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Setting the Scene
- Bulldog Basketball will close out the month of January with three consecutive road games, beginning on Saturday afternoon with a visit to Shawnee to face Oklahoma Baptist
- SWOSU enters the game looking for their first victory of 2018 while Oklahoma Baptist improved to 4-6 in league play with a win over East Central on Thursday night
- The Bulldogs are 1-4 in true road games this season and they will finish the regular season playing eight of their final 12 games away from the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- In two prior meetings to Shawnee since OBU joined the GAC, SWOSU is 2-0, earning a 78-67 victory in 2016 and an 83-73 win last season
- Overall, SWOSU is 3-1 against Oklahoma Baptist since the Bison joined the GAC, but OBU won the last meeting 95-82 in Weatherford
 
The Opponent
Oklahoma Baptist (7-9, 4-6 GAC)
- Matched their conference win total from a year ago with an 83-80 victory over East Central on Thursday evening, improving to 4-6 in league play
- Ranked seventh in the GAC with a scoring offense of 77.7 points per game while allowing their opponents to score 80.7 points per contest
- OBU is led by Chandler Rickey, the GAC's second-leading scorer (18.8 ppg) and rebounder (7.4 rpg) and Vladimir Nemcok, the league leader in assists (6.4/game)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kris Johnson (1-6, 1st season) * Interim
- Named the interim head coach at SWOSU for the remainder of the 2017-18 season on December 13 following the retirement of head coach Bob Battisti
- Now in his seventh season as an assistant coach at SWOSU, including the last four-plus years as the lead assistant to Battisti
- A native of Kansas City, Mo., Johnson came to SWOSU following a four-year playing career at Northwestern Oklahoma State
 
Oklahoma Baptist: Quinn Wooldridge (21-47, 3rd season)
- Now in his third season as the head coach at Oklahoma Baptist, where he became the Bison's first head coach as an NCAA institution
- A former player at OBU, Wooldridge previously served as the head coach at Southwestern Christian and the University of the Southwest
 
Checking the Standings
- With their victory over SWOSU on Wednesday, Southern Nazarene became the first men's basketball team in league history to open Great American Conference play 11-0
- The Crimson Storm have opened up a three-game lead on the field at the midway point of the league schedule, with Southeastern Oklahoma State, Northwestern Oklahoma State and East Central all currently having three league losses
- SWOSU is currently tied with Harding for 11th place in the standings, two games behind Henderson State and Ouachita and three games back of the final GAC Tournament slot, which is currently held by Oklahoma Baptist
 
The Series (GAC Era)
Date                Location                     Score
*1/23/2016       Weatherford, Okla.      W 82-70
*2/20/2016       Shawnee, Okla.           W 78-67
*1/21/2017       Shawnee, Okla.           W 83-73
*2/16/2017       Weatherford, Okla.      L 82-95
 
GAC Era: SWOSU leads 3-1
In Weatherford: Series Tied 1-1
In Shawnee: SWOSU leads 2-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU was held to a season-low 49 points by Southern Nazarene on Wednesday, ending a nine-game stretch where the Bulldogs scored at least 70 points
- Charles Beauregard, Jr., scored a team-high 20 points for the Bulldogs against SNU for his third consecutive 20-point game and fourth in the last five games
- Beauregard has increased his scoring average to 17.3 points per game, which ranks him sixth among players in the GAC
- Nick Shoemaker extended his streak of games with a made three-pointer to 31 after hitting 2-of-4 attempts from long range against Southern Nazarene
- Shoemaker is ranked ninth in the GAC with 40 made three-pointers (2.5/game) this season and he's moved up to 8th on SWOSU's NCAA era list for made threes in a career with 128
- In two games this week, SWOSU has recorded just 10 total assists - including a season-low two against Southern Nazarene - after coming off back-to-back games with a season-high 21 assists apiece
- Collin Jennings has played at least 20 minutes in all seven games since returning from injury and he leads the Bulldogs with 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU makes a road trip to Arkadelphia, Ark., next week for league games against Henderson State (Jan. 25) and Ouachita (Jan. 27)
- The Bulldogs return home to open the month of February by hosting Harding (Feb. 1) and Arkansas Tech (Feb. 3)