GAME NOTES: Statesmen vs. Southern Arkansas/Ouachita Baptist (1.8-13.11)
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CLEVELAND - The Statesmen (6-7, 0-0 GSC) of Delta State University opens Gulf South Conference play this Saturday, Jan. 8, as the Muleriders (8-4) of Southern Arkansas University travel to Cleveland. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Walter Sillers Coliseum. The Statesmen were picked to finish second in the Gulf South Conference West Division this season by a vote of the league's 14 coaches. The game will be broadcast on the Statesmen Sports Network starting at 5:45 p.m. with Jimmy Smith and J.T. Webb on the call.

Delta State and Southern Arkansas will be meeting for the 41st time in series history on Saturday. The two long-time GSC foes will be meeting for the last time as conference rivals at Sillers Coliseum. SAU is joining the Great American Conference in 2011-2012. The Statesmen have dominated the series, boasting a 31-9 edge in the standings.

Jamarkus Holt (6-9/F) has been a near unstoppable force of one this season. The Alcorn State transfer has already tied the school's single-game rebounding record with 26 at Victory University (11.16) and his offensive skills have been equally impressive. The Vero Beach, Fla., native is averaging a double-double with 10.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, which ranks second in the GSC. In 18 minutes at Shepherd Tech, Holt had 11 points and 14 rebounds in a 92-66 victory.

Senior guard Phil Turner (6-3/G) leads the Statesmen in scoring heading into this week at 15.1 points per game. The Grenada native ranks 10th in the GSC scoring and second in steals at 2.6 per game.

Freshman point guard Jay Murphy is making the most of his opportunity as DSU's starting floor general. The former Bolivar Central star is averaging 3.9 assists per game, ranking fifth in the GSC, to lead the Statesmen. He also ranks third in the all-important assists/turnover ratio (2.1).

The Statesmen lead the GSC in offensive rebounding, pulling down 16.6 per game. In 13 games, DSU has collected 216 offensive rebounds, led by Jamarkus Holt's 4.4 per game.

Delta State's roster features 17 newcomers this season, including 10 transfers from NCAA Division I and the junior college ranks. Alcorn State transfer Jamarkus Holt and Central Arkansas transfer Chris Poellnitz headline the list.

STATESMAN TO WATCH
Senior Mississippi State transfer Phil Turner (6-3, 185, Sr.) is this week's “Statesman to Watch” after heating up on the court for Delta State in its last three games.  The Grenada native is averaging 17.8 points and 5.0 assists in his last three outings for the green-and-white, leading the Statesmen to a 2-1 mark. 

On the season, the former MSU Bulldog forward is averaging 15.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.  His biggest asset thus far has been his ability to disrupt the opposition's offense.  In 10 games for the Statesmen, Turner has swiped 26 steals to lead the team.

DELTA STATE LOOKING FOR 32ND WIN AGAINST SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
Head coach Jason Conner and the Statesmen look to extend the all-time series mark to 32 victories over the Southern Arkansas Muleriders. Delta State holds a 31-9 series lead as SAU comes to Walter Sillers Coliseum looking for their 10th win in the series.

CONNER AND THE GSC
The Statesmen open the conference portion of the 2011 schedule with the Muleriders. Coach Jason Conner is 4-0 in Gulf South Conference openers and is looking for his fifth versus Southern Arkansas. The statesmen hold a record of 36-20 in conference play during the Conner era and the Statesmen are looking to bag number 37 with a victory over SAU as Conner creeps closer to 40 wins against GSC opponents.
 Statesmen eye 650 all-time wins in GSC play

DELTA STATE CHASING 650
DSU currently boasts 648 all-time victories versus Gulf South Conference opponents. The Statesmen need just two wins to reach the 650 mark.

STEAL OF A DEAL
The Statesmen achieved a total of 21 steals in their latest game against Shepherd Tech—the most steals in a single game this season.

Phil Turner had a season high of eight steals against Shepherd Tech. Having 13 steals in the past two games, the Grenada native leads the team in steals for the season with 26.  He also leads the Statesmen averaging 15.1 points a game. Turner has played in 10 of the 13 games this season.

The Mississippi State transfer averages 22 points in his last two games.

A FEW POINTERS
The Statesmen 92-66 win over Shepherd Tech gave the team the second most points they have scored this season.  The team put up a season high score against Victory University with a 96-79 win in the third game of the season.

BOUNCING BACK
Coming off from a poor free throw performance against Lambuth University, the Statesmen pulled in their second highest free-throw percentage for the season against Shepherd Tech with a .760.  The team's most impressive free-throw efforts were put up against West Florida where they made 27 of 35.

ASSISTED PLAY
The Statesmen recorded 23 assists against Shepherd Tech—the most assists on the season.
 
The second most assists on the season (20) was recorded in the first game against Rollins.

Jay Murphy leads the team in assists with 51 on the season.  His 3.9 assists per game average is good for fifth in the GSC.

