Dr. Cornelius Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 [TULSA WORLD] Bill Haisten: Fueled by sudden stardom, is ORU ‘sneaky good’ enough for a Sweet Sixteen run? Quote As the Ohio State game began, there were people all over this country who knew very little or nothing at all about Oral Roberts University, Paul Mills and Kevin Obanor. Real basketball people might have been aware that ORU’s Max Abmas was the Division I scoring leader, and everyone who filled out a bracket would have noticed that the Golden Eagles represented the Summit League as a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region. After 2½ hours of having represented Tulsa and Oklahoma in such an impressive manner on Friday, the Golden Eagles danced to their locker room for the celebration of their 75-72 elimination of the second-seeded, heavily favored Buckeyes. As ORU emerged from the first round as the Cinderella darling of the tournament, it’s important to credit Joe Lunardi for his pregame prediction that it would happen — that for only the ninth time ever, a 15 seed would topple a 2. “Here’s my upset special of the tournament,” ESPN’s Bracketologist announced. “The Buckeyes against Oral Roberts — a 15 seed. Can it happen? Yes, and I think it will. Oral Roberts: sneaky good. Ohio State: sneaky done.”... (FULL STORY) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Not to sound like a cliche but we will need to play our best and have everyone contributing including Jurgens, Lacis, Weaver and Thompson. We will need to play stiff defense and hopefully get hot from behind the three point arc on offense. Florida drew a No. 7 seed in this Tourney despite being eliminated in the second round of the SEC Tourney. They are good but beatable. Play your game Eagles, we have seen P-5 schools this year in games and do every year. Just focus on doing what we do well and let everything else fall into place. Go Golden Eagles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Florida’s height (Castleton,etc.) will be a challenge to us - depending on how they use him. We need to maintain our defensive intensity and have our ‘role’ players contribute (score). I think Florida will try to trap & double up Abmas. We might see some pressure defense as well. It will be interesting to see if the Gators play to our pace. Our guys are well conditioned and used to playing back to back games. Hopefully the guys are focused and haven’t got distracted from all the attention. The team will have a great stage to show their abilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idig32 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 I’m looking for Weaver to be an X factor today. His length on defense caused some problems for Ohio State at moments and if his shooting is on, then he’s another double-digit scorer to add to the mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 The Gators have length and play two guys at 6'10" (Castleton & Payne) quite a bit. They also have tall guards so Weaver, Lacis, Jurgens, and Thompson will have their hands full. Florida PG Tyree Appleby took a hard shot to the head against VA Tech and Payne was still serving a suspension for his elbows against a TN player in the SEC tournament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 30 minutes ago, Dr. Cornelius said: The Gators have length and play two guys at 6'10" (Castleton & Payne) quite a bit. They also have tall guards so Weaver, Lacis, Jurgens, and Thompson will have their hands full. Florida PG Tyree Appleby took a hard shot to the head against VA Tech and Payne was still serving a suspension for his elbows against a TN player in the SEC tournament. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle88 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 If the Eagles play like they did in the Summit League tournament and the 1st round game on Friday then this should be a good game. We played 2 complete halves in the OSU game unlike the Summit League tournament. We will have to play 40 minutes of good basketball to have a shot at this one. This year's squad seems very focused and confident and has the mindset that they can beat anyone! How awesome to be in the sweet 16! Go Eagles!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUIllini Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 For me it comes down to two factors...can ORU continue the good defensive play, and can Weaver and Thompson shot better. If they start hitting, the Gators will have to pay more attention to them and not all their attention on Max. ORU shot 35% from the field against OSU. Shoot better, play defense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTex Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 I agree, but in addition to Weaver and Thompson, Lacis and Jurgens (or at least a couple of those 4) have to shoot better also. Those four each took 3 threes (mostly good open looks) and only Lacis made one, for a combined 1-for-12. And they were 6-for-23 total. It's a good thing Max and Kevin took most of the shots, since they were 10-22 (45%) from 3 and 19-45 (42%) overall. But now that Florida saw that and has had 2 days to prepare, I imagine Max and Kevin will find it even harder to get shots off, and that's where the other 4 can step up, like they did at different times in the Summit tourney. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 1 hour ago, ORUIllini said: For me it comes down to two factors...can ORU continue the good defensive play, and can Weaver and Thompson shot better. If they start hitting, the Gators will have to pay more attention to them and not all their attention on Max. ORU shot 35% from the field against OSU. Shoot better, play defense. This is the ballgame. Need some guys besides Max and KO to hit outside shots to have a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Good breakdown on ORU's pick and pop and how Florida may try to defend it... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 It looks like Florida's biggest weakness is turnovers. They average around 15 per game and had 18 in the overtime win agaisnt Virginia Tech. So the Eagles need to force the Gators into some turnovers, as they did agaisnt Ohio State. Then they can get easy fastbreak points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Only one 15 seed has ever made it to the Sweet 16....FGCU in 2012....well TheEagleman thinks after today it will be two....Max and Obanor probably wont score 59 so someone else must step up... DJ or maybe Thompson have to get double digits...we cant fall way behind early and have to make the Gators wilt under the pressure that always happens to the favored higher seeds....short and sweet.... ORU will be in the Sweet 16 for the first time since TheEagleman was a sophomore in 1974...Expect A Miracle!!!....ORU 78 Florida 76.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle88 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 I love your confidence Eagleman! I'm standing strong with you! I came to ORU in 1985 and my tenure at ORU were lean years for ORU basketball! That was the Ted Owens era aka Ted riffic! I'm ready for more history to be made tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Whatever happens tonight, this has been a dream season for ORU basketball. Tonight's game is just icing on the cake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcboy2000 Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Gonna do the watch party thing tonight at the Mabee Center. I'll see you guys post game. Let's go ORU!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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