ORU at Detroit — the good, the bad and the reality

Golden Eagles fend off Titans in overtime

The good: Well, what's not to like about ORU finally getting its first true victory. And quite impeccable timing, too.

With Summit League play bearing down on the Golden Eagles, they managed to piece together a performance worthy of winning away from the Mabee Center. (Granted, they did that against Milwaukee at the Las Vegas tournament, but we're talking true road games here.)

Obi Emegano had a career-high 31 points while going 9 of 15 from the floor, 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and 10 of 12 at the free throw line. If he continues that, he'll be the runaway Player of the Year in the Summit League.

Worth mentioning, too: Emegano played 44 of 45 minutes. Clearly his torn ACL from last season is in the rearview mirror.

"My knee is getting better with time," said Emegano, who also had five rebounds and four steals. "And as time goes on, I am gaining and becoming more confident in my knee."

That's fantastic news for ORU fans.

And the positive vibes continue.

Korey Billbury had 22 points and six rebounds against Detroit. He had seven points in overtime, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer that gave ORU the lead for good with 1:16 left. The junior from Booker T. Washington also finished 12 of 13 from the charity stripe.

Denell Henderson returned to the lineup after sitting out the Haskell game with a bum ankle. He logged two points, two rebounds and three blocks in 16 minutes.

The Golden Eagles shot 41.3 percent (19 of 46) from the field — a drastic improvement for a team that had been a woeful 34 percent from the floor in road games prior to Tuesday night.

ORU was 8 of 8 from the foul line in overtime. If you want to win in extra time, you better make the freebies. The Golden Eagles did that.

The bad: Outside of Billbury and Emegano, the Golden Eagles made 6 of 21 field goals — a not so robust 28.6 percentage. That has to get better.

ORU coach Scott Sutton has preached about other players stepping up around Emegano and Billbury, and so far, that's only happened in home games.

The Golden Eagles let a 10-point lead slip away in the final seven minutes of the game. Have to be able to tighten the screws late.

Brandon Conley had one point and five rebounds and missed a late free throw that could have won the game in regulation for the Golden Eagles. After a 12-point, eight-rebound showing against Haskell — yeah, it was Haskell, I know — Conley failed to continue his strong play. He's got to become a bigger contributor come league play.

Darian Harris and Dederick Lee didn't play against Detroit. The two were virtually non-existent against Haskell, so it's pretty obvious that Sutton is going to keep their minutes to a minimum moving forward. Foul trouble for other players may be the only avenue to those two seeing extended minutes the rest of the year.

ORU was outscored 34-14 in the paint. The Golden Eagles don't figure to dominate the paint, but Henderson and Albert Owens have to be better enforcers in the middle.

In terms of bench production, ORU was outscored 36-17 by Detroit. That, again, goes back to others stepping up around Emegano and Billbury.

The reality: A gigantic confidence boost for the Golden Eagles as they head to Fargo, North Dakota, to take on the Bison of North Dakota State.

The plane ride from Detroit to Minneapolis — and subsequent bus trip to Fargo — will be much more cheerier, and with good reason.

Sutton and players wouldn't really admit to any mounting pressure to win on the road, but it was clearly there. Knocking off the Titans at Calihan Hall was a huge release for the pressure valve.

We now know that ORU is a pretty good first-half team. Only a few first halves — Louisiana, Oklahoma — have gotten away from the Golden Eagles enough to where a comeback seemed far-fetched.

It's also apparent that ORU possess two of the best talents in the Summit League. With the duo of Billbury and Emegano, there's no reason to think ORU can't emerge from regular season play with at least a portion of the Summit League's title.

ORU notebook: Lee, Harris struggle in ORU's blowout of Haskell

Reserve judgment

Scott Sutton's to-do list was rather short when his team hosted Haskell on Sunday: get a win and infuse some confidence into Dederick Lee and Darian Harris.

The first was an easy one. The Golden Eagles obliterated Haskell 94-42 in front of a larger-than-expected crowd of 3,184.

The second? Well, Sutton's dejected reaction in the postgame press conference told the story.

