MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Let the madness begin. The calendar moves to March and for eight Great American Conference men's basketball teams, it is postseason party time in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. For the ninth time, Southern Arkansas heads to the Sooner State for postseason basketball. Awaiting the No. 7 seed Muleriders is #23 Southeastern Oklahoma; the No. 2 seed in the league tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for high noon from inside Bruin Fieldhouse on Thursday, March 5. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.

BACK TO BARTLESVILLE
*The Muleriders (13-15, 10-12 GAC) finished the regular season with at least 13 wins for the sixth-consecutive season. They enter the GAC's postseason party as the No. 7 seed and will face Southeastern Oklahoma (22-7, 16-6 GAC) who enter as the No. 2 seed ranked No. 24 nationally and third in the Central Region rankings. 
*Southern Arkansas returns to Bartlesville for the ninth-consecutive season and holds the distinction as the only men's team to appear in every league tournament since the Great American Conference was formed in 2011-12. 
*The Muleriders hold a 2-8 postseason record in Bartlesville with opening round wins over Southwestern Oklahoma in 2014 (63-59), when the Bulldogs entered as the No. 2 seed, and 2016 (83-82).
*Thursday's meeting will be the first between the two teams in Bartlesville and the third meeting this season. SOSU won 77-55 in Durant on January 11 and SAU claimed a 69-65 win in Magnolia on February 20. It will be the Muleriders' fourth matchup against an Oklahoma school in the GAC Tournament.

RELENTLESS 'RIDERS
*At home this season, the Muleriders posted a 10-3 record overall; the program's third-consecutive season with at least ten wins inside the W.T. Watson Center. Since the 2017-18 season, Southern Arkansas owns a 33-8 mark in Magnolia which at one point included 14-straight wins in addition to the Muleriders having once carried a 16-game home winning streak against in-state GAC opposition.
*SAU didn't fare quite as well on the road during the regular season as they finished 2-10 in true road contests and 3-12 overall in games played away from Magnolia. However, despite that win-loss ledger, the Muleriders found themselves with an opportunity late in many of those road defeats.
*Nine of the team's dozen losses away from home were by eight points or less with five losses at five or fewer points. Only on three occasions were the Muleriders defeated by nine or more points.
*Despite having the league's lowest scoring offense at 68.9 ppg, the Muleriders finished their 28-game regular season slate as one of seven league teams with a positive scoring margin as SAU employed one of the most stifling defenses in the country.
*The Muleriders enter postseason play allowing only 67.6 ppg; the 26th-best average in Division II, and own the 28th-best perimeter defense as opponents are successful on just 32.2% of their three-point attempts against SAU this season. Both of those marks rank second in the GAC. 

BOARD BROTHERS
*One of the top story lines for Southern Arkansas throughout the 2019-20 season has been the play of sibling duo Devante and Jalen Brooks. The Shreveport, Louisiana, products have quickly become two of the league's best rebounders and have created a fearsome presence inside for opponents.
*Devante, in his third season for the Muleriders, finished the regular season as the league's leader in rebounding at 9.0 per game. He finished the 28-game regular season with 253 rebounds (108 OFF, 145 DEF) which pushed him into 2nd all-time on the program's career rebounding chart with 692. His 409 career defensive rebounds ranks 2nd all-time as well and he is just 21 such boards back of breaking the program record. On the offensive glass, the athletic big man's 283 rebounds are 66 more than the next closest player on the career charts.
*The 253 rebounds are the second-most in a single season, while his 108 offensive rebounds are the most in any campaign in program history. He is currently 13 defensive rebounds away from breaking the single-season record in the category.
*This season, the elder Brooks' 3.86 offensive rebounds per game ranks sixth nationally and his total average (9.0) ranks 35th in Division II.
*In the regular season finale, Devante grabbed a program and Great American Conference record 23 rebounds (11 OFF/12 DEF) as part of his eighth double-double of the season. 
*For Jalen, the sophomore combo is quickly following in his brother's footsteps as he finished the regular season ranked eighth in rebounding average at 7.5 per game. He grabbed 211 rebounds (79 OFF/132 DEF) during his second season as a Mulerider which is currently sixth all-time in single season in program history.
*Jalen's 2.8 offensive rebounds per game ranks fifth in the GAC and his 0.7 blocks per game ranks 13th in the league.
*In addition to their production on the glass, the duo holds top 20 scoring marks in the league. Devante's 13.8 ppg ranks 16th, while Jalen's 13.5 ppg ranks 17th.

