MAGNOLIA, Ark. - While the snow and ice have had their way with southwest Arkansas this week, the W.T. Watson Center is thawed out and ready to heat up as a pair of Great American Conference home contests blanket Southern Arkansas' slate this weekend in Magnolia. The Muleriders play host to Southern Nazarene at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night and will return to action on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off with Oklahoma Baptist. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com. 

ON THE UP AND UP
>>> The Muleriders are coming off a road win at East Central that saw SAU snap a five-game losing streak, while earning the program its first win in Ada since November of 2015. 
>>> This season, SAU has played a dozen of their 14 games against DII foes.
>>> In the team's eight DII games played in 2023, SAU was scoring at an average of 64.5 ppg with 6.4 made three-point shots per game in those eight contests. 
>>> In the four games post-break, Southern Arkansas is averaging 76.0 ppg and is knocking down an average of 9.0 three point shots per game. 
>>> Cedric Garrett has been a welcomed addition to the lineup. Garrett missed the first ten games of the season due to injury, but has seen action in the team's four contests in the New year.
>>> Averaging 21.3 minutes per game, Garrett is scoring at a per game clip of 10.8, third-highest on the team, behind an overall shooting clip of 46.9% and a three-point percentage of 50%.
>>> Moral Victories do nothing for the win column, but the Muleriders enter the back half of the schedule having played well against the two teams currently at the top of the league standings: Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma. 

NOW BOARDING
>>> The Muleriders hold a pair of top 15 marks nationally in rebounding. SAU ranks 13th in DII in offensive rebounds per game (13.93) and 14th in DII in rebound margin (+7.8). Both Statistics rank second in the GAC behind Saturday's Opponent Oklahoma Baptist. SAU also ranks second in the GAC in total rebounding at 39.07 which is also the fifth-highest board-grabbing effort in the Central Region. 
>>> The Muleriders' near +8 rebound margin ranks sixth in the Central Region, while its offensive rebounding effort of nearly 14 per game ranks second in the Region.
>>> Carel Ray Jr. leads the charge on the boards with 118 total rebounds and an average of 8.4 per game. Both marks top the GAC, while his 2.71 offensive rebounds per and 5.71 defensive rebounds per both rank second.
>>> Ray's rebounding numbers all rank in the top 10 in the Central Region with his total rebounding currently fifth. 
>>> Gregory Hammond Jr. adds 8.2 rebounds per and Jessie Davis Jr. averages 5.8.

SHOWCASE AT THE STRIPE
>>> Southern Arkansas is shooting 68.6% from the line which would currently stand as the best team effort in the program's GAC Era. 
>>> Two players, Anthony Igiede and CJ Ray, make up one of just five pairs of teammates to rank inside the Central Region's Top 30 in free throw percentage. 
>>> Igiede ranks tenth in the region and fifth in the GAC at 87.9% from the line. Ray follows at 19th regionally and sixth in the GAC at 84.4%. 
>>> Igiede has made 51 of his 58 attempts this season and owns three games with six makes or more from the line including a career-high seven against Ouachita.
>>> Ray has netted 38 of his 45 shots from the stripe and has made four or more shots from the line in seven games.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON STORM
>>> Southern Nazarene enters Thursday night's matchup having lost just twice in magnolia since the two programs' first meeting as GAC foes on January 12, 2013. 
>>> Since the 2016-17 season, SNU holds a 10-2 lead in the series with both losses by three points.
>>> SNU has won two straight games entering the weekend, but comes to magnolia just 1-5 on the road. 
>>> SNU ANd SAU matchup as two of the three teams currently tied for the eighth and final postseason spot in the GAC Tournament. 
>>> The Crimson Storm enter as one of the league's more disciplined teams in terms of fouls averaging just 14.8 per game which leads the league. On the other end of the floor, SNU is averaging a league-best 23.2 attempts from the charity stripe and ranks second in makes per game at 15.8, but owns the second-worst FT% at 68.2%. 
>>> SNU shoots and defends the three-point shot well. The Crimson Storm rank third in the GAC in 3PT% at 36.4%, while opponents are making threes against SNU at the league's third-lowest rate of 31.4%. 
>>> Benno Zecic leads the GAC in assists per game at 6.2; the fifth-highest helper rate in the country. His 25 steals and 1.92 steals per game both are the fourth-most in the GAC. 
>>> Cam Slaymaker's 91 free throw attempts lead the Conference as do his 76 makes. His 83.5% success rate from the line in inside the league's top 10. 
>>> Slaymaker paces the squad in scoring at 17.2 ppg which ranks sixth in the GAC.
>>> Ben Baker-McCann holds a pair of top eight rankings in the league in terms of rebounding. His 6.7 boards per game ranks seventh and his 4.92 defensive rebounds rank eighth. 
>>> Slaymaker and Zecic both average over 33:30 minutes per game. 

SCOUTING THE BISON
>>> Oklahoma Baptist prepares for its eighth contest all-time inside the W.T. Watson Center. SAU has controlled the series at home with a 6-1 record overall, but the Bison won last year's meeting in Magnolia.
>>> An even .500 both overall and in conference play, OBU played tough non-conference foes losing by six to #12 Minnesota Duluth and by 18 to #11 West Texas A&M. The Bison dropped games to two of the top teams in the GAC, Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma, by an average of four points. 
>>> The Bison contend as one of the top rebounding teams in the country ranking in the top eight nationally in rebound margin (8.9, 6th), rebound average (42.43; 7th) and offensive rebound average (14.5, 8th). All three marks lead the GAC.
>>> OBU enters the weekend averaging over 80 ppg with a scoring margin of +8.5 behind an overall shooting clip of 46.9%. 
>>> The Bison are deep too having averaged 31.43 bench points over 14 games; an average that leads the league and ranks 25th in DII.
>>> OBU ranks second in the GAC in fastbreak points per game at 13.07. 
>>> The Bison defend the three ball at a solid rate of 31.3%; second best in the league and nearly a top 50 mark nationally. 
>>> Terry Coner Jr. leads the Bison in scoring at 16.9 ppg which ranks inside the conference's top 10. Both Coner Jr. and Ricky Brown rank inside the league's top 10 in three pointers made per game.
>>> Coner is the team's top shooter in terms of volume (182) and Percentage (46.2).
>>> Nathan Wilson ranks second in the GAC with 2.71 offensive rebounds per game. His 7.3 rebound average ranks third as does his blocks per game average of 0.93. 
>>> Trevin Wade holds a top 40 mark nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.43 which is the second highest mark in the GAC.