"Darian got great looks all day long," Sutton said of Harris, who was 1 of 7 from the field, 0 of 6 from beyond the 3-point arc and 1 of 2 at the free-throw line. "I don't know. He's a little bit of a streaky shooter like Bobby (Word), and you saw Bobby was really struggling the last two games and then he got on a little bit of a run there late."

Lee, like Harris, was virtually non-existent against Haskell, recording four rebounds and three assists. The redshirt freshman from Clarksville, Arkansas, only put up one shot attempt and he missed it.

Lee's points-per-game average slipped to 0.4 through 12 games, and he has made only one field goal this season. Harris' scoring average now sits at 1.8 per contest, and he's shooting 20 percent (5 of 25) from the floor in 12 games.

"We have to be able to get some guys to step up and take some pressure off of Obi (Emegano) and Korey (Billbury)," Sutton said. "The 3-point shot is such a huge momentum play, just like a dunk or a fast-break layup.

"We're not a great shooting team, and those guys are capable. They just have to be more consistent."

Henderson hobbled

ORU forward Denell Henderson signed autographs for fans following the game against Haskell. That's all he did on Sunday.

The 6-foot-7 senior didn't play against Haskell after injuring his ankle in practice earlier in the week.

"He got hurt in practice on Friday when we came back from break," Sutton said. "He twisted his ankle late in practice. He probably could have gone today, but obviously we didn't think we needed to have him. I think he'll be ready to go Tuesday (at Detroit)."

Brandon Conley started in Henderson's place and had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Powwow presentation

ORU scheduling Haskell certainly appealed to the Native American population in the Tulsa area. The Golden Eagles took it a step further by having a Tulsa-based Native American group perform a powwow at halftime.

Because of the mildly impressive turnout, Sutton said he'd like to see Haskell on the schedule in the future.

"These games are good," Sutton said. "I don't know how the public view them or how season-ticket holders view them. They're good for programs.

"We're not able to buy in (a lot of) teams. We need these games to fill a home schedule. I think you're going to play a non-D-I every year.

"I thought Haskell, their alumni and Native American community, really came out and supported them. I thought that was great...it's something we'll look into the future in playing this game again."

Wilson update

It was announced that ORU forward Drew Wilson III wasn't with the Golden Eagles following back-to-back home wins over Missouri State and New Mexico State.

Wilson still isn't with ORU nearly a month later.

Sutton said following the Haskell game that Wilson "would not travel with the team" to road contests at Detroit on Tuesday and North Dakota State on Friday.

Up next

ORU is 0-6 in true road games this season, and the Golden Eagles will put that mark on the line Tuesday in the Motor City. The Golden Eagles and Detroit Titans will tip off at 6 p.m. CST.

"It's a huge game," Sutton said. "Obviously if you gave me the choice in winning Tuesday or Friday, I'd take Friday. For us to have success and win Friday, we need to play well on Tuesday. I really believe that."

Another abysmal 2nd half, another ORU road loss — the good, the bad and the reality

The good: This category requires some intense brain massaging, because positives from ORU's 52-45 loss at Missouri State were few and far between.

The Golden Eagles pretty much dominated the first half inside JQH Arena, and that's always a good thing. ORU was the proud owner of a 31-21 halftime advantage after shooting 44.4 percent (12 of 27) from the field in the first 20 minutes. 

It was down hill from there. Both Obi Emegano and Bobby Word scored 12 points, but they needed a combined 23 shot attempts to get to those marks. 

The bad: The second half. Just put that audio track on repeat. That's how bad it was.

The Golden Eagles have been horrific in the second half of road games, but at Missouri State, ORU managed a season-low 14 points in the second half. Yes, fourteen. A measly, futile 14 points.

ORU can count on beating absolutely no one with 14 points in a half.

Shooting 17.4 percent (4 of 23) is astonishingly bad. Add a whooping zero 3-pointers made on nine attempts. All that makes 6 of 9 at the foul line look glorious.

Basically, ORU couldn't get a shot to fall. The Golden Eagles' last field goal came at the 10:02 mark. That's crushing.

