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."
No comments:
Post a Comment