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Northwestern Okla. (11-11, 7-10 GAC) at SWOSU (5-17, 2-14 GAC) Monday, Feb. 13, 7:30 pm Stats | Audio | Video SWOSU Game Notes (pdf)

Setting the Scene
- Rivalry Monday in the Great American Conference sees SWOSU welcome Northwestern Oklahoma State to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center for a 7:30 pm contest
- SWOSU has defeated the Rangers at home in each of the past two seasons, but Northwestern has won the last two meetings in the series, both games played in Alva
- Northwestern enters the contest on a three-game winning streak after defeating Southern Nazarene on Saturday while SWOSU is headed in the opposite direction, having lost six straight following a 75-62 setback against East Central on Saturday
- The home team has won six consecutive meetings in the series between Northwestern and SWOSU, dating back to 2014
- SWOSU is 3-7 at home this season, including a 2-7 mark in the Pioneer Cellular Event Center, where they will play five of their six remaining games this season
 
The Opponent
Northwestern Oklahoma State (11-11, 7-10 GAC)
- With three straight wins over Southern Arkansas, Southeastern and Southern Nazarene, the Rangers are now within one game of the eighth and final spot in the GAC Tournament
- Northwestern is ranked seventh in the GAC in scoring at 75.2 points per game while opponents average 73.8 points per game against the Rangers
- Led by Adrian Motley, who ranks second in the GAC in scoring (19.1 points per game) and fourth in rebounding (7.8 rebounds per game)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Bob Battisti (55-52, 4th season; 463-348 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 27 years as a head coach, Battisti has a career record of 464-348 (.582) and he is 2-5 against Northwestern Oklahoma State as the head coach at SWOSU
 
Northwestern Oklahoma State: Shawn Dirden (11-11, 1st season)
- First-time head coach at the collegiate level who is leading the Rangers after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at the University of North Dakota
- Previously spent time as an assistant coach at Montana State, South Dakota, and Indian Hills Community College after playing collegiately at Idaho
 
Checking the Standings
- A triple overtime win by #17/15 Arkansas-Monticello over Harding allowed the Weevils to keep a two-game lead on the pack at 15-2
- East Central and Arkansas Tech both won on Saturday also and the teams remain tied for second in the standings at 13-4
- Harding is alone in fourth place at 10-7, one win ahead of both Southern Nazarene and Ouachita and two games up on Henderson State and Southern Arkansas
- Northwestern Oklahoma State has won three straight to improve to 7-10, only one game out of the final qualifying spot for the GAC Tournament
 
The Series
Date                Location                     Score
*1/26/2013       Alva, Okla.                  L 75-90
*2/28/2013       Weatherford, Okla.     W 67-66
*1/25/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     L 66-67
*2/27/2014       Alva, Okla.                  L 89-90 (OT)
*1/22/2015       Alva, Okla.                  L 56-61
*2/26/2015       Weatherford, Okla.     W 77-46
*1/18/2016       Weatherford, Okla.     W 90-72
*2/15/2016       Alva, Okla.                  L 55-85
*1/17/2017       Alva, Okla.                  L 75-86
 
GAC Era: NWOSU leads 6-3
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 3-1
In Alva: NWOSU leads 5-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU has now lost four straight home games at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center despite holding a lead of at least 10 points in three of those games
- The Bulldogs have hit at least 10 three-pointers in their last four home games, including 10-of-32 (31.3%) shooting on Saturday against East Central
- SWOSU has twice shot better than 40% from the field in the past eight games and the Dawgs feature a league-low 39.4% field-goal percentage for the season
- Markeise Champion continued his scoring tear on Saturday, scoring 17 points on East Central for his eighth double-figure point output in the past nine games
- Champion leads the Bulldogs and ranks 13th in the GAC with 14.4 points per game and he's third in three-pointers made with 66 (3.0 per game)
- Geoffery Hightower returned to the starting lineup for the first time in six games and scored a career-best 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting against East Central
- Reshardd Harris had 14 points and four rebounds on Saturday, giving him season averages of 9.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per games
- Coming off the bench for the first time in eight games, Luke Lewallen tied season-highs with eight rebounds and four assists against ECU
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU will play their third straight home game on Thursday night when they host Oklahoma Baptist at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- On Saturday, the Bulldogs play their final road game of the season with a trip to Durant to face Southeastern before ending the season with three straight home games