OUAZ MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES
• The OUAZ men's basketball team begins 2020 with a Golden State Athletic Conference game at their crosstown rival – and 21st-ranked – Arizona Christian.

• Tipoff in the first of two meetings between the two programs this season is at 7:30 p.m. from the ACU Events Center on the new Arizona Christian University campus in Glendale.

• OUAZ enters the game with a 4-7 overall record and having dropped six of their past eight games. The Spirit are currently tied for eighth in the GSAC with an 0-2 mark in league games.

• Arizona Christian has won four of its last five games to sit at 10-4 overall. The Firestorm also opened GSAC play with an 0-2 record.

• Saturday will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the two programs with ACU leading the series 4-0. That includes a 2-0 record in OUAZ home games.

HOW TO FOLLOW
• Live video of the game will be produced by ACU and be available on the OUAZ Digital Network and through the NAIA Network OTT app that is available on Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku devices. The OUAZ Digital Network is available on game day at OUAZSpirit.com/digital.

• Live stats will also be available during the game with links available at OUAZSpirit.com/live.

SPIRIT TIDBITS
• OUAZ returns to conference action after dropping a pair of games at the Cactus Classic prior to the holiday break. The Spirit fell to Montana Western, 93-82, on December 14 and then were defeated 95-83 by Lethbridge on December 17. They also lost an exhibition game at California Baptist, 92-75, on December 28.

• Scoring hasn't been an issue for the Spirit this season as they currently rank 14th in the NAIA at 89.55 points per game. They have scored 80-plus points in a game six times and gone for 90-plus on four of those occasions.

• The Spirit use the NAIA's 12th-best field goal percentage of 49.9 percent to help them score those points. They have shot 50 percent or higher in four games this season and been above 45 percent in all but one game they have played.

• OUAZ leads the GSAC in scoring average despite ranking last in the conference with an average of 6.36 made 3-pointers per game. They are fourth in the GSAC and 33rd nationally by shooting 37.0 percent from beyond the arc.

• Additionally, OUAZ converts 73.8 percent from the foul line to rank 1th in the NAIA through the end of 2019. The team has been above 75 percent at the stripe six times this season and only twice been below 65 percent.

• OUAZ is averaging 16.27 assists per game – 32nd in the NAIA – and they maintain a 1.065 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• At the defensive end, the Spirit are allowing 84.64 points per game while the opposition shoots 45.7 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from three.

TRIPLE THREAT
• OUAZ currently has two of the top three and three of the top eight leading scorers in the GSAC in Dimetres Moore (25.64), Brian Carey (20.73), and Shazier Lawson (15.33). Those three combined.

• Those three account for 61.7 points per game to lead all scoring trios in the NAIA. LSU Shreveport has a trio that combines to average 60.7 points per game to rank as the second-highest scoring trio in the NAIA.

LEANING ON MOORE
• Dimetres Moore leads the OUAZ trio and he also leads the GSAC and ranks fourth in the NAIA in scoring average. Moore has scored 20-plus points in a game nine times in 11 outings with three games of 30-plus, including the last two.

• Moore isn't just a scoring threat for the Spirit as he is second in the team by grabbing 7.1 rebounds per game while adding 1.7 assists per outing. He is 41st in the nation by getting 2.55 offensive rebounds per game.

• Moore is also active at the defensive end where his 3.09 steals per game are tops in the conference and third in the nation. He has recorded at least one steal in all but one game of the season and has eight games with multiple steals.

• Moore narrowly missed the first triple-double in program history against Embry-Riddle when he recorded 24 points, 10 rebounds, and a school record nine steals. Those nine steals are the most by a player in the Golden State Athletic Conference since the 2010-11 season.

FIRST TO 1,000
• Moore is looking to become the first 1,000-point scorer in program history this season. In 57 games played for OUAZ over two-plus seasons, Moore has scored 736 points to rank second in program history.

• He needs 41 points to pass Tanner Riley to become the school's all-time scoring leader with 777 career points.

• Moore needs to average 15.5 points per game over the final 17 games of the regular season to reach 1,000 career points

ASSIST FROM CAREY
• Brian Carey has been on a scoring terror of late with seven straight games of 20-plus points. During the run, Carey has raised his season scoring average by 7.2 points per game to move him to 12th nationally in scoring average.

• Along with being the team's No. 2 scoring option, Carey has 66 assists and is on pace to surpass the single-season school record of 107. He sits seventh in the NAIA at 6.00 assists per game while recording at least five assists in a game eight times this season.

BOARDS FROM LAWSON
• Shazier Lawson missed the Cactus Classic with an injury, but currently is third on the team in scoring and first in rebounds. Lawson has scored in double figures in all but one of his games played this season and gone for 15-plus seven times.

• Lawson also collects 9.00 rebounds per game to rank him 15th in the NAIA and first in the GSAC. He has at least six rebounds in every game this season with three games in double figures.

• He also rank 16th in the NAIA by getting 6.67 defensive rebounds per night and his three double-doubles are tied with Moore for the team lead and second in the conference.

SURGING SIMMONS
• Elijah Simmons has played in 10 games (nine starts) for the Spirit this season and is scoring 11.8 points per game. He has scored in double figures in eight of those outings, including five straight.

• Simmons is shooting 83.3 percent at the foul line to rank 27th in the NAIA.

ABOUT ARIZONA CHRISTIAN
• Arizona Christian gets back into GSAC play with a No. 21 national ranking after being at No. 10 in the season's prepseason poll. The Firestorm are currently 10-4 on the season after winning four of their last five games played.

• ACU has a 6-3 record in the new ACU Events Center, with two of those losses coming during the opening weekend of conference action.

• They are scoring 88.07 points per game to rank 19th in the NAIA and ACU is ninth nationally by grabbing 43.93 rebounds per game. 

• O'Shae Williams leads six ACU players that average double figures at 15.86 points per game. He also secures a team-best 6.93 rebounds per game.

LOOKING AHEAD
• OUAZ remains on the road next week as they travel to Southern California for a pair of conference games. That starts at Vanguard on Thursday, January 9, in Costa Mesa at 8:30 p.m. (AZ).

• The Spirit will then face San Diego Christian on Saturday, January 11, in El Cajon.