Men's Basketball | 2/25/2019 3:43:00 PM
Goodwell, Okla. – The Oklahoma Panhandle State University men's basketball team will be making its first appearance in a conference post-season tournament in well over a decade when the team takes the court in the Sooner Athletic Conference championship tournament on Tuesday (Feb. 26/8 p.m.). OPSU (15-13) will be the No. 8-seed in the SAC tournament, traveling to No. 1-seed Wayland Baptist University (24-6) at the Hutcherson Center in Plainview.
The winner of Tuesday's bout will advance to the SAC semifinals on Friday, March 1. The SAC championship contest will take place on Saturday, March 2 (the semifinals and finals will also both be on the campus of Oklahoma City University).
GAME NOTES:
*FOLLOW THE AGGIES: Links for live video and live statistics can both be found on the Panhandle State athletics web site: www.opsuaggies.com
*OPSU AT-A-GLANCE: The Aggies will be looking to regain some of its early-season traction entering the SAC tourney. The Aggies went 3-4 to close the year. The Panhandle State offensive side of the floor is averaging a healthy 84.6 points per game. In all, five Aggies are averaging in double figures, led by senior guard
Breiman Alexander, checking in at 24.0 points per game and 106 three-point baskets made. Alan Hodge and
Khallid Edwards average 15.9 and 15.7 points per game, respectively.
Baris Ulker averages 15.2 points and a team-leading 8.1 rebounds per game, posting 10 double-doubles in 2018-19.
Jaedon Whitfield caps the Aggies' quintet of double-digit scorers at 11.6 p.p.g.
*SCOUTING THE PIONEERS: Wayland Baptist enters the tourney not only as the No. 1-seed, but also as the ninth-ranked team in all of NAIA Division I men's basketball. WBU is currently riding the crest of a six-game win streak and are shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor as a team. The Pioneers are paced by J.J. Culver's 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, while dishing out 3.0 assists per game, as well. Trevonta Robertson and Josh Throns average 17.4 and 12.9 points per game, respectively.
*LAST MEETINGS: The Aggies played the nationally-ranked Pioneers close in both regular season meetings, losing by six (82-76) in Plainview on January 15 and falling at home by 10 points (97-87) on Feb. 12. In that last meeting in Goodwell,
Khallid Edwards and Alan Hodge each booked 19 points for OPSU.
*REMEMBER WHEN: The Aggies last conference post-season action came on March 1, 2006 when the Aggies – then members of the NCAA II Heartland Conference – traveled to Montana State University-Billings (a game OPSU lost by an 80-67 score).
* ALEXANDER THE GREAT: Panhandle State senior
Breiman Alexander's 24.0 points per game average leads the entire SAC and ranks second in the nation in scoring for NAIA Division I. Alexander has scored in double figures in all 26 games in which he has played this season.
*HOT DOWN THE STRETCH: Khallid Edward's was on fire the closing weekend of the regular season, with back-to-back games of a season-high 23 points versus SAGU and 22 points at Texas Wesleyan. He hit 18-26 from the field (69%) and was 9-of-15 (60%) from beyond the arc.
*COMPLETE TOURNAMENT BRACKET:
(at campus sites)
Tuesday's Games
Quarterfinals
Game 1: No. 5 Oklahoma City (18-10) at No. 4 Langston (21-9), 7 p.m.
Game 2: No. 6 Mid-America Christian (19-11) at No. 3 USAO (20-9), 8 p.m.
Game 3: No. 7 Southwestern Assemblies of God (19-11) at No. 2 John Brown (21-9), 7 p.m.
Game 4: No. 8 Panhandle State (15-13) at No. 1 Wayland Baptist (24-6), 8 p.m.
(at Abe Lemons Arena
Oklahoma City)
Friday's Games
Semifinals
Times TBD
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3
Saturday, March 2
Championship
Game 7: Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.
