PREVIEW: Men's Basketball vs. Univ. of the Ozarks (11/30) | Johnson & Wales (CO) (12/02)
MULTIMEDIA COVERAGE
(University of the Ozarks)
(Johnson & Wales University)
SOCIAL MEDIA
UD Twitter: @UDallasSports
UD Men's Basketball Twitter: @UDallasMBB
UD Facebook: University of Dallas Athletics
UD Men's Basketball Facebook: University of Dallas Basketball
UD Instagram: udallasathletics
OPENING TIP
The University of Dallas men's basketball team begins a season-long, five-game homestand with Thursday's date tipping off the stretch against University of the Ozarks. The contest is marked down for 7:30 p.m. and will follow the women's basketball tilt. On Saturday, the Crusaders welcome Johnson & Wales University (CO) at 3 p.m.
Dallas (3-1) is off to one of its better starts so far under 10-year head coach Jarred Samples. Prior to Sunday's three-point setback at Illinois College (90-87), only three teams in the program since 2000-01 had gone unblemished the first three games in the season. One of those was under Samples when the 2014-15 team started with seven straight.
The Crusaders did go 2-1 last week on the road and prevailed 73-68 in their home opener a couple weeks ago. The team is tied for first in the SCAC with preseason favorite, Colorado College.
UD NOTABLES
- Dallas leads the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) in shooting with a 50.6 percent field goal total. The team is second in the league by averaging 82.2 points-per-game (ppg).
- A quintet of players are averaging double figures in scoring through four games.
- Spencer Levi (St. Louis, Mo.) is tops of this group by averaging a double-double with 16 points and 10.5 rebounds. He leads each category and ranks second in the conference for rebounding average.
- Michael Wambsganss (Denver, Colo.) is another freshman that broke out last week averaging 13.3 points. His strength has been shooting three-pointers, as his 60.9 field goal percent at that range is atop the SCAC. His 63 percent field goal mark is second only behind his teammate Levi (73.5).
- Darrius Colvin (Waco, Texas) is second in scoring with 60 points (15.0) and he did score a game-high 23 in the lone home game this season.
- John Russell (Bossier City, La.) and Prince Giadolor (Rockwall, Texas) round out the group of top scorers with 11.8 and 10.3 ppg, respectively.
- Emmanuel Calton (Keller, Texas) leads the team in assists with 18 and combined for 12 in the last games over the weekend.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Univ. of the Ozarks Season Stats
- Johnson & Wales (CO) Season Stats
- Dallas is 6-9 overall against the Ozarks and have a 4-1 total record against Johnson & Wales.
- The last time UD played Ozarks was in the Maher Center during the 2013-14 season. The Crusaders prevailed 78-62.
- The Crusaders defeated Johnson & Wales 74-62 in the most recent matchup on January 31st, 2009.
OPPONENT NOTABLES
(University of the Ozarks)
- The Eagles are 2-2 on the season.
- They fell at Hendrix 80-50 on Tuesday, but did defeat that same opponent at Clarksville, Arkansas by one (68-67) in the season opener.
- Dylan Gray is averaging 15 points this season and ranks as the top scorer for UO.
- Bryson Johnson has scored 10.8 ppg and Kelvin Knight is right behind at 9.8.
- Skyler Barnes is the top rebounder with 9.3 per game. Gray is averaging 7.5 boards.
(Johnson & Wales University)
- The Wildcats are 0-13 on the season. They will play fellow SCAC opponent, Centenary College, on Friday.
- JWU is currently on a 16-game road swing to open the year.
- Johnson & Wales is currently a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), but will be joining the SCAC next academic year.
- Andrew Romero III is the top scorer on the team with 23.9 ppg. Jontrell Herman is another player averaging near 20 points with a 19.5 mark. The same tandem are tops in rebounding average at 6.6 and 6.0-clips.
- Romero III has dished on average 3.4 assists to lead the Wildcats.
UP NEXT
Dallas opens SCAC action with Colorado College on Dec. 16th at 1 p.m. Following that the Crusaders host Hendrix College and MacMurray College on the 19th and 20th to wrap up the home portion of 2017.