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SWOSU (4-7, 1-4 GAC) at Ouachita (5-4, 3-2 GAC) Saturday, Jan. 7, 3:00 pm Arkadelphia, Ark. (Bill Vining Arena) Live Stats  |  Watch Live  |  Listen Live SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Men's Basketball looks for their first conference road win of the 2016-17 season on Saturday when they head to Bill Vining Arena in Arkadelphia, Ark., to face Ouachita
- The Bulldogs are coming off an 87-61 setback at Henderson State that ended a four-game winning streak on Thursday night
- SWOSU has come home victorious in two of their last three trips to Ouachita, including an 81-74 win in the regular season finale last season
- Ouachita enters the contest two games ahead of the Bulldogs in the GAC standings at 3-2 after defeating Northwestern Oklahoma State 74-70 on Thursday evening
- This season, Ouachita has been tough at home where they are 3-1 with a 61-58 loss to Southern Nazarene as their only blemish
- As GAC foes, the Bulldogs and Tigers have split 10 regular season meetings with SWOSU holding the series edge 6-5 thanks to an overtime victory in the 2015 GAC Tournament
 
The Opponent
Ouachita (5-4, 3-2 GAC)
- With their 74-70 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday, the Tigers snapped a two-game slide that included setbacks against East Central and Tarleton State
- Other conference victories for Ouachita include a win over Oklahoma Baptist and at Southeastern Oklahoma State
- Ouachita is led in scoring by Lakee Westbrook, who ranks sixth in the GAC in scoring with 17.3 points per game, followed by Justin McCleary (12.8 ppg) and Carven Holcolmbe (11.0)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (54-42, 4th season; 463-338 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 463-338 (.582) and he is 4-3 against Ouachita as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Ouachita: Dennis Nutt (59-48, 6th season)
- Now in his sixth season at Ouachita, Nutt has led the Tigers to two GAC Tournament Championships (2013, 2016) and the NCAA Division II National Tournament in 2016
- A former NBA player with the Dallas Mavericks, Nutt was the head coach at Texas State from 2000-06 and an assistant at Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State and Westark CC
 
Checking the Standings
- Arkansas-Monticello remains atop the conference standings at 5-0 after defeating Southern Nazarene on Thursday evening
- Henderson State and Southern Arkansas remain one game back of the Weevils at 4-1 heading into Saturday's action
- Five teams - including SWOSU's Saturday opponent, Ouachita - are in a tie for fourth place in the standings at 3-2
- Two games separate the top eight teams in the standings and the bottom four, with SWOSU and Oklahoma Baptist and SWOSU tied for ninth place at 1-4
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/7/2012         Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 56-68
*2/5/2012         Weatherford, Okla.     W 79-53
*1/19/2013       Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 52-58
*2/23/2013       Weatherford, Okla.     W 75-63
*1/18/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     W 72-68
*2/22/2014       Arkadelphia, Ark.        W 67-63
*1/8/2015         Weatherford, Okla.     L 58-66
*2/12/2015       Arkadelphia, Ark.        L 63-89
3/6/2015          Bartlesville, Okla.        W 71-67 (OT)
*1/9/2016         Weatherford, Okla.     L 62-73
*2/27/2016       Arkadelphia, Ark.        W 81-74
 
NCAA Division II Era: SWOSU leads 6-5
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 3-2
In Arkadelphia: Ouachita leads 3-2
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU has used eight different starting lineups, using 12 different players in the starting lineup in the first 11 games of the season
- Devin Pugh and Reshardd Harris have been in the starting lineup the most times this season, with each players making 10 starts in 11 games
- Pugh was brought off the bench for the first time this season against Ouachita and he tied his season-high with 22 points and set a new career-high with seven rebounds
- For the season, Pugh ranks as the Bulldogs leading scorer with 14.6 points per game and he's scored in double figures nine times this year
- Making his third start of the year, Geoffery Hightower scored a season-high nine points on 3-for-5 shooting from three-point range against Henderson State
- Cooper Battisti was inserted into the starting lineup at Henderson State, making his first career start in his 31st game as a Bulldog
- Luke Lewallen chipped in nine points and six rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench on Thursday night, upping his season average to 4.5 points per game
- SWOSU's 30.3% (20-of-66) field goal percentage against Henderson State was their lowest shooting performance since the season opener against Augustana (25.9%)
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will play their first in-state GAC contest next Thursday night when they head to Ada to face East Central
- The Bulldogs return to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center next Saturday afternoon for a contest against Southern Nazarene