For the first time in the program’s Division II history (1995-96), the Southern Arkansas Men’s Basketball team has entered the national spotlight as the Muleriders received 19 points in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll released Tuesday evening.
If the NABC Top 25 was extended out, Southern Arkansas (12-2, 7-1 GAC) would rank 27th in the country and as it stands in the NABC’s latest rankings, the Muleriders are the third-highest ranked team representing the Central Region behind No. 2 Northwest Missouri State (16-0) and GAC-foe No. 25 Southern Nazarene (13-3, 6-2 GAC). Central Region opponents receiving votes behind SAU in the poll are Lincoln (9), Missouri Southern (8), and Northern State (8).
Additionally, the SAU Men are ranked No. 9 in the latest D2SIDA Central Region Media Poll. Last week, the Muleriders appeared on two ballots before cracking the committee’s top ten in Monday’s release with 13 total points.
The early inclusion among the nation’s top teams comes as a result of the Muleriders’ best 14-game start to a season since the 1989-90 campaign.
Southern Arkansas holds a 7-1 record in Great American Conference play which places the team in a tie for the top spot with Oklahoma Baptist.
This season, the Muleriders have produced a pair of six-game win streaks including the one that they are currently on in addition to being 7-0 at home in 2018-19. SAU has won nine-straight games inside the W.T. Watson Center dating back to last season.
Aiding the Muleriders in their early season success is the GAC’s second-best scoring defense at 65.4 points per game (23rd nationally) which plays a key part in SAU owning the league’s best scoring margin at +11.9 (29th nationally).
As a team, Southern Arkansas is shooting 45% (383-of-852) from the floor, while averaging 77.2 points per game; both ranking around the middle of the pack in the GAC. But the calling card for the Muleriders through the first half of season has been the team’s defense as mentioned earlier.
The Muleriders own the league’s top field goal percentage defense at 37.4%; a mark that ranks third nationally among 304 ranked Division II teams.
Within that 37% opponent success rate from the floor is a 30.6% opponent shooting clip from beyond-the-arc which leads the conference and currently stands as the 20th-best three-point defense percentage in the country.
Southern Arkansas prepares for the season’s most important weekend to date as it hits the road tonight for a rivalry clash with Arkansas-Monticello (10-4, 6-2 GAC), before returning home Saturday in an effort to avenge its lone league loss of the campaign’s first eight conference games when it welcomes Harding (5-9, 3-5 GAC) to Magnolia.