Hey, Oral Roberts is in the Elite Eight. OK, not that "Elite Eight," but an elite class of eight teams remaining in the College Basketball Invitational.
The Golden Eagles outlasted UC Santa Barbara in a track meet Wednesday night, beating the Gauchos (South American cowboys) 91-87 at the Mabee Center. The 1,687 fans — absurdly low, by the way — that did show up saw a highly-entertaining game.
The pregame notes that the CBI provided highlighted how its tournament features close games. ORU and UC Santa Barbara made sure to oblige.
And as you might imagine, the good far outweighs the bad for the Golden Eagles after that one....
The good
- The Golden Eagles shot 55.6 percent (30 of 54) in the game, they were 17 of 28 (60.7 percent) from the field in the second half. It's almost as if Omaha had returned to the Mabee Center to allow the Golden Eagles to do whatever they wanted offensively.
ORU coach Scott Sutton averted all credit to playing relaxed basketball.
"I told them to play loose and have fun and shoot with confidence," Sutton said. "And they did that."
- Obi Emegano was at it again. ORU's junior guard from Edmond Memorial continued his late-season scoring blitzkrieg with 30 points on 9 of 18 shooting. He was also 3 of 3 from beyond the arc and 9 of 11 from the free throw line.
"It starts in practice," Emegano said. "We been hard, practicing well. That's just my foundation."
Eighteen of Emegano's points came in the first half when he was 6 of 12 from the field.
"I just try to take advantage of the mismatches that I have," Emegano said. "They played a smaller guy on me, and I can take him to the post. Just trying to play the matchups."
- Offensive help has been hit or miss for Emegano all season long, but he had plenty of assistance against UC Santa Barbara. Bobby Word (16 points), Aaron Young (14) and Brandon Conley (14) were all key contributors on the offensive end. That trio combined to shoot 15 of 25 from the field.
"My coaches had confidence in my and my teammates had confidence in me, and (UC Santa Barbara) was really keying on Obi," said Young, who scored nine points on three 3s inside the final five minutes of the game. "I just tried to move to an open spot and shoot it like I know I can."
Conley, mired in a particularly long season slump, also added eight rebounds before fouling out.
- They combined to play 20 minutes, but they were mostly quality minutes from Darian Harris and Albert Owens. Harris' two rebounds were both big after he found himself in the right spot at the right time, and his 3-pointer from the left corner sent ORU on a 9-0 run midway through the second half.
Owens had to body up UC Santa Barbara's Alan Williams — who drew the attention of two NBA scouts in the game — while scoring six points and hauling in six rebounds. That kind of production, plus maybe two or three more points and two or three more rebounds, is exactly what ORU will be looking for from Owens on a per game basis next season.
- Probably goes unnoticed sometimes, but ORU does a pretty good job of taking care of the basketball. The Golden Eagles turn the ball over 11.8 times per game, which is 103rd in the country.
And when ORU churns out 16 assists and only has nine turnovers, it has to bring big smiles to the faces of Sutton and the rest of the coaching staff.
Young dished the ball out four times. Much like Owens, if he adds to that total next season, ORU will reap the benefits.
- The 30-second shot clock? Fantastic. Honestly, though, to say it made a huge difference would be somewhat of an overstatement, but it perhaps did force teams to put an extra pep in their step.
ORU was averaging 69 points per game prior to playing UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos were scoring 67.8 points per game.
Something forced them to be more offensive.
And yes, both teams were making a lot of shots, but the shorter shot clock forced more aggression toward the basket. That also yielded 37 personal fouls and 43 free throw attempts (31 of which were made).
"I like it; I think it's where college basketball needs to go," Sutton said. "I think 35 seconds is too long. I don't think we're ready for 24 seconds by any means, but 30 is good. And I think it'll be 30 next year."
The bad
- John Green wasn't a prolific 3-point shooter for UC Santa Barbara coming in. He was a 33.3 percent shooter from deep.
ORU, though, failed to guard him all night, resulting in Green's 4 of 4 effort from beyond the arc.
In the end, UCSB made 10 of 23 3-pointers, and ORU could have done a better job of defending the perimeter.
But, when you're guarding Williams, you also tend to pack the bodies into the lane.
- To see only 1,687 in attendance was a shame. Easily the smallest crowd at the Mabee Center all year long. That includes a schedule that featured Haskell and Tabor.
To not even get 2,000 in the arena is an embarrassment. Crowds that small are verging on Western Illinois, IPFW and IUPUI crowds on the road.
The reality
ORU's season continues on while other NCAA teams fall by the wayside. Next up: a trip to the Windy City to play at Loyola Chicago on Monday night.
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