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Coach Mills' responses to Adam's questions sounds like the guy describing to his buddies how he feels after the girl who's way out of his league talks to him. "Meh, no big deal." You have to act like you've been there and expected to win, right? You don't want the players pat their backs too much on moral victories, right? But inwardly, you know he is psyched! And he should be. He almost got his first signature win. Against the team his predeseccor now coaches for, on their home floor, after only 3 years of taking over a dumpster fire. Coach, it's ok to let the moral victories propel you to actual victories! Enjoy the successes you had last night.

New to the forum, but impressed w/ the ORU showing down in Stillwater. Showed a lot of fight and character.

The Huskies lost to Tulsa 72 to 80 on Tuesday. HBU is is the Southland Conference (6th season). Finished 12-18 last year; 8-10 in conference. Their coach (Ron Cottrell) has been at HBU for 29 years. The school has an enrollment of 3,325 and they play in an arena with a stated capacity of 1,000. Against TU, they scored 72 points on a 35.8% FG% - and were 9 of 29 from the three point line (31.0%. The Huskies shot 15 of 18 from the charity stripe and matched TU' in rebounding at 40 each. They committed 16 turnovers and had 2 blocked shots. They have tall guards; Dubose (6'4") scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against TU. They also have size (6'10" and 6'9") in the post. Link to HBU basketball site: https://hbuhuskies.com/sports/mens-basketball After playing ORU, Houston Baptist will take on Texas Tech, Michigan, Houston and Dayton.... that is some schedule.

I’m telling ya, these guys from HBU aren’t bad. And, they’re going to shoot a lot of threes, which could be problematic One area of concern for ORU following the OSU game: the Cowboys had a LOT of uncontested three-point shots. The first 10 minutes, they hit them. The rest of the game, not so much. But, they were still wide open. It’s important to not confuse good fortune with good defense - ORU still has a lot to prove re: guarding the perimeter. Here’s hoping HBU doesn’t find the Mabee Center rims as inviting as have so many other visiting teams in past seasons.

We played defense and no one was hurt - that’s what I was looking for. I like that we battled back after getting down 16 points. That shows heart. We found a way to compete while being outmatched athletically. Shots were not falling - but that happens early in the year. Burns is the point guard/leader we have been looking for. Plays hard/smart on both sides of the court.

A few things that stood out to me: After 2.5 years of recruiting under Mills program, ORU is looking better than they have in a LONG time. The talent level on the floor is noticeably higher. Max Ambas passed the eye test and oh man is he a smooth operator. He is fun to watch. It's amazing the difference having a true point guard makes. Curious to see who will step up and be the go to guy as the season progresses. The camera crew kept showing Scott Sutton looking exasperated on the Cowboys bench as ORU went on runs during the first half. Then nothing during the second half lol. Did someone say something to the broadcast team?

Strange, strange game - obviously nothing like I predicted. ORU forced by foul trouble to go with a FOUR-guard line-up, which surprisingly got the good guys back into the game down the stretch, as OSU inexplicably refused to pass the bell inside and instead settled for ill-advised outside shots, resulting in long rebounds that the quicker and harder-working ORU guards ran down (smallest-guy-on-the-floor RJ Fuqua with NINE rebounds). Dre Burns already one of my favorite ORU players of all time, as his incredible work ethic and sublime offensive skills have not only been productive, they’re rubbing off on the other guards. Even with all the big-man foul trouble, Ty Lazenby is playing way too many empty minutes. He exudes confidence far beyond his skill level (which is not a good thing). Max Abmas may at some point this season score more points in consecutive possessions than anyone in school history. He is a “heat check” machine once he hits a three. OSU looked like they were sleep-walking the entire second half. They kept waiting for “the big run” to push the game to a twenty-point lead, and when that run came from ORU instead, they looked ill-equipped to handle it. They were lucky not to lose. Lots of encouraging stuff for ORU fans; fascinated to see if there is a carryover, or a hangover, with the quick turnaround Friday night against sneaky-good Houston Baptist.

So true. Neither team played very well tonight, but we showed a lot of grit to stay in the game until the final minute. Proud of the effort. Now, we need to improve on Friday.

ORU now 13-2 and surely will move up from #24 in the NCAA D-1 rankings....Congrats to the Summit League Champs....Early Goals by Brigida and Berry led the way at Omaha today in the 3-0 win.....next up Western Illinois next weekend at Case....Go BLUE!!!....