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SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
MULERIDERS
10-13 (8-9 GAC)
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#17 ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO
BOLL WEEVILS
19-2 (15-2 GAC)
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Monday, February 13 | 7:30 p.m.
Steelman Field House - Monticello, Ark.
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO (SAU Feed)
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GAME NOTES (PDF)
Tipping Off
The Southern Arkansas Muleriders and the Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils are set for the second installment of "Rivalry Monday" as the two teams meet this evening in the Steelman Field House in Monticello.
The first matchup went the way of the Boll Weevils, 96-87, and tonight the Muleriders will be looking to upset UAM and continue to better their positioning for the upcoming Great American Conference Basketball Tournament in Bartlesville, Okla. Currently, the Muleriders are in line for a berth into the GAC Tournament tied for seventh-place with Henderson State, but both SAU and Henderson are also just one game up on Northwestern Oklahoma, who is currently ninth in the standings.
In the first meeting, UAM was unbeaten on the year at 12-0 and ranked #22 by NABC. Tonight, the Boll Weevils enter with a pair of losses on their record, but a higher national ranking at #17. UAM is also atop the GAC standings, two games ahead of second-place Arkansas Tech and East Central.
MULERIDER NEWS & NOTES
The Southern Arkansas men's basketball team enters play tonight with a 10-13 overall record and an 8-9 mark in the GAC. The Muleriders are coming off of a 10-point win at home against Henderson State to break a brief two-game skid. At 8-9 in the conference, the Muleriders are tied for seventh-place in the GAC standings and are one-game up on Northwestern Oklahoma for the eighth and final seed as well.
On the season, the Muleriders are averaging 72.4 points per game, which ranks ninth in the GAC. Defensively, the Muleriders rank sixth in scoring defense in the GAC at 73.5 points per game, and their -1.1 scoring margin ranks 10th in the league.
As a team, the Muleriders are shooting .424 (587-of-1,385) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .316 (128-of-405) from long range. From the free throw line, the Muleriders are shooting .656 (363-of-553). Their overall field goal percentage ranks 11th in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks ninth. At the charity stripe the Muleriders' percentage ranks 11th.
Individually, the Muleriders have three players who are averaging double figures in scoring with
CJ Elkins leading the team at 16.9 points per game. Elkins' scoring average ranks sixth in the GAC.
De'Sean Dockery is next on the team at 10.5 ppg and
Snyder Cenecharles rounds out double figure scoring with a 10.4 ppg average. The leading rebounder on the team is
Denarious Lockhart with 8.6 rpg. Elkins is the top assist man on the team with an average of 2.4 assists per game.
COACH
The Muleriders are coached by
Andy Sharpe, who is in his fifth season at Southern Arkansas. In his time at SAU, Sharpe has amassed a 63-70 overall record.
Over the past two seasons, Sharpe has begun to turn the Muleriders into serious contenders in the GAC as SAU has won 24 conference games and have finished in the top half of the standings each year as well. Overall in the past two seasons, Sharpe has guided the Muleriders to a 32-25 record while also posting consecutive winning seasons for the first time since the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO
The Arkansas-Monticello men's basketball team enters play this weekend with a 19-2 overall record and are 15-2 in the Great American Conference. The Boll Weevils enter play tonight having won their last five games. Two of those games have come in overtime as UAM beat Southeastern Oklahoma back on January 28 in double overtime and then needed triple overtime this past Saturday to beat Harding.
As a team, the Boll Weevils are shooting .500 (639-of-1,277) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .356 (126-of-354) from long range. From the free throw line, the Boll Weevils are shooting .729 (420-of-576). Their overall field goal percentage ranks first in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks fifth. At the charity stripe the Boll Weevils' percentage ranks second.
So far this season, the Boll Weevils are averaging 86.9 points per game offensively, and are allowing 74.5 points per game defensively. Their points per game scoring ranks second in the GAC while their scoring defense per game ranks ninth in the league.
All five of the UAM starters are averaging double-figures in scoring with Derylton Hill leading the team with 18.2 points per game. Coby Goosby is next at 15.1 ppg followed by Karim Mawuenyega at 14.4 ppg and Tyrin Jones at 12.3 ppg. Vicktor Arnick rounds out double-figure scoring with 12.1 ppg. Hill is also the team's leading rebounder at 7.5 rebounds per game. Goosby is the team's top assist man at 5.3 assists per game.
COACH
The Boll Weevils are coached by Kyle Tolin, who is in his third season at Arkansas-Monticello. In his previous two seasons, Tolin had won 15 games combined. To this point, Tolin and the Boll Weevils have won 19 games.
LAST YEAR/LAST TIME OUT
Last time out, Arkansas-Monticello was ranked #22 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and beat SAU by a score of 96-87 in Magnolia. In that game, SAU's
Darnell Jones-Bowie scored a career-high 23 points.
THE SERIES
This is the 40th meeting since 1997-98 between SAU and Arkansas-Monticello with the two teams meeting at least twice a year in that time as conference opponents. This portion of the all-time series has been fairly even with SAU holding a 20-19 advantage.
