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Magnolia, Ark. - The Muleriders enter this weekend of games in an unfamiliar place for them this season - having lost two games in a row and not being on top of the GAC standings. The Muleriders' trip up to Oklahoma last weekend resulted in two losses - first to Oklahoma Baptist, then to #19 Southern Nazarene in the GAC's first-ever ranked matchup - by a combined 35 points. On paper, this appears to be a good weekend for a bounce-back - the Muleriders are undefeated at home on the season and are hosting the two teams that occupy the bottom two places in the GAC standings. 

First, the Muleriders will host the Bulldogs from Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday. The Bulldogs are 4-14 on the season and 1-11 in conference play. Despite the record, the last time these two teams met, the Muleriders left Weatherford, OK with a three-point win, 76-73. The Bulldogs won their first conference game against Harding on Saturday with an 89-82 performance that saw the GAC's top scorer, Tre Evans, score 45 points and grab 11 rebounds, including 27-34 from the free-throw line. The 34 attempts mark the most attempts for a single player in a DII game since the 2013-14 season. All of this came one game after the Bulldogs lost 103-92 to Arkansas Tech in which Evans came one assist and two rebounds shy of a triple-double, scoring 34 points, recording nine assists and eight rebounds. Those numbers led to Evans being named co-GAC Player of the Week for the second time this season. For the season, Evans' 23.8 points per game is tops in the GAC. Evans is also sixth in the conference in rebounds (7.4 per game), ninth in assists (4.4 per game), tenth in free-throw percentage (79.6 percent), and leads the GAC in defensive rebounds (6.9 per game). 

On Saturday, the Muleriders will welcome the Rangers from Northwestern Oklahoma State into the W. T. Watson Center. The Rangers are 5-13 on the season and 3-9 in the GAC. The last time these two teams met, the Muleriders left Alva on January 3rd with a 75-63 victory. The Rangers split their games last weekend with a 13-point win over Harding before a two-point loss to Arkansas Tech. Northwestern ranks in the top five in the conference in three-point percentage (4th, 36.8 percent), three-point percentage defense (5th, 35 percent), blocked shots (5th, 3.3 per game) and steals (3rd, 7.3 per game). The Rangers are led in scoring by Treyvon Andres, whose 15.5 points per game puts him seventh in the GAC. Andres is also second in the GAC with 8.5 rebounds per game and 1.7 blocks per game, and teammate AJ Jones leads the GAC in assists with 5.9 per game and steals with 2.6 per game. 

The Muleriders currently sit third in the GAC standings and currently have three players averaging over 10 points per game  - Jalen Brooks (10.6 points per game), DeVante Brooks (10.2 points per game) and CJ Elkins (10.1 points per game) - and two more with more than nine points per game - Aaron Lucas (9.9 points per game) and Draylan Perkins (9.1 points per game). Lucas leads the team in assists and steals, and DeVante leads the team in rebounds and blocked shots. The Muleriders lead the GAC in field goal defense (39.3 percent), rebound defense (31.6 per game) and offensive rebounds (12.6 per game). 

After this weekend, the Muleriders will go on the road to face Henderson before coming home to host Arkansas Tech next Saturday.