WICHITA, Kan. — Keeping pace at the top of the Heartland Conference standings on its first road trip of the season, the Newman men's basketball team begins a three-game homestand Saturday afternoon against Oklahoma Panhandle State at 3 p.m. at Fugate Gymnasium.
SCOUTING NEWMAN
The Jets (5-8, 3-1 Heartland) suffered their first loss of the league season on New Year's Eve at Arkansas-Fort Smith, falling 98-84, but rebounded with an impressive road victory over defending regular-season conference champion Rogers State. The 102-95 win was close throughout the first half, but Newman led big the rest of the way, holding an advantage of no fewer than five points at any time during the last 18 minutes.
Leaders
Taylor Schieber-16.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 41.7 FG%, 36.8 3FG%, 89.5 FT%
Daniel Nwosu, Jr.-16.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.2 apg, 19 stl, 89.2 FT%
Kevin Bryant-9.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 14 stl, 53.3 FG%
Daniel Green-8.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 56.5 FG%, 81.4 FT%
Pierre Hayden-7.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 10 stl
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
A pair of two-game winning streaks have helped Oklahoma Panhandle (5-8, 0-4 Heartland) to its five victories this year. Neither came during conference play though, as the Aggies started league games with a close 80-76 loss to Oklahoma Christian, but have since fallen by at least 20 points to St. Edward's, Rogers and UAFS.
Leaders
Jace Kerr-15.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.1 apg, 14 stl, 50.0 FG%, 84.1 FT%
Riyadh Asad-11.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 11 stl, 84.6 FT%
Devonta Brooks-11.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 15 stl, 9 blk, 54.1 FG%
Tevin Lytes-11.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg
Pierre Roddy-10.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.9 apg
HISTORY LESSON
Newman holds onto a 16-2 advantage in the all-time series since the two sides became Heartland Conference foes, including an 8-1 mark at Fugate Gymnasium. The Jets are on an 11-game winning streak after a pair of wins over the Aggies last season.
NOTES
-Despite the loss to UAFS, Newman is holding pace at the top of the Heartland Conference standings. St. Edward's is also 3-1 in the league, while Texas A&M International has played one more conference game and sits at 4-1.
-The Jets have scored 100-plus points in two of their first four conference games, which pushed their average scoring up to 79.5 this season, fifth best in the league. When only looking at Heartland contests, that number bumps to a whopping 95.0 per game, which is best in the conference by nearly eight points.
-Taylor Schieber is hitting a new level since beginning league play, putting up the three highest-scoring games of his career over those four outings. The senior hit a new high with 32 points Monday against Rogers State, and is averaging 24.0 points per game on 47.5-percent shooting, including 48.6 percent from deep.
COVERAGE
Saturday's game will feature live video, audio and statistics at www.newmanjets.com. The contest will also be broadcast live on KGSO (93.9 FM, 1410 AM) in Wichita.
