ORU blown out by ULL - the good, the bad and the reality

The good: Denell Henderson finally made an appearance this season. After logging seven points in his first three games of the year, the 6-foot-7, 235-pound bruiser in the middle put up 15 points along with 10 rebounds in the Golden Eagles' 76-52 blowout loss to Louisiana-Lafayette. Outside of that, it was a dismal night at the office for ORU.

The bad: Plenty of nuggets apply here. Just to name a few:

- ORU managed a murky 36.4 percent (8 of 22) from the field in the first half. Somehow, it got worse in the second half with only seven field goals made out of 34 attempts. The Golden Eagles finished with a demoralizing 26.8 percentage (15 of 56) from the floor. Not many teams will win with that kind of inferior shooting performance.

- To continue on the shooting bandwagon, ORU made only three 3-pointers while hoisting up 18 attempts. Then on 29 free-throw attempts, the Golden Eagles converted only 19.

Just an all-around poor shooting night in Las Vegas.

- ORU turned the ball over 17 times against the Rajin' Cajuns. That's after handing the ball over 20 times at Oregon State. The Golden Eagles were a model of ball handling with a combined 19 turnovers in a win over Tulsa a narrow defeat a Missouri. All of a sudden, ORU has become charitable with the basketball.

- ULL outscored ORU 36-22 in the paint; 19-10 in points off of turnovers; 8-0 in fast-break points; 55 - FIFTY-FIVE!! - to 15 in bench points.

- Bobby Word, Jabbar Singleton, Dederick Lee and Darian Harris combined for 55 minutes on the floor against ULL. The quartet also failed to outscore any combination of game officials, event workers or media members. Of the 12 ORU players that stepped on the court, only six managed to record a single point.

There are plenty more "bad" items that could be listed here. But you get the point.

The reality: ORU is officially reeling. The loss at Missouri looked like a spirited effort. The setback at Oregon State just looked like an off night. But after the performance against the Rajin' Cajuns, it appears as though ORU is just not a very good shooting team - at the moment.

The coaches seem to think otherwise, so that'll make things interesting moving forward.

Also, ORU's Obi Emegano and Korey Billbury need someone to step up as a third scorer. Word did it in the season opener, and Henderson showed some promise against Louisiana-Lafayette. But guys like Brandon Conley, Jabbar Singleton, Dederick Lee and Darian Harris need to find some sort of consistency so that the Golden Eagles have more than just two scorers.

Botton line: ORU turned in a clunker on Tuesday night. Now the Golden Eagles face a quick turnaround and face Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 3 p.m. central time today.

Also, if ORU could manage to pull out wins over Milwaukee and Weber State on Saturday, the road trip doesn't look half as bad. Plus the Golden Eagles would return home with a .500 record.

Sutton all for double dose of Mayor's Cup

Scott Sutton was in hopes a nice-sized crowd would show up at the Mabee Center for the 50th edition of the Mayor's Cup on Saturday night. He ended up with 6,534 joining him at the corner of 81st and Lewis.

That's a slight uptick from 6,020 the last time Tulsa and Oral Roberts met at the Mabee Center in 2012.

This year's crowd witnessed the rebirth of Obi Emegano, who picked up where he left off in last year's rivalry clash against Tulsa. Emegano, who went down in ORU's fourth game last season, appears to be getting back to his old self, scoring 26 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists.

(His efforts earned him Player of the Week honors in the Summit League on Monday.)

After the game, Emegano elaborated on his burning passion for playing against Tulsa.

"We're looked at as kind of the little brother," he said, "and I don't appreciate it."

Prior to Emegano taking the podium, Tulsa forward D'Andre Wright spent a minute talking about how ORU players go harder after the Mayor's Cup.

"Coming into the season, I feel like they look forward to this game more than we do," Wright said. "I feel like they have it circled on their schedule."

Those words didn't sit well with TU coach Frank Haith.

"No one should want to play more than us," he said.

Either way, ORU now has a two-game winning streak in the metro showdown.

Now Sutton is calling for an annual dose of two Mayor's Cup matchups.

