MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Following an emotional loss at the final horn of last Saturday's Great American Conference home opener against Henderson State, Southern Arkansas was undoubtedly looking forward to its next opportunity to erase that result from its memory. One week later, the Muleriders have that opportunity, once again inside the W.T. Watson Center, as Ouachita head to Magnolia for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, December 11. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
 
The 65-62 loss to the Reddies dropped SAU to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in GAC play. Nine teams have won at least once in two tries in league play with three unbeaten teams and three winless teams. The Tigers (1-6, 0-2 GAC) enter Saturday looking for its first conference win of the season after losses at Arkansas Tech and vs. Harding.
 
Since the start of the 2018 season, SAU is 7-3 against Ouachita which at one point included five-consecutive victories before the Tigers stopped SAU 73-59 last spring in a late season contest that forced a share of the GAC Eastern Division title. Since the 2011-12 season, SAU is 14-8 against the Tigers with 11 straight victories inside the W.T. Watson Center.
 
Southern Arkansas enters the ninth game of the campaign third in the GAC in both scoring offense (81.2 ppg) and scoring defense (64.1 ppg) to give tenth-year head coach Andy Sharpe and company the league's best scoring margin (+17.1) which stands as the 17^th-highest mark in DII hoops. The Muleriders own an overall shooting percentage (44.6%) and a three-point shooting percentage (32.9%) that both rank in the middle of the pack in the GAC, while SAU's field goal percentage defense leads the league at 39.3% and ranks 25^th nationally, and its perimeter defense ranks third at 30.5%.
 
The Muleriders have made an honest living rebounding the basketball this season grabbing 41.5 boards per contest, 14.3 of which are on the offensive glass, and both marks are tops in the GAC to go along with a rebounding margin that ranks third at +7. SAU's work on the offensive boards is currently the 16^th best effort in the country, while its total rebounding per game average ranks 22^nd.
 
High scoring margin and rebounding effort aside, the Muleriders have clamped down defensively as they enter mid-December with top-15 marks nationally in turnover margin (12^th, +6) and in turnovers forced (15^th, 18.25).
 
SAU has been led by senior forward Devante Brooks' 17.8 ppg and three other Muleriders in double-figure scoring this season: senior guard Aaron Lucas (12.9 ppg), junior combo Jalen Brooks (11.9 ppg) and junior guard Blake Rogers (11.8 ppg). All four scoring averages rank in the top 22 in the GAC with D. Brooks' currently the fourth-highest.
 
The elder of the Brooks brothers leads the team in FG% at 62% which ranks third in the GAC among players with 50 or more shot attempts. The glass-cleaning duo of Devante (9.0 rpg), who leads the league in total rebounds (72) and offensive rebounds per game (3.38), and Jalen (7.5 rpg) combine for 16.5 rebounds per game and 6.2 offensive rebounds per game. The brothers are currently bringing in more offensive boards per game combined than a dozen NCAA teams (all division including five Division I programs).
 
Lucas' 4.1 assists per game rank fourth in the GAC and Rogers' share rate of 2.4 is the 15^th best among the league. J. Brooks (2.0 spg) and Lucas (1.7 spg) are both currently in the GAC's top 10 in steals per game. Rogers leads the team and ranks 14^th in the GAC in three-point percentage at 41.9% and sixth in three-pointers made at 2.3, while Lucas owns a team-best FT% of 83.9% and is fourth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.9 per game.
 
D. Brooks and Jessie Davie Jr. have formed a formidable shot-swatting service on the defensive end of the floor as both players are in the top 12 of the GAC in blocked shots per game with the former's 1.5 ranking second.
 
Ouachita enters averaging 69.4 ppg, while allowing 79.1 ppg. Opponents are shooting 48.3% from the floor against the Tigers and are averaging over 35 rebounds per game. Ma'Darius Hobson's 17.2 ppg ranks fifth in the GAC, while Kendarious Smith's 13.2 ppg ranks 13^th. Smith is also shooting 90% from the free throw line and his 27 rebounds this season lead the team. Hobson's 2.2 steals per game ranks fifth in the GAC.