DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State looks to get back in the win column on Thursday when SE gets set to face Southern Nazarene at 7:30 p.m. in the Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
STORM WATCH
Southeastern (3-7, 1-3) dropped its second consecutive GAC contest to Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday night in an 84-81 overtime defeat. The Savage Storm loss marks the fourth one-score defeat for the blue and gold this season, as SE is just 1-4 in games decided by three or less points.
DJ Dill continues his impressive freshman campaign after seeing 20 points versus NWOSU and now has four 20-point games this season and seven double-digit contests in nine appearances. The Caddo, Okla. native leads the side in scoring and ranks tenth-best in the GAC with 15.9 points per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from deep.
Daniel Halldorsson is another freshman seeing double-figure points per game (11.7) and the guard also leads the league in assists with 84.
Andrija Brzovic got his first start of the season against the Rangers after making six appearances off the bench. The Zagreb, Croatia native tallied seven points and chipped in four rebounds, two assists and a block across 26 minutes. This season, freshmen have combined for 927 of 2025 minutes, led by Halldorsson, who is averaging a team-high 35.5 minutes per game.
Statistically, the Storm are third in scoring with 82.8 points per game and sit fifth in field goal percentage (47.1) and second in three-pointer percentage (38.4). At the glass, Southeastern leads the conference with 39.0 rebounds per game with the help of
Robert Briley, who ranks fourth with 8.1 boards per game. SE's struggles have come in the turnover department, as the side sits 12
th with a -2.90 turnover margin with 143 on the year.
Last year, Southeastern and Southern Nazarene met three times, with the Savage Storm sweeping the regular season series, but the Crimson Storm would get the better of SE in the GAC Tournament. Since joining the conference, the SE and SNU series has gone back and forth, with Southern Nazarene holding a 15-14 edge.
PREVIEWING SOUTHERN NAZARENE
Southern Nazarene comes into Thursday's game one of two undefeated teams in GAC play with a 4-0 record and are 7-1 overall. The Crimson Storm's only blemish this season came at Dallas Baptist back on Nov. 30 in an 82-64 defeat. Since then, SNU has won four straight games, including a 61-53 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State most recently.
The Crimson Storm is led by its defense, as they rank first in the conference in scoring defense, giving up just 60.5 points per game. Teams have struggled to shoot the ball versus SNU this season, with the Crimson Storm holding teams to 39.3 percent shooting from the field and 28.7 percent from the three-point line.
On the other end of the court, Southern Nazarene is averaging 70.0 points per game, led by Baron Bracey and Stevie Strong with 13.6 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. Jeremy Golson paces the three-point efforts with 19 triples on a 47.5 percent clip, averaging 9.9 points per game. SNU enters the game versus the Storm averaging 70.0 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting from the field and are converting 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.
