ORU observations - vs. IUPUI

First half

- Brandon Conley took ORU's first two shots of the night. With Korey Billbury and Obi Emegano leading the charge offensively, Conley certainly doesn't figure to be the Golden Eagles' early igniter on offense.

- Emegano went down hard at the 15:50 mark and was slow getting up. As his teammates went and gathered for the first media timeout, Emegano limped straight to the locker room, accompanied by trainer John Joslin.

After Emegano missed the majority of last season with a torn ACL, anytime he starts limping around it's cause for concern for the Golden Eagles.

- IUPUI looked disinterested after taking an early 5-2 lead. Jaguars appeared disjointed on offense and had seven turnovers before the second media timeout.

- Emegano, still limping, returned for the Golden Eagles with 9:33 left until halftime. Obviously a huge sigh of relief for ORU.

- Sure enough, ORU goes up 14-5 and looks like it could coast past IUPUI. Then the Jaguars amp up the intensity and take a 15-14 lead. Go figure, right?

- The curious cases of Dederick Lee and Darian Harris continue. ORU coach Scott Sutton has threatened to shorten his rotation, yet the two redshirt freshman continue to log decent minutes.

On one possession late in first half, Lee drove to the basket and missed badly on a contested layup. An offensive rebound afforded Harris a chance to launch a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and he missed.

So it goes.

- Teams strive for offensive balance. IUPUI has it — but not in a good way.

The Jaguars are devoid of an assertive offensive presence. That could be a good thing, making the defense work to guard everyone on the floor.

However, it's not exactly a strength for IUPUI. The Jags just have a bunch of guys never really looking to take a shot. In games that are tight late, the Jags will wish they had someone that wants to take over.

- Game was tied at 23 at the half. ORU may regret not putting IUPUI away when it had the chance early in the first half.

Second half

- At one point, ORU had a 41-31 lead. Then the quintet of Emegano, Conley, Harris, Albert Owens and Jabbar Singleton manged to let it the advantage slip away.

IUPUI was within 41-39 with 10:29 left.

- Justus Stanback took over offensively for IUPU, and that's rare for a Jags player to do that. Stanback had 10 points in the second half — which in IUPUI terms is like scoring 67 points in a half.

- ORU's Denell Henderson made a backwards layup with 2:55. That's the best I know how to describe it.

While posted just below the block, Henderson gained possession of the basketball and there were no good options to attack the basket. So, Henderson just leapt into the air and somehow contorted his right arm to where he was able to make a shot off the glass.

Definitely one of the more bizarre layups I've ever seen. But kudos to Henderson for finding a way to make that work.

- IUPUI was up five with 33 seconds left. Sure looked like the Jaguars were going to steal another road win. But....

- IUPUI imploded in the final half minute. It all started with Korey Billbury's drive to the basket and missed layup with 27 seconds left. Billbury grabbed his own rebound, went back up to try again and he converted that time, all while being fouled by IUPUI's Khufu Najee. Horrendous mistake on Najee's part.

Billbury sank the free throw, and suddenly ORU was within striking distance of somehow keeping the game alive.

- Then IUPUI couldn't get the ball up the court. ORU employed some vicious traps, requiring IUPUI to call consecutive 30-second timeouts.

With 13 seconds left, Marcellus Barksdale received an inbounds pass, and was immediately surrounded by three ORU defenders. How Barksdale wasn't called for a travel or for stepping out of bounds is mind-boggling. But, he was ultimately fouled by Brandon Conley and ventured to the free-throw line — where two makes would have likely ended the game.

However....

- Barksdale made his first free throw and missed left on the second one, giving ORU one last chance.

- Sutton opted not to take a timeout on ORU's final possession.

Billbury sprinted up the court on the right side, eventually weaving his way across the court before dumping a pass off to Aaron Young on the left wing. Young dribbled three times as he ventured to his right, and he handed off a pass to Bobby Word, who was scoreless in the second half and was basically an after-thought throughout most of the game.

That all changed — and quickly.

While blanketed by Najee, Word frantically searched for a shot. It had to be a 3-pointer, of course.

Word never got a clean look, so he just jumped up and to his right to try and create some sort of separation. Needless to say, Word was off-balance, and he basically thrust the ball into the air with his right arm, using his left arm to keep some distance between himself and Najee.

And wouldn't you know: Word's 3 dropped in and the 2,836 in attendance went berserk.

A crazy, hopeless full-court attempt by IUPUI at the buzzer was way off and the game miraculously had new life.

- Worth noting: IUPUI's lack of a dominant scorer hurt late. Not a single Jags player looked like he wanted to take control.

Barksdale looks like a player that could command a dominant scoring role, but he disappears way too much to be considered a legitimate threat.

OT

- If it's ORU and IUPUI, the 40 minutes in regulation should be considered play time. The game is almost guaranteed to venture into overtime.

Seven of the 35 matchups between the two clubs have now required extra time. At least fans get their money's worth.

- Henderson grabbed the game by the throat in OT. Such a luxury for ORU when he decides to be an enforcer down low.

- IUPUI got to within four with 35 second left. Then the Jags opted to start fouling; that's a less than ideal strategy.

Word had converted on all 12 of his free throws inside the final five minutes — or in overtime — in games played this year. He added to that total, draining all four attempts from the foul line in the final 34 seconds, and ORU ended up coasting to an eight-point win.

- To find a way to come back and win that, it could very well save ORU's season. Now the Golden Eagles get to go play a Western Illinois team that was run out of South Dakota State on a rail on Wednesday night.