 p.m. and the home game on Saturday starts at 4 p.m.
 
OCU Notebook
 
Makeup Date: Oklahoma City makes up last weekend's scheduled game against USAO on Feb. 2 at 8 p.m.
 
Previously: Oklahoma City burst from halftime with a 22-0 run to blow open a tie game to spur a 73-47 victory over Mid-America Christian University on Thursday. After finishing the half in a 32-32 tie, the OCU defense kept MACU off the scoreboard for the first 10 minutes of the second half while the Stars put up 22 points. Eleven of those points came from Brian Alexander. Alexander had 25 points and nine rebounds while Jonas Carlisle added 13 points and four assists. Carlisle and Alphonse Muteba had four blocked shots each with Muteba also pulling in eight rebounds. Jackson Hopps had a team-best five assists. OCU held MACU to 15 second-half points.
 
Last Time vs. Langston: Oklahoma City got its most impressive win of the season, surprising then No. 5 Langston on Jan. 8, 61-58. For as tight as the game was throughout, there were only four lead changes the Lions had the upper hand for just 80 seconds. Brian Alexander had 17 points and seven rebounds while Jonas Carlisle added 14 points and six assists. Alphonse Muteba was big with 10 rebounds and six blocked shots to go with his eight points. Orlando Thomas led the Lions with 17 points.
 
Last Time vs. Central Christian:  It took two overtimes, but Oklahoma City overcame a sluggish start to beat Central Christian 71-68 on Jan. 10. OCU got its first lead of the game with 4:16 left in the first overtime. Jonas Carlisle and Brian Alexander both had double-doubles with 19 points. Carlisle had 11 rebounds and Alexander added 10. Hopps had 14 points. Alexander had six assists and four steals. Chris Whitten had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Central Christian.

Stars on the Road: The Stars are 6-2 on the road, including a 6-1 mark in conference road games. Jonas Carlisle averages 20.4 points per road game, followed by Brian Alexander at 16.9 and Jackson Hopps at 10.8. Carlisle leads the team with 7.8 rebounds away from home. The Stars have had better shooting percentages across the board, as a team, in road games.
 
Stars at Home: The Stars are 7-2 at home this season. Brian Alexander leads the squad with 15 points per game, followed by Jonas Carlisle and 14.3 and Jackson Hopps at 10.1.
 
Against the SAC: OCU is 10-3 against the Sooner Athletic Conference with Brian Alexander and Jonas Carlisle each averaging 17.3 points per game. Carlisle has made 40 percent of his three-pointers in league games and averages a team-best four assists and 6.7 rebounds,
 
Winning Numbers: OCU shoots 48 percent from the field in its 13 wins this season, compared to 38 percent in its losses. The Stars averaged 7 more rebounds than their opponents per win, compared to one more in their losses.
 
Trending: Destin Jenkins and SaVaughn Smith have taken on more of a scoring role in the last three games. Jenkins has averaged 11.3 and Smith 10.7 over those three games.

Our Best So Far: Brian Alexander's 29-point game at Mid-America Christian stands as the OCU season high. Alphonse Muteba had a season-best 12 rebounds against Haskell and six blocks against Langston. The season high for assists by a Star is eight by Jonas Carlisle against Ozarks.
 
SAC Glance: The Stars (13-6 overall and 10-3 in the SAC) are tied for second with Langston (15-4, 10-3) in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Central Christian is in 10^th and two games out of eighth and a playoff berth.
 
League Leaders: OCU is third in the SAC with 83.6 points per game while Langston leads the league in scoring defense at 60.1. OCU's Jonas Carlisle leads the SAC with a 40.5 mark in three-point shooting percentage and a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio. Brian Alexander is third at 3.6 assists per game. Alphonse Muteba is third in the league with 1.5 blocked shots per game. Central Christian's Chris Whitten is second in the SAC with 21.3 points per game and Jevarrick Butler is second at 2.2 steals per game.
 
Scoring: Jonas Carlisle leads the Stars with 17 points per game with Brian Alexander close behind at 16.3. Carlisle has a team-leading 51 three-pointers this season. Alphonse Muteba is shooting 70.4 percent from the field – all from inside the three-point line. Beau Tranter (83.9), Jonas Carlisle (82), Jackson Hopps (81.6) and Brian Alexander (81) all have free-throw shooting percentages over 80 while averaging more than 20 minutes per game.
 
Rebounds and Defense: Jonas Carlise leads OCU with 6.8 rebounds per game. Alphonse Muteba, who averages 6.5 caroms, leads the team with 56 offensive rebounds. Brian Alexander has a team-leading 34 steals and Muteba has blocked 27 shots this season.