STILLWATER, Okla. – The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team opens the Jay Ladner era with a pair of games this weekend, Friday at 7 p.m., at Oklahoma State and, Sunday at 2 p.m., at No. 19-ranked Oklahoma.

Southeastern opens the regular season against the Cowboys at historic Gallagher-Iba Arena. The game marks the fourth meeting between the two schools with OSU having won the three previous matchups, including a 63-50 win over SLU in the Lions' only NCAA Division I postseason appearance to date (March 18, 2005).

The Lions complete the opening weekend with a trip down the road to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the Sooners in the Lloyd Noble Center. SLU has faced Oklahoma once in the past, as part of the Sooner Invitational during the 1985-86 season.

Both games can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online at www.LionSports.net or via the TuneIn Radio smartphone app. Live stats also will be available for both contests. Links to the audio and stats are available on the men's basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

Sunday's game at Oklahoma will be televised by Sooner Sports TV and can be seen locally on Fox College Sports-Central and Fox Sports-Southwest+. (AT&T U-verse channel 648; Cox channels 79 and 1079, as well as 256 in Baton Rouge and 337 in New Orleans; DirecTV channels 646, 653 and 676; and DISH Network channels 420, 422, 437 and 5420)

A few familiar names return off last season's squad for the Lions, including Joshua Filmore, Onochie Ochie and DeVonte Upson, to form the core of Ladner's first team.

JaMichael Hawkins, the Lions' leading scorer last season (12.3 ppg), is expected to miss the entire season with an injury. Ochie (8.4 points per game), Upson (8.3 ppg) and Filmore (6.9 ppg) are the only other returners with playing time in a Southeastern uniform. Andrew Guillory red-shirted last season following an injury.

SLU, which finished 12-18 last season, defeated Loyola (New Orleans), 97-81, in an exhibition contest, Nov. 6, at the University Center. Transfer guard Zay Jackson, a Hammond native, led all players with 28 points, shooting 11-of-15 from the floor. Filmore (20), Upson (15), Ochie (13) and Guillory (10) joined Jackson with double-digit points. Guillory led the Lions with nine rebounds and Upson contributed eight.

OSU is coming off a 74-35 win over Missouri Western in an exhibition contest this past Saturday.

The Cowboys enter the 2014-15 season with just one official returning starter, but four players with extensive experience at the Division I level. While Le'Bryan Nash is the only player returning from last season with at least 15 starts (he started all 34), Michael Cobbins has 55 starts in his career as a Cowboy and Phil Forte has 12. Anthony Hickey, a transfer from LSU, has started 85 games in his three-year career.

OSU was 21-13 a year ago and is coming off back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. The Cowboys averaged 80.2 points per game as a team last year, third among all Big 12 teams last season.

Oklahoma, which went 23-10 last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, is coming off a pair of exhibition wins. The Sooners defeated Washburn, 73-48, this past Friday and downed Southwest Oklahoma State, 78-37, Tuesday.

SLU plays 12 of its 14 non-conference games on the road, returning home to host Tennesee Tech, Nov. 26, as part of the Green Wave Classic.