Setting the Scene
• SWOSU Men's Basketball is set for two in-state rivalry matchups this weekend as they continue their push to qualify for the Great American Conference Tournament
• The Bulldogs are headed to Ada on Thursday night, searching for the season sweep of East Central before returning home on Saturday and looking to avenge an earlier loss to Oklahoma Baptist
• Tipoff on Saturday is set for 1:00 pm after being moved up to avoid a scheduling conflict at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center
• SWOSU is 5-5 since the start of 2020 and they've gone 1-1 during each weekend of the year, including an 85-84 victory over Arkansas-Monticello last Saturday following a 65-63 defeat against Southern Arkansas on Thursday
• The Bulldogs enter the weekend tied for eighth place in the GAC standings with UAM, one game behind Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas for sixth
 
About the Opponent
East Central (15-5, 9-5 GAC)
• ECU is tied with Henderson State for third place in the GAC standings, one game out of second place and two games out of third with eight games to play
• The Tigers are unbeaten, 9-0 at home this season and they lead the conference in scoring by putting up 88.2 points per game for the year
• Camron Talley leads the Tigers and ranks second in the conference in scoring, averaging 22.6 points per game, and he scored 27 points in just 25 minutes the first time against SWOSU
 
Oklahoma Baptist (13-7, 8-6 GAC)
• OBU went 1-1 last weekend and they find themselves alone in fifth place in the league standings at 8-6
• The Bison have struggled on the road this season, where they are 5-6 compared to 8-1 when playing at home
• OBU ranks sixth in the conference in both scoring offense (78.4 ppg) and scoring defense (75.2 ppg) and they have three different players scoring 10 or more points per game, led by Jaquan Simms (12.9)
 
SWOSU Notes
• The Bulldogs have forced their opponents into at least 10 turnovers in every game this season and they lead the GAC in both turnovers forced (19.4 per game) and turnover margin (+5.2)
• Damion Thornton has led the Bulldogs in both scoring and rebounding in four straight games, including double-doubles against Arkansas Tech (16 points-12 rebounds) and Southern Arkansas (14-11)
• Kamden Gipson was held to eight points in the Bulldogs win over UAM, but he had six points in the closing minutes, including the game-winning basket with less than three seconds to play
• The Bulldogs finished with a combined nine steals in two games last weekend after recording a season-high 14 in their win at Harding on January 25th
• Damion Thornton and Marquis Johnson are both tied for the league-lead with 2.0 steals per game, helping SWOSU rank second in the conference with 8.7 per game
• Chris Braggs, Jr., has started the last four games for the Dawgs and he's coming off his second-best scoring effort of the season with 16 points against Monticello on Saturday
• After scoring nine points on 3-11 shooting against Southern Arkansas, Jaylan Williams had his streak of games with more than one three-pointer snapped at six after he finished 1-4 from long range against Arkansas-Monticello
• Marquis Johnson has scored 10 or more points in four straight games and five of the last six to move into second on the team in scoring with 11.4 points per game for the year
 
Looking Ahead
• Rivalry week sends the Bulldogs to Alva and Bethany next weekend for conference showdowns at Northwestern Oklahoma State (Feb. 13) and Southern Nazarene (Feb. 15)
• The following weekend features the final Arkansas road trip of the season as SWOSU travels to Arkadelphia to face Henderson State (Feb. 20) and Ouachita (Feb. 22)