Men's Basketball Looks to Return to Winning Ways

Thursday, January 12 • Fort Smith, Ark. • Gayle Kaundart Arena
St. Mary's (6-7, 3-5) at UAFS (8-7, 4-5) • 7:30 p.m. 

Saturday, January 14 • Oklahoma City • Payne Athletic Center
St. Mary's at Oklahoma Christian (7-8, 3-6) • 3 p.m.

Opening Tip

•    St. Mary's wraps up a four-game road trip with games at UAFS on Thursday and Oklahoma Christian. Both teams are 3-2 in the East Division, while the Rattlers are looking for their first win.

•    St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 17th in the NCAA with 13.54 offensive rebounds per game. The Rattlers also lead the league with 8.9 steals per game and are second in both assists (15.6) and turnovers forced (17.77).

•    After scoring a season-low five points against Texas A&M Kingsville on Dec. 30, junior Tyler Caron responded by scoring 65 points over the last three games (21.67/game). Caron leads the team and ranks seventh in the Lone Star Conference with 15.3 points per game. 

•    The Rattlers are the only team in the Lone Star Conference with two players ranked in the top 10 in offensive rebounds as seniors Emmanuel Ewuzie (3rd, 3.4) and Mamady Djikine (7th, 2.6) both appear.

•    Junior Jalon Johnson is fitting right into the Rattlers system and currently ranks third in the Lone Star statistics in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.21) and fifth in assists/game (3.5). Last week, Johnson collected seven assists with no turnovers in over 58 minutes of action. 

•    All 13 players who have attempted a three-pointer this season have made at least one, breaking the Rattler record for most players sinking a triple in one season. In 2020-21, 12 different players made one, while in 2001-02 all 11 players who saw action drained one or more.

•    St. Mary's has made at least three three-pointers in 77 straight games and one or more in 147 consecutive games, dating back to Jan. 14, 2017. 

•    Senior Caleb Jordan is second all-time in StMU history with 350 free throws made and four shy of the record of 356 by Anthony Houston (1986-89). He is also four assists shy of appearing in the top-10. Jai Mahone (1981-83) currently holds down the 10th spot on the career list with 304.