FIVE SENIORS SCORING IN BUNCHES
Five players are averaging double figure scoring for the Statesmen. Senior transfer Ken Mitchell leads the way with 15.1 points per game.

Former Central Arkansas standout Chris Poellnitz is next in line with 14.4. Seniors Arian Maliqi (11.9), Jamarkus Holt (10.9) and Ken Mitchell (10.7) are also pacing the Statesmen to score 79.8 points per game.

STATESMEN OUT-BOARD AND MOTOR
Rebounds are the key for the Statesmen right now.  The green-and-white outrebounded Lambuth University 38-32 while winning the battle on the boards versus Shepherd Tech, 52-46. The Statesmen are now out-rebounding their opponents 44-37.

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS CREATE CHANCES
Of the 572 rebounds that the Statesmen have corralled, 224 of them have been of the offensive variety. In those second chances, the Statesmen have scored 211 second chance points or just over 16 per game. The largest second chance point deficit came when Delta State out-rebounded Victory University by 44 and had 43 second chance points on 38 offensive boards.

DEADLY ACCURATE
Eight players for head coach Jason Conner are shooting better than 40 percent from the field. Marqueys Brown leads the way shooting .580 from the floor. Ken Mitchell, James Berry, Marc Liyanage, Jamarkus Holt, Chris Poellnitz, Ladarrin Williams and Arian Maliqi are hitting the nets better than 40 percent of the time. These players help the Statesmen shoot 46 percent from the floor as a team.

TRANSFERS MAKING IMPACT
Head coach Jason Conner added five transfers to the roster for the 2010-11 season. Three of these five players have made an immediate impact on this year's team and continue to make their presence known. Senior transfers Phil Turner from Mississippi State, Ken Mitchell from West Florida, Jamarkus Holt from Alcorn State and Chris Poellnitz from the University of Central Arkansas continue to pace the
Statesmen in scoring and rebounding. 

Turner currently leads the Statesmen in scoring with 15.1 points per game. Poellnitz is second in scoring with 14.4 points while Mitchell ranks third on the squad with 11.3 points per contest. Holt averages 10.5 points while also leading the team in rebounding with 10.2 rebounds per game.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Delta State is picked to finish second in the West Division of the Gulf South Conference behind nationally No. 13 ranked Arkansas Tech. This is the second straight season DSU has been picked to finish second.

STATESMEN LOOKING TO ADD TO CONFERENCE CROWNS
The Delta State University Statesmen have won six conference crowns in program history which is the most of any school in the Gulf South Conference. The 2010-2011 Statesmen look to increase that margin of success.

DSU ON PRESEASON WATCH LIST
Junior forward Marqueys Brown, a 6-foot-9 power forward, was named to the Preseason All-GSC West Division Team by a vote of the league's 14 head coaches.  Last season, the Memphis, Tenn., native was named first team All-GSC.   Also receiving preseason honors  are Mississippi State transfer Phil Turner and Chris Poellnitz, a senior transfer from Central Arkansas. Both were named “Top Newcomers.” 

CONNER QUICKEST TO 70
Statesmen head coach Jason Conner has accomplished a feat no other coach at DSU can say, he is the fastest to 70 wins.  In just four seasons Conner has amassed a 78-46 record a bench mark reached by no other coach in Statesmen Basketball history.

THE CONNER PLAN
Under Jason Conner, the Statesmen have had success on the floor, but more importantly, in the classroom. That facet of being a student athlete is something that the fifth year head coach stresses to his incoming crop of talent.
 
Delta State's basketball team boasts a NCAA Graduation Rate of 100 percent, in figures released by the NCAA in October. Meaning that every player that came in during the 2002-2003 season, freshman or transfer, graduated in the allotted five-year period. That's a figure that stands alone during that same period for all other NCAA sponsored sports at Delta State.

CONNER BUILDING ON TENURE
Fifth year head coach Jason Conner is heading into familiar territory. 14 coaches have covered the history of Delta State basketball and the average tenure for each coach is six seasons. Conner is heading into his fifth year and stands as the seventh longest tenured coach in DSU basketball history.

A.D. Dickson, Herman Zimoski and Mel Hankinson each coached six years. Jim Murrell coached eight seasons and John Ray Ricks was the head Statesmen for 15 years, going 216-126-1. But the longest tenure as head Statesmen basketball coach belongs to the legendary Steve Rives. He coached for two decades and amassed the most wins in green-and-white history with a record of 388-186.

Conner has a long way to go to reach that mark, but could jump into fourth place all time in wins with another successful season this year. He has 78 wins and needs 13 to surpass both Hankinson and Dickson. 

EUROPEAN STATESMEN
The 2010-2011 Statesmen Basketball squad has some international flair this season. Senior forward Arian Maliqi is from Pristina, Kosovo, some 5,268 miles from Cleveland, Miss. Redshirt junior center Karan Bajwa is 4,640 miles from his hometown of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Youngster Marc Liyanage, a freshman from Hamburg, Germany is 4,790 miles from his old stomping grounds.