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Setting the Scene
- SWOSU Men's Basketball returns home on Thursday evening to host Southeastern Oklahoma State in the first of two remaining home games on the 2017-18 schedule
- The Bulldogs are looking for their first conference home victory of the season and they are 1-11 overall at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center this year
- SWOSU will be matched up with Southeastern, who is currently tied for third place in the GAC standings with East Central at 11-6
- The Savage Storm have won the last three meetings in the series to take an advantage of 7-6 over the Dawgs since the formation of the Great American Conference
- SWOSU is currently mired in a 13-game losing streak after dropping a pair of road games by less than two possessions last weekend in Arkansas
 
The Opponent
Southeastern Okla. (12-10, 11-6 GAC)
- The Savage Storm have won three of their last four games to improve to 11-6 in league play and help stay near the top of the GAC standings
- Southeastern is ranked 10th in the GAC in scoring offense with an average of 74.0 points per game while allowing 75.8 points per contest to their opponents
- Four players average better than 10 points per game for the Savage Storm, led by Markell Henderson (15.0 ppg) and Kevin Buckingham (14.6 ppg)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kris Johnson (1-13, 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
 
Southeastern Okla.: Kelly Green (86-104, 7th season)
- Green is in his seventh season at Southeastern, where he has guided the Savage Storm to the postseason four times
- Came to Southeastern after spending 14 seasons as the head coach at Arizona Western, winning 342 games and leading his team to 13 playoff appearances
 
Checking the Standings
- Southern Nazarene clinched at least a share of the 2017-18 Great American Conference regular season championship with their victory at Harding on Saturday
- SNU leads the rest of the pack by five games, with Northwestern Oklahoma State currently sitting in second place at 12-5
- East Central and Southeastern Oklahoma State are tied for third at 11-6, two games clear of Arkansas Tech and Arkansas-Monticello at 9-8
- The final two spots in the GAC Tournament are currently separated by just one game, with Southern Arkansas at 8-9, one game ahead of Henderson State and Ouachita
 
The Series (GAC Era)
Date                Location                     Score
*1/26/2012       Weatherford, Okla.     L 68-92
*2/23/2012       Durant, Okla.             L 57-64
*1/10/2013       Weatherford, Okla.     W 82-71
*2/16/2013       Durant, Okla.             L 51-70
*1/9/2014         Durant, Okla.             W 72-70
*2/15/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     W 82-76
*1/3/2015         Durant, Okla.             W 61-60
*2/28/2015       Weatherford, Okla.     L 73-83
*1/20/2016       Durant, Okla.             W 89-82
*2/18/2016       Weatherford, Okla.     W 79-68
*1/18/2017       Weatherford, Okla.     L 62-75
*2/18/2017       Durant, Okla.             L 59-86
*1/13/2018       Durant, Okla.             L 72-83
 
GAC Era: Southeastern Leads 7-6
In Weatherford: Series Tied 3-3
In Durant: Southeastern Leads 4-3
 
SWOSU Notes
- In the absence of second-leading scorer Devin Pugh, Jefkins Agyeman-Budu had his best offensive game as a Bulldog with a season-high 20 points and eight rebounds against Arkansas-Monticello
- Charles Beauregard, Jr., led the Dawgs with his fourth 30-point outing of the season -- all in the past seven games, posting 31 points at UAM
- Justin King returned to the starting lineup on Saturday and posted 13 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of action
- Nick Shoemaker hauled in a career-high eight rebounds at UAM while also putting up 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field
- SWOSU connected on 50.9% (28-of-55) of their field goal attempts last Saturday, their second-best shooting effort of the season and best during Great American Conference play
- Saturday's defeat at Arkansas-Monticello has mathematically eliminated the Bulldogs from qualifying for the GAC Tournament, which they will miss for the second straight season
 
Looking Ahead
- The Bulldogs play three of their last four games of the regular season on the road, starting on Saturday at East Central
- Rivalry action takes SWOSU to Alva on Monday night for a meeting with Northwestern before returning home to face Oklahoma Baptist on Wednesday for Senior Night