NORMAN, Okla. (November 8, 2026) – The University of North Alabama men's basketball team rides the momentum of a 2-0 record into a week full of high-major opponents beginning Monday at Oklahoma at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
This will mark the first of two games on this "power" trip with a Friday afternoon tilt at Miami awaiting in Coral Gables, Fla.
The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ with Chad McKee and Bryndon Manzer on the call. Fans can also follow along through live stats and through UNA Basketball's social media platforms.
GAME INFORMATION
Game: North Alabama vs. Oklahoma
Date: Monday, November 9
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Venue: Lloyd Noble Center
Capacity: 10,967
Watch: SEC Network+ (Chad McKee, Bryndon Manzer)
Listen: Roar Lions Productions (Chase Glover)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Click Here
Game Notes: Click Here
Social Media: @UNA_Basketball
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: UNA improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 76-66 over Division II opponent Union (TN) on Thursday inside CB&S Bank Arena in Florence. The Lions ended the game on a 13-2 run over the final 5:40 of game time. UNA had just three turnovers in the second half and slowed down Union's shooting attack behind the arc. Senior Mike Evbagharu was UNA's leading scorer with 18 points, including 10 in the second half. He went 6-6 on free throws and 6-10 shooting. Caden Harris added 15 points.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: UNA returns just three players from last year's team while bringing in 12 newcomers, including 10 transfers and two freshmen. However, this group appears to be in sync already with 10 players appearing and everyone scoring at least once in the opener. The Lions return just eight percent of its starts from last season with rising sophomore Braylon Patton accounting for all of that. Evbagharu leads the way with 15.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, while fellow senior transfer Caden Harris is averaging 13.0 PPG and 4.5 RPG.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: Oklahoma is 1-1 on the young season with a stunning 68-64 loss to East Texas A&M in the season opener and an 84-57 win over Mississippi Valley State on Friday. The Sooners will be one of the more veteran groups in the SEC this season with five players who have played in over 100 career games. Derrion Reid leads the Sooners in scoring at 15.5 PPG and rebounds at 7.5 RPG. Porter Moser is in his sixth season at OU and has a career record of 389-317 overall and a 96-76 record at OU. The Sooners finished 21-16 overall and 7-11 in SEC play last season.
POP ISAACS CONNECTION: UNA will see a familiar face on Monday night as Oklahoma recently signed fifth-year senior Pop Isaacs for his final season of eligibility. UNA faced Isaacs while he was at Texas Tech on Jan. 1, 2024 where he led the way with 21 points. Fast forward to 2025-26, where Isaacs transferred to Texas A&M and became teammates with former UNA all-conference standout Jacari Lane. Isaacs averaged 9.8 PPG while Lane averaged 6.1 PPG on Bucky McMillan's squad. Lane spent three seasons at UNA before transferring to the SEC after becoming UNA's all-time career Division I leading scorer with 1,494 points.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the first all-time meeting between UNA and Oklahoma. The Lions are 1-6 against the SEC since the move to Division I in 2018 with the one win coming against Ole Miss in 2022. Oklahoma has a perfect 23-0 record against current members of the United Athletic Conference with unbeaten records against Abilene Christian (1-0), Austin Peay (2-0), Central Arkansas (5-0), Eastern Kentucky (1-0), Little Rock (6-0) and UT Arlington (8-0).
NEW ERA: UNA began its ninth season of Division I basketball last Monday and its first as a member of the United Athletic Conference. The Lions spent eight seasons as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, then the league announced a partnership with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) to create a consortium called "Unisun Sports." The WAC rebranded as the UAC and includes North Alabama, Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, West Georgia and Central Arkansas as former members of the ASUN, Abilene Christian, Tarleton State and UT Arlington as former members of the WAC and Little Rock as a former member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
PRESEASON FUEL: The United Athletic Conference revealed its preseason information last month, as North Alabama was picked in a tie for eighth out of nine teams along with West Georgia. No players from UNA were voted to the preseason team. Despite the lack of preseason recognition, the Lions were the only UAC team last Monday to win on the road, as all the others either won at home or lost on the road.
EPITOME OF BRUTALITY: UNA has been known to upset some teams in "buy games" the last few seasons under Pujol, including wins over Ole Miss in 2022, Air Force and East Carolina in 2024, San Francisco in 2025 and most recently UC Davis in 2026. Four buy games remain on the schedule this year, including Oklahoma, Miami, DePaul and Charlotte.
MOUNTAIN WEST MADNESS: After last Monday's win at UC Davis, the Lions have a 2-0 record against the Mountain West Conference, which is widely viewed as one of the top conferences in college basketball. UNA started with this a 73-57 road win at Air Force to open the 2024-25 season, which included 24 wins for UNA, a regular season conference title and a trip to the NIT.