"(Former TU coach) Danny (Manning) and I had an agreement, and we were going to play twice," Sutton announced. "We were all set to play twice, and I think it would be great. They used to play it twice back in the 80s.

"But I guess Frank and his staff didn't want to play it twice. Hopefully some time in the future maybe they will."

It appears as though ORU has its arm outstretched waiting for a handshake to add another Mayor's Cup game to the schedule in the foreseeable future.

Question is: will TU leave ORU hanging?

ORU hoops notebook: Miller commits to Golden Eagles

Chris Miller is following in Korey Billbury's footsteps.

Miller, a 6-foot-7, 247-pound senior at Booker T. Washington, verbally committed to ORU on Saturday night. He'll join Billbury, another Hornet alum, on the roster.

"Billbury told me he just loved ORU and it would be a good fit for me," Miller said.

During his junior season at Booker T. Washington, Miller averaged 12.4 points and 13 rebounds a game. He also added 3.1 blocks per game.

"I'm very excited to play for ORU next year because it felt like a family," said Miller, who was also fielding interest from Arkansas, Georgia, Arizona State and Eastern Illinios.

Miller is the second Tulsa-based player to commit to ORU. Victory Christian's Chris Crawford also plans on signing with the Golden Eagles. Dallas Kimball's Kristopher Martin is another verbal commit for the Golden Eagles.

As for being able to play Division I basketball in his hometown, Miller said: "It would be very special for me because that was a goal and a dream. I guess it became a reality."

Verbal commitments are non-binding. Basketball players are eligible to sign letters of intent once the early signing period begins on Wednesday.

- ORU protects the ball again: The Golden Eagles only turned the ball over nine times in an exhibition win over East Central. They followed that up with only handing the ball over 10 times in a 73-60 win over Rogers State on Saturday.

"He always asks us to have more assists than turnovers," ORU guard Korey Billbury said of head coach Scott Sutton.

Fellow guard Obi Emegano had another way to look at the Golden Eagles' ball control.

"I think there are pros and cons to our turnover numbers," Emegano said. "I think at this point we're a little timid, which could lead to some low turnover numbers."

Preseason wrap-up: With two come-from-behind wins in the exhibition play in the books, how does Sutton view ORU's performances prior to the regular season starting up?

"I think it shows you where we are," Sutton said. "It shows what we need to work on."

Sutton did admit, though, that his club tried to play vanilla, thus not to reveal much on game tape with Tulsa looming next weekend.

 

Eagles next flight: ORU will be back at home Saturday night when it hosts Tulsa in a clash for the Mayor's Cup.

ORU basketball: Putting a bow on the East Central exhibition

Escaping with a seven-point victory over a Division II opponent in an exhibition game might be cause for concern for some coaches. Not Scott Sutton.

"I wasn't as disappointed as probably a lot of people thought," Sutton said. "We didn't play great by any means, but you never do in exhibition games."

The Golden Eagles did just enough to thwart East Central, 75-68. East Central even led by as many as 11 points early in the first half.

And per Sutton: so what?

"I thought it was more of East Central playing really well," Sutton said. "They were making some shots, making some tough shots."

He's certainly not bending the truth. East Central shot 55.6 percent (15 of 27) from the field and 7 of 10 (70 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half.

ORU, on the other hand, finished 26 of 60 from the field and three of 18 (16.7 percent) from deep.

"I've been a lot more disappointed after other exhibition games than I was on Monday night," Sutton said.

Some other notes from the East Central game:

- ORU, despite it being the first time out against an actual opponent, only turned the ball over nine times.

"I thought our guys did a great job of taking care of the basketball," Sutton said. "...We were also very unselfish, so there were some things to be pleased about."

- Korey Billbury, who led ORU in rebounding last season, did so again in the Golden Eagles' first exhibition game. The junior from Booker T. Washington pulled down 11 boards, including four on the offensive end.

"He's a tremendous rebounding guard," Sutton said. "It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he leads us in rebounding again."

- Billbury was 10 of 13 from the free-throw line, but the rest of his teammates were 10 of 18.

 

Up next: ORU hosts Rogers State Saturday at 7 p.m. Then the countdown to the Mayor's Cup matchup begins.

