First off, a little bit on ORU's road win at Western Illinois...
- Obi Emegano is one tough dude. It was evident that he wasn't himself after hyper-extending his left leg at home against IUPUI. He finished with nine points and missed shots he would normally make.
Then came his 28-point performance at Western Illinois, the place where his collegiate career began. Coincidence? Who knows. Either way, what a big-time showing, especially with his scoring sidekick, Korey Billbury, in constant foul trouble.
Fourteen connections on 16 free throw attempts isn't bad either.
- If ORU has any chance of winning the Summit League's regular-season crown, winning at a place like Western Illinois was a must. Golden Eagles need to find a way to pile up as many road victories as possible.
- If Adrion Webber can contribute 11 points and eight rebounds every game, ORU would be nearly unstoppable. The problem is that he's done that only a few times this year.
- Darian Harris churned out another scoreless night in seven minutes. I just can't imagine him getting many more minutes the rest of the season, barring any substantial foul trouble.
But enough about the past. ORU hosts Omaha tonight at the Mabee Center, and here are a few keys...
- ORU has to take advantage of easy scoring opportunities. Omaha is last in the league in scoring defense, and it's because it plays a fast-paced, race-up-and-down-the-floor type of game. It would be advantageous for the Golden Eagles to convert on some easy layups and thwart any quick attacks by Omaha the other way.
- Omaha's CJ Carter has been better on the road than at home, so the Golden Eagles should make another Maverick try and beat them. Of course, that should be the game plan for every team when it faces Omaha.
Omaha has four other players that have double-digit scoring averages, but none are quite as electric as Carter. Make Mike Rostampour or Tre'Shawn Thurman beat you, since Denell Henderson and Albert Owens have done well playing defense down low as of late.
- The Golden Eagles need to win the free-throw battle. Few teams in the country are better at making free throws than ORU and Omaha, so the team that makes more freebies probably wins. The good news is ORU makes a higher percentage - 73.3 to 69.2 - of its free throws than the Mavericks.
Finally, here's are some quick updates on ORU's signing class of 2014...
- Javan White (Ames, Iowa) had 10 blocks in Ames' win over Ankeny on Tuesday. He preceded that with a 36-point, 16-rebound effort in a loss to Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Saturday.
- Chris Crawford of Victory Christian had 21 points in the Conquerors' 69-32 rout of Rejoice Christian on Tuesday. Crawford will face off with fellow ORU signee, Booker T. Washington's Chris Miller, on Saturday.
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