Only three men’s college basketball teams in Oklahoma have one loss or fewer midway through December.
Oklahoma is 7-0 and ranked No. 3 in the country in Division I.
Rogers State is off to a 9-0 start and headed into Heartland Conference play on a roll.
And Oklahoma Panhandle still has just one in the loss column.
That’s right. Oklahoma Panhandle. Â OPSU is 6-1 on the season and will begin the Heartland schedule tonight.
The Aggies have already doubled their win total from last year and tripled it from two years ago. The hot start may be a bit of a surprise to some, but that element likely won’t last long.
Coaches will have the film, and basketball fans will start becoming aware of the stats.
Did you know?
• The Aggies are leading Division II in steals, with 14.6 of them per game.
• They are also at the top of the D-II list of forced turnovers at 25.1 per contest.
• But the Aggies aren’t giving it up at that pace. They lead the country in turnover margin as well with a +8.7 per game – 1.3 better than St. Edward’s, which is second on that list.
The defense has been there for Jerry Olson’s squad, but it is also doing its part on offense. OPSU is scoring 89.5 points per game through its first seven.
The Aggies were held to a season-low 76 points last Saturday, but even that was in an 11-point victory over Southwestern in Weatherford, stopping a seven-game winning streak for the Bulldogs.
Antonio Manns is leading the way on the offensive end for OPSU. He’s in the top 20 in D-II, scoring 23.1 ppg. He also shooting better than 90 percent from the free throw line.
With Heartland play kicking into full swing, the real test begins for the Aggies. But the foundation for a turnaround season has been laid.