High school football picks - Week 10

Week 1: 21-4

Week 2: 19-11

Week 3: 15-12

Week 4: 24-5

Week 5: 22-3

Week 6: 25-6

Week 7: 14-8

Week 8: 8-7

Last week's results (Week 9): 17-3

Overall record: 165-59

This week

Thursday

- Edmond North at Union - The pick: Union 36, EN 10

- Grove at Edison - The pick: Edison 40, Grove 17

- Heritage Hall at Purcell - The pick: HH 33, Purcell 20

- Hilldale at Rogers - The pick: Hilldale 27, Rogers 24

- Adair at Rejoice Christian - The pick: Adair 50, RC 20

Friday

- Broken Arrow at Edmond Memorial - The pick: BA 32, EM 29

- Jenks at Yukon - The pick: Jenks 40, Yukon 6

- Lawton at Choctaw - The pick: Lawton 29, Choctaw 13

- Lawton Ike at Stillwater - The pick: Stillwater 28, Ike 20

- Muskogee at Booker T. Washington - The pick: BTW 31, Muskogee 12

- Norman North at Southmoore - The pick: Southmoore 23, NN 14

- Sand Springs at Bixby - The pick: Bixby 27, SS 16

- Coweta at Tahlequah - The pick: Coweta 40, Tahlequah 33

- Guthrie at Deer Creek - The pick: Guthrie 35, DC 21

- McAlester at Memorial - The pick: McAlester 42, Memorial 14

- East Central at Collinsville - The pick: Cville 30, EC 21

- Ada at Harrah - The pick: Ada 26, Harrah 20

- Anadarko at Weatherford - The pick: Anadarko 43, Weatherford 10

- Catoosa at Wagoner - The pick: Catoosa 22, Wagoner 18

- Cleveland at Cascia Hall - The pick: CH 29, Cleveland 3

- McLoud at Glenpool - The pick: Glenpool 33, McLoud 20

- Sallisaw at Metro Christian - The pick: Metro 34, Sallisaw 14

- Bethany at John Marshall - The pick: JM 20, Bethany 17

- Checotah at Beggs - The pick: Beggs 30, Checotah 24

- Lincoln Christian at Berryhill - The pick: Berryhill 24, LC 20

- Tahlequah-Sequoyah at Claremore Sequoyah - The pick: CS 23, TS 20

- Haskell at Colcord - The pick: Haskell 26, Colcord 20

- Hennessey at Chisholm - The pick: Hennessey 29, Chisholm 10

- Drumright at Kiefer - The pick: Kiefer 44, Drumright 0

Tennessee pair to miss game against ORU

Oral Roberts caught a break on Wednesday, 10 days before the 2014-2015 season officially starts. The women's basketball team, when it travels to fourth-ranked Tennessee on Nov. 17, won't have to worry about the Lady Vols' Cierra Burdick or Jannah Tucker.

Tennessee coach Holly Warlick announced that Burdick and Tucker would be suspended for two regular-season games, which includes the Golden Eagles' arrival in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The players did "not live up to our academic standards," Warlick said.

The punishments were believed to be related to players missing class, according to a report by the Associated Press.

"You miss a class, you miss a game," Warlick said. Two other stipulations included sitting "in the first three rows" of class, and "you can't be late."

In all, there were four Tennessee players suspended, including Ariel Massengale and Andraya Carter, both of whom will miss the Lady Vols' opener against Penn and then play against ORU.

Massengale, a 5-foot-7 point guard, is the most notable name of the group after she averaged 12.5 points and 5.7 assists for Tennessee last season.

Burdick's presence will be missed inside against ORU. At 6 feet, 2 inches, the Charlotte, N.C. native posted 8.7 points and 7.3 rebounds during her junior campaign last year.

Tucker, who is recovering from a knee injury, will serve her two-game suspension once she's healthy.

The Lady Vols — who made it to the Sweet 16 last season before being eliminated by Maryland — were picked to finish second in the Southeastern Conference this season. The league released its preseason poll on Wednesday.

ORU will open the regular season on Nov. 14 at No. 8 Baylor.