Setting the Scene
• Bulldog Basketball hits the road for two games this weekend and they'll be matched up against a pair of in-state conference rivals
• First up is a trip to Percefull Fieldhouse in Alva for a rivalry tilt at Northwestern Oklahoma State before SWOSU heads to Bethany on Saturday to face league-leader Southern Nazarene
• SWOSU is 0-7 in Alva since Northwestern joined the GAC for the 2012-13 season and they've lost nine straight contests at Percefull Fieldhouse, dating back to a 75-66 victory over the Rangers on February 14, 1996
• Southern Nazarene has emerged as a power in the Great American Conference and the Bulldogs have dropped seven straight matchups to the Crimson Storm and 10 of their last 11
• The Bulldogs have went 1-1 in all six weekends of 2020 and they enter these rivalry games in a three-way tie for eighth place in the GAC standings at 7-9
 
About the Opponent
Northwestern Okla. (8-14, 5-11 GAC)
• The Rangers have alternated wins and losses in their last five games, but they remain two games out of eighth place and the final spot in the GAC Tournament
• Northwestern is the second-lowest scoring team in the conference at 70.1 points per game while opponents are scoring 75.8 points on average
• Parrish Hewitt leads the Rangers with 15.7 points per game for the year while Jaedon Whitefield is second on the team with 14.0 points per game and leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game
 
Southern Nazarene (18-6, 12-4 GAC)
• SNU has won four straight games and nine of their last ten to move into sole possession of first place in the standings with six games to play
• The Crimson Storm have the best scoring defense in the league, holding opponents to 66.2 points per game while scoring an average of 78.1 points
• Jhonathan Dunn, a seven-time GAC Player of the Week this season, leads the conference and ranks third nationally with an average of 27.1 points per game
 
SWOSU Notes
• After recording his fifth double-double of the season and third in the past five games with 15 points and 12 rebounds at East Central, SWOSU's leading scorer Damion Thornton was held to a season-low nine points before fouling out against Oklahoma Baptist
• Thornton has led the Bulldogs scoring 16 times this season and he enters the weekend ranked fifth in the league in scoring (19.5 ppg), fourth in rebounding (7.9 rpg) and third in steals (2.0 spg)
• Chris Braggs, Jr., scored a team-high 19 points on Thursday at East Central and he's averaging 10.5 points per game since joining the starting lineup six games ago
• The Bulldogs committed a season-low five turnovers on Saturday against Oklahoma Baptist while forcing 19, which helped improve their league-leading turnover margin to +5.7
• Kamden Gipson led the Dawgs in scoring for the second time this season after scoring 18 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists and three steals against OBU
• SWOSU leads the Great American Conference with 191 steals this season, an average of 8.7 per game, and senior guard Marquis Johnson also leads the league individually with 2.1 steals per game
• Jaylan Williams has knocked down multiple three-pointers in eight of the last nine games and he ranks sixth in the GAC with 60 made three's this season, an average of 2.7 per game
• Bralyn James hit 5-of-8 field goal attempts against OBU and scored 10 points off the bench for his sixth double-digit scoring night of the year
• The Bulldogs have shot the third-most free throws (531) of any team in the conference and they're ranked eighth in free throw percentage at 71.4% (379-531)
 
Looking Ahead
• The Bulldogs will play their final road games of the season next weekend as they travel to Arkadelphia, Ark., to face Henderson State (Feb. 20) and Ouachita (Feb. 22)
• SWOSU will close out the regular season with two games at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center, hosting Harding (Feb. 27) and Arkansas Tech (Feb. 29)