HARDWOOD HIGHLIGHTS
*With the glass-cleaning abilities of the Brooks Brothers, Southern Arkansas enters the postseason ranked 33rd nationally in rebounds per game (39.2) and 39th in the country in total rebounds (1,098) which is tied for the sixth-most in a single season in program history. The team's rebounding margin of 5.6 leads the GAC and ranks 31st in Division II. SAU's 13.9 offensive rebounds per game ranks 11th nationally. 
*J. Brooks became the first Mulerider Men's Basketball player in over five years to be named the league's player of the week after he was honored by the GAC on January 27. It snapped a span of 1,841 days that the program had went without a player being honored as the GAC's best over the previous seven days. 
*Junior guard Aaron Lucas leads the team in minutes played this season totaling 965 minutes of on-court time. That total is second-most in a single season in program history and just eight minutes back of Shawn Mason's 973 minutes played in 2001-02.
*Lucas is the team's leading scorer at 14.5 ppg and also leads the team in assists (114) and steals (46). The total assists are the sixth-most in a single-season in program history and the steals total is just one back of cracking the single season top ten.
*The Muleriders have totaled 199 steals this season with five players accounting for at least 15 this campaign. 
*Six different players (D. Brooks, J. Brooks, Lucas, Brown, Davis, Gilliam) have led the team in scoring this season, while seven different players have led the team in rebounding (D. Brooks, J. Brooks, Lucas, Shagourie, Davis, Ivy, Thomas).

MULERIDERS BY THE NUMBERS
0 - With a squad of 17 players on the 2019-20 roster, zero are seniors. The Muleriders boast six juniors with five having played their entire career in Magnolia. Additionally, the roster includes three redshirts and seven players that are either second-year freshmen or true freshmen that have seen playing time for the first time collegiately this season. Of the half dozen juniors, three enter the conference tournament having played in every game this season, while four average 15+ minutes per game.

187 - Devante and Jalen have combined for 187 offensive rebounds this season. That current total is more than the offensive team total of four Division II programs and Division I programs Wyoming, Niagara, Charlotte and Dartmouth this season. Last season, the brothers combined for 143 offensive rebounds. The duo's offensive board average of 6.67 per game is better than nine Division I schools and six Division II schools.

675 - SAU has attempted 675 free throws this season, the third-most in a single-season in program history, and the 20th-most in Division II this season. Lucas leads the team with 117 makes which ranks sixth in the GAC and in success rate at 74.1%. Lucas, along with the Brooks Brothers, have combined for 452 of the team's attempts. On January 24, the Muleriders posted a team-best free throw effort under head coach Andy Sharpe as they made 34 of their 38 attempts in the win.

SCOUTING THE SAVAGE STORM
*Of Southeastern Oklahoma's seven losses this season, the last six have come at four points or less with five of the losses coming on the road. The team's last loss was to Southern Arkansas and the Savage Storm head to Bartlesville winners of three-straight to end the regular season.
*The Savage Storm enter the weekend averaging 81.8 ppg, while allowing just 70.9 ppg to opponents. 
*SOSU ranks in the top 25 nationally in six statistical categories including top ten marks in fewest fouls per game (2nd | 12.7) and fewest fouls (5th | 367), and the squad ranks 12th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.52.
*The team's leading scorer is Kevin Buckingham at 21.4 ppg; the 30th-highest scoring mark in the country. He also ranks 39th nationally in field-goal percentage (57.1%), and 11th in Division II in total field goals made (248).
*Adam Dworsky ranks second in the country in assists per game (8.3) and leads the country in total assists (242). Dworksy ranks 18th in Division II in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.95), and holds top 10 marks in total minutes (7th | 1099:06) and minutes per game (10th | 37:54).
*Kayo Goncalves ranks fourth nationally in three-point field goal percentage (47.2%) and 27th in total rebounds (258).