Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Men's Basketball team will open the 2018-19 season by competing in the GAC / MIAA Challenge in Tahlequah this weekend
- The Bulldogs will take on the host team, Northeastern State, on Friday evening before meeting Central Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Event Center
- SWOSU is under the direction of first-year Head Coach Terry Evans, who previously spent 13 seasons as the head coach at Central Oklahoma and returns to the college game this season after four years coaching high school basketball in Oklahoma
- This is SWOSU's first time to compete in the GAC / MIAA Challenge with NSU and UCO
- SWOSU will be facing the RiverHawks for the first time since sweeping the season series against NSU during the 2011-12 season, which included a 75-71 overtime victory in Tahlequah
- The last time that SWOSU faced Central Oklahoma was a 77-73 victory in Edmond early in the 2015-16 season
 
About the Opponents
Northeastern State (0-0)
- Northeastern was picked to finish 12th in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association preseason coaches' poll
- The RiverHawks roster is stacked with upperclassmen having nine juniors and four seniors, while just one freshman on the team
- NSU has won three times in the MIAA/GAC Challenge since it began in the 2014-15 season
 
Central Oklahoma (0-0)
- Central Oklahoma enters the season picked to finish 5th in the MIAA preseason coaches' poll
- The Bronchos were third in the MIAA in scoring defense a season ago allowing 68.1 points per contest
- UCO will bring back six players including a pair of starters from a team that made an appearance in the semifinals of the MIAA tournament
 
SWOSU Notes
- Coming off two straight seasons of missing the GAC Tournament, the Bulldogs have been picked to finish ninth in the conference this season
- SWOSU has five returning seniors on the roster this season, led by Nick Shoemaker, who is the Bulldogs leading returner in scoring, rebounding, assists and three-point shooting
- Among the key newcomers are four probable starters in guards Tre Evans, Marcus Thomas and Jamar Sandier along with forward Cheick Fall
- The fifth projected starter is Jefkins Agyeman-Budu, who averaged 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game last season in his first year with the Bulldogs
- Evans made his exhibition debut a memorable one by putting up 43 points to go along with eight assists and five rebounds in SWOSU's 101-97 victory over Oklahoma City last Wednesday night in Weatherford
- In reaching the century mark against OCU, the Bulldogs accomplished a feat that hasn't been done in their last 65 regular season contests
- Shoemaker knocked down a team-leading 74 three-point field goals last season while fellow senior Daniel Eibel was fourth on the team with 30 made three's while shooting 38% from long range
- Fall recorded a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds in the exhibition contest, a feat accomplished just three times by SWOSU players last season
- Luke Lewallen returns for his senior season after making four starts last season, averaging 3.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in 12.4 minutes of action
- The Bulldogs have won seven neutral site games since the start of the 2010-11 season
 
Looking Ahead
- Following the Challenge, SWOSU has 10 days off before returning to action on November 20th in Claremore against Rogers State
- That weekend, the Bulldogs will host Cameron on Saturday, November 24th for their home opener, with tipoff set for 3:00 pm at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- Great American Conference play begins at the end of the month with a trip to Ada to face East Central on November 29th