Gameday: Bulldogs at Arkansas-Pine Bluff

PINE BLUFF, Ark. – The Bulldogs look to make it two wins in a row Monday when they take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

A&M won its first game of the season Saturday with a 79-76 victory at Mississippi Valley. UAPB is 2-0 in the conference following Saturday's 71-63 win over Alabama State.

Quinterian McConico picked up his fourth double-double of the season and Marcus Merriweather was 5-of-6 from three-point range in Saturday's win over the Delta Devils. McConico scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds; Merriweather finished with 17 points.

The Bulldogs are 1-2 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and 1-13 overall. The Golden Lions are 2-0 and 3-13.

Last season, the Bulldogs swept both games between the two teams, winning 85-70 at Elmore Gym and 71-66 in Pine Bluff.

Tip off is 7:30 p.m., following the Lady Bulldogs-UAPB women's game which starts at 5:30. The Bulldogs-UAPB game can be heard on WJAB-FM 90.9 and wjab.org with Michael Burns on the play-by-play.

BULLDOG BITES

DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Senior Quinterian McConico leads all current SWAC players with four double-doubles on the season. Derrick Griffin of Texas Southern has seven but he left the Tigers to prepare for the National Football League draft.

THE Q ZONE: McConico is one of four players among the league's top 12 in scoring and rebounds. He is 12^th with an average of 12.4 points per game and fifth in rebounding with 7.5 boards per game.

DISHING IT OUT: Senior Rakiya Battle, the SWAC's top assists player in each of the past two seasons, is second in the league with an average of 4.8 assists per game. He also second with a 1.7 assist/turnover ratio.

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: The Bulldogs' leading rebounder, McConico is fifth in the league with an average of 7.5 rebounds per game. He is third in defensive rebounds, averaging 5.3 per game.

PUTTING IT ON THE LINE: The Bulldogs are the number 2 free-throw shooting team in the SWAC. They have made 189 of 271 attempts for a .697 percentage.

TOP 10 DOGS: Bulldogs among the SWAC's top 10 -

Quinterian McConico – 3^rd defensive rebounds, 5.3 per game; 4^th field-goal percentage, 71-of-129, .550; 5^th rebounding, 7.5 rpg; 7^th offensive rebounds, 2.2 per game.

Rakiya Battle – 2^nd assists, 4.8 apg; 2^nd assist/turnover ratio, 1.7; 7^th free-throw shooting, 33-of-44, .750; 10^th steals, 1.3 per game.

De'Ederick Petty – 9^th three-point field goals made, 1.6 per game.

Matthew Cotton – 9^th three-point field goal percentage, 15 of 42, .357.

NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT: The SWAC basketball tournament will feature an eight team three-day layout this year with the quarterfinal rounds hosted on campus sites. This is a change from the previous 10-team, five-day tournament format. The first round is March 7 at the campuses of the top four seeds with the semifinals (March 10) and championship final (March 11) at the Toyota Center in Houston.

ALL-CONFERENCE: Seniors Rakiya Battle and Quinterian McConico were named to the preseason All-Southwestern Athletic Conference second team.
Battle led the SWAC in assists in each of the last two seasons. He had 5.3 assists per game last season and 6 per game in 2014-15. Battle, a point guard with great hands, was second in the SWAC with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.6. In 2014-15, he had a 3.0 assist/turnover ratio.
McConico was a strong force inside for the Bulldogs last season with a .643 shooting percentage from the field. He scored a career-high 18 points against rival Alabama State last season in one of his seven starts.

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Players Mentioned

#3 De'Ederick Petty: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

#11 Matthew Cotton: G; 5' 10"; Senior

#10 Rakiya Battle: G; 6' 1"; Senior

#42 Quinterian McConico: C/F; 6' 8"; Senior

#12 Marcus Merriweather: G; 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#3 De'Ederick Petty
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G

#11 Matthew Cotton
: 5' 10"; Senior
: G

#10 Rakiya Battle
: 6' 1"; Senior
: G

#42 Quinterian McConico
: 6' 8"; Senior
: C/F

#12 Marcus Merriweather
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G