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Setting the Scene
- Bulldog Basketball heads for Ada on Saturday and a Great American Conference matchup with East Central
- SWOSU is 1-9 on the road this season and looking for their second conference road win of the season, while East Central has a record of 8-2 inside the Kerr Activities Center this season
- ECU enters the game off a tough loss to GAC Champion Southern Nazarene while the Bulldogs dropped their 14th consecutive contest on Thursday night, falling to Southeastern
- The Tigers have won five consecutive meetings in the series, but SWOSU has an advantage of 7-6 against ECU since the formation of the Great American Conference
 
The Opponent
East Central (13-9, 11-7 GAC)
- The Tigers had a three-game winning streak snapped on Thursday night with a close, three-point loss to #10 Southern Nazarene
- ECU ranks second in the GAC, averaging 86.1 points per game while holding their opponents to an average of 78.8 points per contest
- Six different players are averaging better than 10.0 points per game for ECU, led by Camron Talley (15.6 ppg), Da'Rion King (12.7 ppg) and Gabe McKenzie (11.7 ppg)
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kris Johnson (1-14, 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
 
East Central: Ja Havens (96-47, 5th season)
- Now in his fifth season at ECU, where he has led the Tigers to three straight 20-win seasons, back-to-back GAC regular season titles and an NCAA Central Regional appearance
- Havens previously spent eight years as an assistant coach at Drury, helping the Panthers claim the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship
 
Checking the Standings
- Southern Nazarene has clinched the 2017-18 Great American Conference regular season championship and No. 1 seed in the upcoming GAC Tournament
- Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southeastern Oklahoma State have also clinched positions in the tournament and they currently hold down the second and third spots, respectively, in the league standings
- East Central currently sits fourth in the standings at 11-7, one game ahead of Arkansas-Monticello and two games up on Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas
- Ouachita has the inside track on the final GAC Tournament spot with a one-game lead over Henderson State
 
The Series (GAC Era)
Date                Location                     Score
*1/23/2012       Weatherford, Okla.     W 73-50
*2/20/2012       Ada, Okla.                   W 82-81 (OT)
*1/12/2013       Weatherford, Okla.     W 64-61
*2/14/2013       Ada, Okla.                   L 61-72
*1/11/2014       Ada, Okla.                   W 55-43
*2/13/2014       Weatherford, Okla.     W 80-65
*12/4/2014       Ada, Okla.                   W 58-57
*1/31/2015       Weatherford, Okla.     W 78-66
*1/14/2016       Weatherford, Okla.     L 65-77
*2/11/2016       Ada, Okla.                   L 64-89
*1/12/2017       Ada, Okla.                   L 54-77
*2/11/2017       Weatherford, Okla.     L 62-75
*1/11/2018       Weatherford, Okla.     L 88-89
 
GAC Era: SWOSU leads 7-6
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 4-3
In Ada: Series Tied 3-3
 
SWOSU Notes
- SWOSU's streak of scoring 80 or more points was snapped at six on Thursday after Southeastern limited the Bulldogs to 69 points
- The Bulldogs scoring defense has fallen to 12th in the Great American Conference at 84.7 points per game
- Charles Beauregard, Jr., scored 27 points on Thursday against Southeastern to up his average to 20.0 points per game, a mark that has moved him to the top of the GAC's scoring list
- Jefkins Agyeman-Budu scored in double figures for the fourth straight game with 11 points against Southeastern and he's averaged 8.0 rebounds per game over the last three contests
- Nick Shoemaker scored 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting against SE, including knocking down four three-pointers to give him 62 (2.6 per game) for the season
- 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
- Rivalry action takes the Bulldogs north to Alva on Monday evening for a meeting with Northwestern Oklahoma State to open the final week of the regular season
- SWOSU returns home on Wednesday evening to host Oklahoma Baptist on Senior Day before closing out the season on Saturday at Southern Nazarene