Also, Korey Billbury is a solid basketball player, but he had a bad night against Missouri State. The former Booker T. Washington standout had only four points with four turnovers in 23 minutes of game time. Probably should have seen it coming after he picked up a foul only a few seconds into the game.

The reality: It's a harsh one, but ORU is a mentally weak basketball team in the second half of games away from the Mabee Center. It's virtually unexplainable.

The Golden Eagles have a collection of players - Emegano, Word, Billbury, Brandon Conley, Denell Henderson, Albert Owens - that I think are able-bodied and extremely competent. But for whatever reason, the core of the team isn't meshing right now.

Head coach Scott Sutton has altered his lineups. He's tried different units on the floor together. He's tightened his rotation and cut back minutes on Jabbar Singleton, Dederick Lee and Darian Harris. He's preached to his guys about mental toughness and being accountable.

But for whatever reason, the car is all revved up but no one is behind the wheel.

Someone has to take ownership of the team and solidify ORU as a Summit League favorite, because as of right now, the Golden Eagles are looking at going about .500 in league play. That will be followed by maybe a win in the league tournament and then a stark exit in the semifinals to cap off an underwhelming season.

Here's where ORU stands: it's 251st (out of 351) in the RPI rankings. The Golden Eagles are 4-7 (three of the four wins coming underneath the Mabee Center roof).

Bottom line: ORU has to be better outside of the Tulsa area. It's a team probably as talented as any other in the Summit League, but if all the puzzle pieces are just haphazardly scattered about, it's going to be hard to tell what the ultimate picture is.

Somehow, some way, ORU has to figure out a way to be a cohesive unit on the road.

ORU mauls Missouri State — the good, the bad and the reality

The good: It probably felt like an uphill battle, but the Golden Eagles made it back to .500 with an 80-61 pasting of Missouri State on Monday night. ORU (4-4) opened the season with a win over crosstown rival Tulsa, but then the Golden Eagles left town for a 15-day road trip that included only one victory in Las Vegas.

But after returning home at 2-4, while enduring an unusual afternoon when the electricity eluded the Mabee Center when ORU and Missouri State were originally supposed to meet, the Golden Eagles put together solid back-to-back performances against New Mexico State and Missouri State. Really it was to two impressive second-half showings, but it's not like either first half was horrifying.

Against Missouri State, Bobby Word and Adrion Webber swooped in and saved the day. Korey Billbury was in early foul trouble, so that meant someone needed to step up with him parked on the bench.

Word and Webber were those guys — along with Aaron Young and Denell Henderson.

Word and Webber went a combined 12 of 20 from the field and seven of 12 from beyond the arc. Both had season-high point totals: Word (16) and Webber (15).

Henderson had 12 points and eight rebounds in an all-around solid performance, which included two assists and three blocks.

Young, making his second straight start for Scott Sutton's team, scored 12 points, a new career high after posting a career high nine points in a win over New Mexico State on Saturday.

Sutton lauded Young's effort on both ends of the floor, especially on defense where he put a straitjacket on Missouri State's Austin Ruder, who didn't even score a point against the Golden Eagles.

In the end, ORU's bench outscored Missouri State's reserves 40-21.

So, basically, there were a lot of positives to pull from ORU's second straight victory.

The bad: Brandon Conley continues to be foul prone for the Golden Eagles. The Fort Worth, Texas native has started seven or ORU's eight games, and he's fouled out in five — yes, five — of those games. In two of the three games where he didn't foul out, Conley had four fouls.

Conley's only non-foul-trouble game was when he came off the bench against Louisiana. He only played 14 minutes that game.

Averaging 4.1 fouls per game is no way to get by in college basketball. At some point you have to learn how to play aggressive without drawing the ire of the officials.

It has to be increasingly frustrating for the ORU coaching staff. Before the year started, Conley was thought of as a "breakout player."

Now he just needs to break out of his fouling funk.

The reality: The Golden Eagles face quite a challenge tonight in the 15th-ranked Sooners. But the good news for the Golden Eagles is they enter the game having won the two games they needed to win.

