WICHITA, Kan. — After answering its first Heartland Conference loss in three weeks with a resounding 34-point victory last week, the Newman men's basketball team starts one of its key stretches to the season with Thursday's 7:30 p.m. game against Oklahoma Christian at Fugate Gymnasium.
SCOUTING NEWMAN
The Jets (10-4, 3-3 Heartland) got back to .500 in league play by besting Oklahoma Panhandle 114-80 on the road Saturday afternoon, setting the mark for most points in a Heartland Conference game since Jan. 4, 2010. Six different players scored between 11 and 18 points for Newman in the win, led by junior Taylor Schieber's 18 on 6-of-10 shooting. Sophomore Kevin Bryant grabbed seven rebounds and senior Gavin Thurman dished out five assists to go with his 11 points and five boards, with all 15 of the Jets that saw action adding to the stat sheet.
LEADERS
Gavin Thurman, Senior-16.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.93 bpg, 50.6 FG%, 41.4 3FG%
James Pegues, Senior-14.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.93 spg, 66.0 FG%, 83.3 FT%
Jarvis Williams, Junior-11.0 ppg, 2.5 apg, 2.4 rpg
Jalen Love, Senior-10.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.1 apg
Cortrael Colbert, Senior-9.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.9 spg
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Eagles (4-10, 1-5 Heartland) have lost three straight after picking up their first win in conference play, and are in the midst of a five-game roadtrip that covers 10 days. Their last victory came on Jan. 2 over St. Mary's, which was followed by road losses at the hands of Oklahoma Panhandle State, Lubbock Christian and Texas-Permian Basin by an average of 11 points. Junior 7-footer John Moon managed 28 points against OPSU, but has been held under his 21.6 season scoring average in four of his last five games.
LEADERS
John Moon, Junior-21.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.3 bpg, 1.8 apg, 1.0 spg, 54.9 FG%
Elijah Strickland, Sophomore-13.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 48.5 3FG% (32-of-66)
Jordan Rutherford, Junior-9.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.5 apg, 87.9 FT%
Chiza Ntirata, Senior-6.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 45.5 FG%
Zach Norris, Sophomore-3.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 48.6 FG%
HISTORY LESSON
The Jets have won four of the six meetings against OC in the Division II era, including sweeping the season series a year ago with victories of 100-76 at home and 72-62 on the road. Newman is 2-1 at home against the Eagles, dropping the 2013-14 contest at Fugate Gymnasium by three points.
NOTES
-The 114-point effort against the Aggies helped lift the Jets' scoring average to 88.9 points per game, which is 22nd in the country. Newman is outscoring opponents by 9.3 points on average, which is fourth in the Heartland and 52nd in Division II.
-The Jets also got a lift in their 3-point shooting numbers, hitting 9.9 shots from deep per game, to put them 29th in the country and second in the league, and hitting them at a 40.3-percent clip, which is 25th in the nation. Schieber comes in just under the NCAA cutoff for makes per game, but has hit 30-of-60 from beyond the arc for a 50.0-percent mark.
-Love, who is dishing out 3.5 apg in conference play against just 1.2 turnovers per game, is third in the conference and 84th in the country with a 2.15:1 assist-to-turnover ratio overall this season. The senior is also hitting 46.3 percent of his shots from the field in the Jets' six league games.
-Moon leads the league in six different statistical categories, including points, rebounds, blocks and minutes per game. His 2.29 blocks per game is 20th in the country, and he put up a season-high six earlier this year against Southern Nazarene.
-The Eagles hit their free throws and don't let opponents get to the line, sinking 77.1 percent of their freebies, which leads the Heartland Conference and is 12th in all of Division II. OC leads the league, committing just 241 fouls all season, or just 17.2 per game.
-Thursday's game starts a stretch of four games in 10 days for the Jets, with three of those games coming against teams ahead of them in the conference standings.
COVERAGE
The game will air live on 1410 AM (KGSO) in Wichita, with live video, audio and statistics available at www.newmanjets.com.
