OKLAHOMA CITY – MACU Men's Basketball will look to get back on-track in its return home on Thursday night as the Evangels will play Oklahoma Panhandle State with the game time being moved up to a 7 p.m. tip due to inclement weather inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 10-4 (6-4 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost at Texas Wesleyan – 69-58 – Jan. 4, 2024 – Fort Worth, Texas
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points: Josiah Fulcher (237, 16.9 ppg), Juwan White (175, 12.5 ppg)
  • FG Percentage (Min 3 FGM/G): Josiah Fulcher (53.8, 92-171), Keeshawn Mason (45.0, 59-131)
  • 3FG Percentage (Min 1 3FGM/G): Josiah Fulcher (42.6, 26-61), Magok Manyang (40.0, 28-70)
  • FT Percentage (Min 2 FTM/G): Juwan White (85.0, 34-40), Josiah Fulcher (81.8, 27-33)
  • Rebounds: Tarrence Gaines (93, 6.6 rpg), Magok Manyang (90, 6.4 rpg)
  • Assists: Juwan White (58, 4.1 apg), Josiah Fulcher (36, 2.6 apg)
  • Steals: Josiah Fulcher (22, 1.6 spg), Tarrence Gaines (16, 1.1 spg)
  • Blocks: Magok Manyang (13, 0.9 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian struggled to get things going on the offensive end in its last road contest at Texas Wesleyan as the Evangels shot just 31.3 percent from the field, 25.8 percent from three and 38.1 percent from the free throw line in a 69-58 defeat inside the Sid Richardson Center last Saturday.
  • Another big reason for MACU's defeat to the Rams is the result marked just the second time this season that the NAIA's 25^th-best rebounding team was out-worked on the glass as Texas Wesleyan held a 46-35 (plus-11) advantage on the boards. The issues primarily stemmed from the defensive side as the Evangels were held to a season-low 22 defensive boards.
  • The road and home splits have continued to be a challenging one for the Evangels this season as MACU holds an 8-0 record inside the Gaulke Activity Center this season, but fell to 2-4 with their defeat to the Rams. However, before Saturday's result, things had been trending upwards for MACU on the road as it did win its two previous road contests.
  • One area the Evangels will be looking to try and improve in has been their free throw shooting as a whole as MACU ranks last in the Sooner Athletic Conference at 62.3 percent. However, despite the struggles as a team to get things going from the line, MACU's top two scorers in Josiah Fulcher and Juwan White have been very good from the stripe with both players shooting at an above 81 percent clip.

SCOUTING REPORT
Oklahoma Panhandle State

• Record: 5-11 (3-9 SAC)
• Last Game: Won vs. Wayland Baptist (Texas) – 67-66 – Jan. 6, 2024 – Goodwell, Okla.
• Series vs MACU (2018-): MACU leads 7-5
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 82-47 – Jan. 27, 2024 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Series Streak: MACU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Amaree Brown – SO – G
    • 287 Points (17.9 ppg), 98-211 FG (46.4%), 26-69 3FG (37.7%), 65-83 FT (78.3%), 64 Reb (4.0 rpg), 24 Assists (1.5 apg)
  • Brice Langford – SR – F/C
    • 113 Points (8.1 ppg), 42-94 FG (44.7%), 27-53 FT (50.9%), 69 Reb (4.9 rpg), 18 Assists (1.3 apg), 15 Blocks (1.1 bpg)
  • Kyle Belgrave II – SR – G/F
    • 127 Points (7.9 ppg), 49-107 FG (45.8%), 29-49 FT (59.2%), 79 Reb (4.9 rpg), 17 Blocks (1.1 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Oklahoma Panhandle State is coming off one of its biggest wins of the season on Monday as the Aggies stunned SAC leader Wayland Baptist 67-66 inside Anchor D Arena. The Pioneers had a chance at the end of the game when the reigning NAIA Offensive Player of the Week Quenton Coleman knocked down a three with five seconds left to cut it to a one-point game and the Aggies missed a pair of foul shots. However, the Pioneers came up empty at the buzzer as OPSU held on for the win.
  • Even though OPSU enters Thursday night's contest with a 5-11 overall record and a 3-9 mark in league play, the Aggies have been a resilient team this season. Before Monday's result, 10 of OPSU's 15 games were decided by six points or less while the Aggies were 0-10 in those 10 previous games.
  • The Aggies biggest struggles this season have come on the offensive end as OPSU enters the contest as the second-worst scoring offense in the conference at 68.8 ppg while posting the SAC's second-lowest shooting percentage (40.2) and second-lowest free throw percentage (64.6) while holding the lowest three-point clip (26.5). However, the Aggies have been much better on the defensive side, ranking third in the SAC in scoring defense (66.8) while holding opponents to a league-low 38.9 percent shooting and second-lowest three-point percentage (29.6).
  • Despite OPSU's offensive struggles, MACU will need to look to find a way to shut down Amaree Brown. The sophomore guard is the conference's seventh-best scorer at 17.9 ppg while posting a solid 46.4 percent shooting percentage and posting an effective 37.7 percent clip from three-point range.
  • Since first facing Oklahoma Panhandle State in 2018, Mid-America Christian holds the edge in the all-time series with a 7-5 record and have been particularly better since the 2019-20 season as the Evangels have won six of the last eight meetings. The last time the two squared off inside the Gaulke, MACU ran away with a dominant 82-47 victory.