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.
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