A victory over OU in Norman would be spectacular for ORU, considering it's the Golden Eagles' third game in four days. You'd think even a well-rested ORU club would struggle at Lloyd Noble Center.

But, ORU played relatively well against Milwaukee on the second of back-to-back games in Las Vegas, so there's always hope, I guess.

Think I'd take the Sooners comfortably tonight, but given Memphis' recent struggles, it'd be foolish to discount ORU's chances at the FedEx Forum on Saturday.

Examining possible makeup dates for ORU-Missouri State game

There was no game played between Oral Roberts and Missouri State on Sunday. That much is known.

Apparently a squirrel saw to it that there was no electricity in the south Tulsa area on Sunday afternoon. Power was restored to nearly all customers by 3:30, but ORU — and more importantly, the Mabee Center — remained dark until 5:30.

By then, Missouri State was long gone, and Sunday's game was postponed until a later date.

Or was it?

Both head coaches, Scott Sutton (ORU) and Paul Lusk (Missouri State), sounded extremely irritated once the game was called off. And by the sounds of the conversation between the two of them, it didn't sound like Lusk was willing to budge on rescheduling another trip to Tulsa — despite the fact that Missouri State plays at Tulsa on Dec. 17.

Sutton countered by saying that if Missouri State doesn't play at the Mabee Center at some point this season, then the Golden Eagles could just as easily call off their return trip to Springfield, Missouri, in the home-and-home series.

If that happens, no one wins.

Teams like ORU and Missouri State benefit from playing each other. Win or lose.

The Golden Eagles desperately need a good win, and one over Missouri State would certainly qualify. Missouri State needs a game against ORU to prepare for games in the Missouri Valley Conference.

It's just silly to not do everything possible to make up the game.

With that said, let's examine what ORU and Missouri State have left on their dockets until conference play starts for both teams. We'll also include some potential days when rescheduling Missouri State at the Mabee Center may work...

- This week (Dec. 8 through Dec. 12): Finals week — no way anything gets rescheduled on any of these days.

- Dec. 13 - ORU hosts New Mexico State; Missouri State plays at Southeast Missouri State.

- Dec. 14 - A trip to the southeast corner of Missouri followed by a trip to Tulsa probably isn't going to work for Missouri State. Scratch this day off the list.

- Dec. 15 - ORU certainly wouldn't want to play the day before going to play at Oklahoma.

- Dec. 16 - ORU will be in Norman to play the Sooners.

- Dec. 17 - Missouri State is at Tulsa.

- Dec. 18 - Would make some sense for Missouri State to play while already being back in Tulsa. But Lusk probably wants to avoid his team playing on back to back nights — despite it being solid preparation for conference tournament play.

- Dec. 19 - Both teams play on the 20th, so this date won't work.

- Dec. 20 - ORU is at Memphis; Missouri State is home to host Eastern Michigan.

- Dec. 21 - No way this date works with ORU in Springfield, Missouri, on the 22nd.

- Dec. 22 - The slated second game of the home-and-home series. Will it happen? We shall see.

- Dec. 23 - Both teams probably need a day to rest after a game Saturday and Monday.

- Dec. 24 - Would be surprised to see them play the day before Christmas.

- Dec. 25 - Happy holidays to one and all. Don't count on the game being rescheduled with Santa still making his rounds.

- Dec. 26 - This is a day that would make sense. Besides, might as well cure the holiday hangovers — from turkey, presents, etc. (not the alcoholic kinds) — with some basketball.

- Dec. 27 - If we're guessing as to when the game might get replayed, I'd put my money on this date. ORU plays the next day against Haskell, but prep time for Haskell would be very minimal.

- Dec. 28 - ORU hosts Haskell — if ORU was forced to cross Haskell off the list to add Missouri State, it ought to do it in a heart beat.

- Dec. 29 - ORU will be traveling to Detroit on this day.

- Dec. 30 - ORU plays at Detroit.

- Dec. 31 - Missouri State is at Southern Illinois.

- January through March - It's all conference play all the time for both teams, save for ORU's throwaway game against Tabor (Jan. 27).

Here's hoping ORU and Missouri State can work something out.