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Setting the Scene
- Fresh off their first victory since December, the Bulldog Men's Basketball team takes momentum into their showdown with Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday evening in Alva
- SWOSU picked up their second Great American Conference victory of the season on Saturday, taking down East Central 83-77 in Ada to snap a 14-game winless streak
- Now the Bulldogs open the final week of the regular season with a rivalry contest on Monday evening in Alva, where they have not won since the Rangers joined the Great American Conference
- Northwestern comes into the game on a high note after defeating GAC Champion Southern Nazarene 53-52 with a three-pointer at the buzzer on Saturday afternoon
- SWOSU is now 2-9 on the road this season while Northwestern has a record of 11-1 at Percefull Fieldhouse
 
The Opponent
Northwestern Okla. (18-6, 14-5 GAC)
- The Rangers are the hottest team in the GAC, winners of six straight games after defeating Southern Nazarene on Saturday
- NWOSU features just the 10th-best scoring offense in the conference with 75.7 points per game, but they lock down their opponents to the tune of 70.5 points per contest
- Cody Halvorson leads the Rangers balanced offensive attack with 13.4 points per game while Treyvon Andres chips in an average of 12.2 points
 
The Coaches
SWOSU: Kris Johnson (2-14, 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
 
Northwestern Okla.: Shawn Dirden (30-21, 2nd season)
- In his second year as head coach of the Rangers after leading NWOSU to a record of 12-15 during the 2016-17 campaign
- Came to Northwestern after a two-year stay as an assistant coach at the University of North Dakota and two separate stints at Montana State
 
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 11-8, one game ahead of Arkansas-Monticello and two games up on Arkansas Tech, Southern Arkansas and Ouachita
- Henderson State sits one game out of the GAC Tournament with three games to play, with Oklahoma Baptist two games behind them
 
The Series (GAC Era)
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
*2/13/2017       Weatherford, Okla.     W 73-67
*1/15/2018       Weatherford, Okla.     L 82-84
 
GAC Era: NWOSU leads 7-4
In Weatherford: SWOSU leads 4-2
In Alva: NWOSU leads 5-0
 
SWOSU Notes
- Charles Beauregard, Jr., was one point off his career-high when he scored 40 points in the Bulldogs win at East Central on Saturday
- Beauregard becomes just the third player in NCAA Division II with multiple 40-point games this season, joining Tommy Bolte of Concord and Kyle Monroe of Michigan Tech
- In addition, Beauregard has taken over as the leading scorer in the Great American Conference at 20.8 points per game
- Nick Shoemaker was SWOSU's second-leading scorer at ECU, pouring in 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting, which included three three-pointers
- Shoemaker is up to fourth in the GAC with 65 made three-pointers, an average of 2.6 per game
- SWOSU played without two of their top four scorers for the season at ECU with Devin Pugh (13.6 ppg) and Justin King (8.0 ppg) both missing the game due to injury
- Luke Lewallen tied a career-high with eight rebounds to go along with four points on Saturday at ECU
 
Looking Ahead
- SWOSU returns home on Wednesday evening to host Oklahoma Baptist for Senior Day at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
- The Dawgs close out the season on Saturday with a trip to Bethany to face the 2017-18 Great American Conference Champions from Southern Nazarene