NEW STAFF WITH SOME ANCHORS: Tony Pujol enters his ninth season at the helm of North Alabama's men's basketball program and has been with UNA since the beginning of the Division I era in 2018. When he accepted the job, one of his first hires was Ahmad Smith, one of his former players from his assistant coaching stop at Appalachian State. Smith has been with the program for all nine seasons since then and was elevated to Associate Head Coach in 2023.
CHAMPIONSHIP ADDITION: Coach Pujol made a splash in the basketball world this offseason with the hiring of Drew Stutts as an assistant. Stutts is a 2011 graduate of UNA and was recently the head coach at Freed-Hardeman. He led Freed to a record of 174-52 over eight seasons and won the NAIA National Championship in both 2023-24 and 2025-26.
IRON LION BACK ON CAMPUS: Another addition to UNA's staff this offseason was Lion Legend Will Soucie. Known as the "Iron Lion," Soucie played at UNA from 2020-25 and played in more Division I games than any other player in program history with 151 appearances over five seasons. He was the ultimate glue guy for the 2024-25 squad that went 24-11, won the ASUN Regular Season Championship and went on to play in the school's first NIT appearance. He scored 1,124 career points and ranks 21st on the all-time scoring list.
NEW WAVE: Just two seasons removed from the 2025 ASUN Regular Season Championship and a 24-win season, UNA will look to develop a new group with players who have won at various levels. This group includes a national champion, lower-level all-conference and player of the year caliber players and veterans with Division I experience.
RE-LAX: This offseason, Pujol hired national championship-winning coach Drew Stutts from Freed-Hardeman to be an assistant coach at UNA. One of his first calls during the transfer portal window was to his former All-American guard at FHU, Quan Lax, who was then at Austin Peay. Lax originally made the jump from NAIA to Division I in 2024 after helping Stutts and company win the NAIA National Championship and earning First Team NAIA All-American honors. Lax scored 19 points in his debut with UNA last Monday, which is his NCAA career-high, then followed that performance with a career-high four steals against Union.
DIVISION I EXPERIENCE: A six-pack of UNA's newcomers come from Division I schools, including Lax from Austin Peay, Evbagharu (Canisius, Central Arkansas, Siena), senior forward Damarien Yates (Alabama State, Memphis), graduate forward Drey Carter (Wright State), sophomore forward Jacobe Whitted (Tennessee Tech) and redshirt junior wing Julius Clark (Gardner-Webb).
BACK IN THE LEAGUE: Evbagharu, who is originally from Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, is one of two players on the roster to play against UNA during its 2024-25 ASUN Regular Season Championship run. Evbagharu was at Central Arkansas, scoring five points and three rebounds in a 94-65 win for UNA. He led UCA in rebounding nine times that season. The other current Lion to play against UNA that season was Lax at Austin Peay. Evbagharu averaged 9.2 PPG and 7.0 RPG last season at Canisius. In his UNA debut last Monday, he notched a double-double and went 7-8 from the line. He followed that with a game-high 18 points against Union on Thursday.
CHOOSING D2 STARS: A couple of new Lions were lauded at the Division II level last season and are proven winners — senior wing Caden Harris and graduate forward Drey Carter (aforementioned from Wright State). Both were instrumental in UNA's first win with double figure scoring games. Harris was at Point Loma last season, where he won a PacWest Conference Championship and was tabbed the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament. Meanwhile, Carter left Wright State in 2025 and spent a season at Fairmont State where he became a bonafide star and averaged 16.8 PPG and 7.6 RPG. He was first team all-conference and second team all-region, leading Fairmont State to a regional appearance.
JUCO BALLERS: A handful of new Lions were all-conference selections at the junior college level last season, including Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) Player of the Year and NJCAA All-American Ansar Osman, a junior wing from Snead State. Joining him on that all-conference list was new sophomore guard EJ King, who prepped at nearby Russellville High School and averaged 23.8 PPG at Bevill State. Redshirt junior Julius Clark (aforementioned from Gardner-Webb) was an all-conference player at Tallahassee State College in 2024-25, while junior wing Maf Ndiaye comes over from Ranger Community College in Texas where he was all-conference.
BACK TOGETHER: Before Osman became a standout at Snead State last season, he spent the 2024-25 season at Tallahassee State College along with Clark, who was there for two seasons. Osman and Clark are now teammates again at UNA.
RUNNING IT BACK: UNA returns three players from last season, including rising sophomores Cortez Graham-Howard and Braylon Patton. The guards are rejoined by redshirt senior center Mitchell Chaffee, a local product from Muscle Shoals who enters his third season with the team.
ROOKIES: Just like last season, UNA brings in two freshmen with one from Alabama and one from Tennessee. Guard Jarron Talley comes over from Pope John Paul II High School in Nashville, while forward Jackson Gulley is a rookie from Fairhope High School in Alabama. Both were all-region selections, while Gulley was also voted AHSAA All-State Second Team. Talley made his collegiate debut Monday as a starter and had five points, then added six in his home debut against Union.
ON DECK: UNA will end this two-game road swing on Friday, Nov. 13 at Miami (FL). Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. in Coral Gables, Fla.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
