Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Men's Basketball will be in Arkansas this weekend to open Great American Conference play, starting on Thursday night at Arkansas Tech
- Tipoff of Thursday night's contest is scheduled for 7:30 pm from Tucker Coliseum in Russellville, a venue the Bulldogs are winless at as members of the GAC
- Overall, Arkansas Tech leads the GAC-era series 11-2, including three wins over SWOSU at the GAC Tournament
- Both of SWOSU's victories over Arkansas Tech have come in Weatherford, including an 88-63 win by the Dawgs to open conference play last season
- SWOSU enters the weekend with a record of 0-2 after a pair of setbacks at the SWOSU Classic while Arkansas Tech is the lone team in the conference that has yet to play a regular season game in 2016-17
The Opponent
Arkansas Tech (0-0, 0-0 GAC)
- Picked to finish sixth in the Great American Conference this season, directly ahead of the Bulldogs in the conference preseason poll
- Arkansas Tech returns just two players from last season in Mason Cline and Freddy Lee, who have been joined on the roster by 13 newcomers
- The Wonder Boys went 1-1 in exhibition play, suffering a 91-89 setback at NCAA Division I foe UTSA while defeating Livin' the Dream 120-73
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (50-37, 4th season; 459-333 career, 28th season)
- In his fourth season as the head coach of the Bulldogs, having led SWOSU to at least 16 wins in each of his first three years at the helm
- Has coached five players at SWOSU that earned All-GAC distinction, including one GAC Player of the Year (Rod Camphor) and one GAC Defensive Player of the Year (Michael Bradley)
- Previously spent 25 years at Northwestern Oklahoma State, coaching the men's basketball team for 21 seasons before taking over as the school's athletic director
- In 26 years as a head coach, Battisti has a career record of 459-330 (.582) and he is 1-2 at the conference tournament as the head coach at SWOSU
Arkansas Tech: Chad Kline (33-28, 3rd season)
- Now in his third season leading the Wonder Boy basketball program, where he las led ATU to a 33-28 record and one GAC Tournament Championship in his first two years
- Spent three years as an assistant to former Arkansas Tech head coach Doug Karleskint before taking over the program
Checking the Standings
- Arkansas-Monticello and Ouachita are the only two teams to play a regular season without a loss on the opening weekend and both teams are currently 1-0 on the year
- Six different teams split on opening weekend, going 1-1, while Arkansas Tech is the only team that has yet to officially play a regular season contest
- Oklahoma Baptist, SWOSU and East Central all open Great American Conference play while looking for their first victories of the season
The Series
GAC HISTORY ONLY
Date Location............................ Score
*1/12/2012 Weatherford, Okla. ......... L 72-78
*2/9/2012 Russellville, Ark. ............. L 73-80
3/4/2012 Bartlesville, Okla. ............ L 58-69
*1/5/2013 Russellville, Ark. ............. L 52-69
*2/7/2013 Weatherford, Okla. ......... L 57-60
3/9/2013 Bartlesville, Okla. ............ L 51-56
*1/4/2014 Weatherford, Okla. ....... W 63-38
*2/6/2014 Russellville, Ark. ............. L 77-85
*12/17/2014 Russellville, Ark. ............. L 65-69
*2/5/2014 Weatherford, Okla. ......... L 65-69
3/7/2015 Bartlesville, Okla. ............ L 74-85
*11/19/2015 Weatherford, Okla. ....... W 88-63
*1/28/16 Russellville, Ark............... L 78-82
SWOSU Notes
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Devin Pugh was the Bulldogs leading scorer on opening weekend, putting up 14.5 points per game against Augustana and Washburn
- Pugh connected on 47.4% (9-of-16) field goal attempts and 44.4% (4-of-9) three-pointers to lead the Dawgs in scoring
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Reshardd Harris posted his first double-double in a SWOSU uniform with 10 points and 11 rebounds against Washburn on Saturday
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Collin Jennings is the Bulldogs second-leading scorer after averaging 9.5 points in the first two games on 50.0% (6-for-12) shooting from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 mark from the free throw line
- After being shut out on opening night, SWOSU senior point guard
Markeise Champion rebounded with 17 points and five assists against Washburn
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Altez Davis had six points and nine rebounds on Saturday against Washburn and he's the second-leading rebounder for SWOSU with 6.5 rebounds per game
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Nick Shoemaker connected on 3-of-6 (50.0%) of his long-range attempts last weekend and he's averaging 4.5 points and 2.0 rebounds per game off the bench
- SWOSU averaged 4.5 blocks per game last week with Davis leading the team with three
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU's first Arkansas road trip concludes on Saturday evening when they head to Searcy to face Harding at 6:00 pm
- The Bulldogs then head to Central Missouri for a non-conference contest on November 26 before returning home on December 1st to face Arkansas-Monticello
