Setting the Scene
• Bulldog Men's Basketball will play their final two non-conference games of the season this weekend in Topeka, Kan., at the Washburn Thanksgiving Classic
• SWOSU will face tournament-host Washburn on Friday evening at 6:00 pm before closing out the event on Saturday at 1:00 pm against Newman
• The Bulldogs are 2-2 in non-conference play this season and 1-1 against MIAA opponents with an 82-73 overtime victory over Emporia State and a 58-53 defeat against Fort Hays State at the GAC/MIAA Challenge
• Both opponents are new to SWOSU, who is 1-2 all-time against Washburn with the last meeting in 2016 and 0-1 against Newman with the only previous meeting coming back in 2010
• SWOSU second-year head coach Terry Evans coached against Washburn for several years as the head coach of Central Oklahoma and he's 7-7 all-time against the Ichabods, but he'll be coaching against Newman for the first time
 
About the Opponents
Washburn (3-1)
• The Ichabods enter the weekend with wins over Minnesota State, Winona State and Ottawa while their lone loss coming 57-55 at Rockhurst
• Four different players are scoring better than 10.0 points per game for WU, led by Jalen Lewis (15.3 ppg) and Tyler Geiman (13.5), and the Ichabods are putting up an average 75.8 points as a team 
• Brett Ballard is in his third season leading the Ichabods and he's led the team to two 20-win seasons and NCAA Division II Tournament appearances
 
Newman (4-1)
• After dropping their season opener against Henderson State, the Jets have won four straight over Southern Arkansas, Manhattan Christian, Northwestern Oklahoma State and Cameron
• Newman is scoring 78.0 points per game as a team behind five individuals in double figures, led by Anthony Harvey, Jr. (17.0) and Marshawn Blackmon (15.0)
• RJ Allen is in his third season as the head coach and ninth year on staff at Newman and they're coming off a 20-win season
 
SWOSU Notes
• The Bulldogs scored a season-high 95 points last Thursday in a win over East Central and they're now ninth in the GAC with a scoring average of 74.8 points per game
• SWOSU continues to lead the conference in turnover margin, forcing 20.3 turnovers per game while committing 12.7, which is good for a margin of +7.6
• Through six games, SWOSU has recorded 56 steals which ties them for second in the conference with an average of 9.3 per game
• Damion Thornton (2nd, 15) and Marquis Johnson (4th, 10) are both ranked among the top five in the GAC in steals while Dominique Primer is ranked 11th with nine steals in six games
• Thornton has led the Bulldogs in scoring five times in six games and put up at least 13 points in every game, and he's ninth in the GAC with 17.7 points per game for the year
• Kamden Gipson scored a combined 37 points in two games last weekend after totaling 18 points in the first four games of the season
• Jaylan Williams is the Bulldogs leading three-point shooter, having hit at least two in each game and he's 18-of-40 (45.0%) from long range this season
• Thornton is the Bulldogs leading rebounder with 5.7 per game while Marquis Johnson has dished out a team-best 24 assists while appearing in five games to date
• Livingston Cleare is among the top-five shot blockers in the conference with seven blocks in six games for a 1.2 per game average
 
Looking Ahead
• SWOSU then returns to conference play for two matchups in December, starting on December 7th against reigning conference champion Southern Nazarene at home
• The final game before the holiday break will see the Bulldogs head to Shawnee on December 14th for a matchup against Oklahoma Baptist