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ORU vs. Tulsa


ORUTerry

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2 hours ago, dave said:

Coach Haithe quoted in Tulsa World,

C’mon Coach. You gotta be bigger than that. Sounds like what my high school teammates and I said after losing 20 out of 22 games my senior year. You got beat. Deal with it. Games like this and the OSU game shows that ORU is a tough team. Just what OOC games are for. 

Yea, Usually coaches don't whine this much but he also knows he will catch grief for losing to ORU... Of course he isn't as bad as a few of their fans today.:) TU 1978 is in meltdown mode. Always nice to see. 

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This a great photo of McBride hitting a three (12:10 in the first half). Phipps already smiling and running back while the ball is in the air.

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Great Win!!! I cant decide which was better to see: Max dropping 38 on TU in a fantastic rivalry win or the great crowd- ORU basketball is becoming a "must see" event that is fun and entertaining in the gorgeous, renovated Mabee Center, the students are definitely doing their part!!

Go Eagles!!

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Jurgens and Thompson were both solid last night.  They each hit a couple of threes and seemed to be more confident.  Will need them as the season marches on.

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3 hours ago, Dr. Cornelius said:

I don't have a problem with the team celebrating with the trophy. TU needs to recruit better players or work on development instead of whining.

I should have been more specific:  the “Oral Roberts, Oklahoma” graphic made me wince, and the shredded TU banner had a bit of a “scorned-ex-girlfriend-slashing-the-tires” vibe.

Minor indiscretions in the big picture; I just always prefer the “we expected this, nothing to see here, next victim” approach. Act like we’ve been here before!

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31 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

Minor indiscretions in the big picture; I just always prefer the “we expected this, nothing to see here, next victim” approach. Act like we’ve been here before!

That was my thought when the students ran on to the floor. Somewhat embarrassing, though I'm sure it was fun for them. As far as I'm concerned, they can do whatever they want as long as they keep coming back. 

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50 Years of the same.....Typical TU whining especially from the Coach.....they don't like us....they don't respect us and they don't want to even play us.....bottom line is....TU DOES SUCK!!!........it's been 6 years so enjoy it......😎

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Here's the entire Tulsa World article, written by Kelly Hines, beat writer for TU for years until she was assigned ORU in last year's postseason.  Pretty obvious where her sentiments still lie from the whole "TU got robbed" vibe of her recap.  "Hangs On To Beat Tulsa", indeed - should have won by double digits.

And Frank Haith just sounds like a frustrated loser.  Which, for at least this moment in time, he is...

 

ORU Hangs On_Page_1.jpg

ORU Hangs On_Page_2.jpg

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Minus the March run this was the biggest win in the last five years.  The fans/students have not had a lot of big wins to celebrate in the Mabee Center.

Tulsa World is always going to put TU first and want them to beat ORU, just like the Summit League wants NDSU and SDSU to win the title (not ORU).  That's why it is even sweeter when the Golden Eagles win!

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Tulsa World....🤢🤮😜....TheEagleman would expect nothing less from them.....:shield-logo:

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More fake news, this time from the InsideTulsaSports.com website, TU's message board site with Rivals.com.

Actually, there's quite a few complimentary comments re: Max and ORU, but Frank Haith's quote about Max "booting the ball out of bounds" (when TU was called for a blocking foul with under a minute to go) is pathetic. 

It's plain to see on the replay (which anyone can view on the ORU Sports Network) that TU tried to switch on a screen, the defender arrives late and hip checks Max, then the whistle blows as Max's dribble is affected and goes off his foot.  Max hits both 1-and-1 free throws to make it a four-point game, leading to DJ's block of TU's lay-up attempt to seal the deal.

Haith also cries about Max shooting more free throws than TU did as a team (15 to 9), but fails to acknowledge that eight of them came in the final minute when TU was intentionally fouling, and three earlier ones came when they undercut his landing on a three-point attempt.  Forgive Max for hitting all 11 of those, I suppose...the nerve of that guy! 🙄

Tulsa tripped up by ORU in Mayor's Cup

Jeriah Horne led Tulsa with 30 points against ORU.
 
 
 
 
Jeriah Horne led Tulsa with 30 points against ORU. (TU Athletics)
Larry Lewis
ITS Senior Writer

In an old-style offensive shootout reminiscent of the mid 1970's Mayor's Cup games between TU and ORU, it was the reigning Sweet 16 Golden Eagles that employed their firepower to the fullest.

ORU superstar Max Abmas lived up to his reputation, and got a few breaks as a result , scoring 38 points to lead ORU to a 87-80 victory Monday night in front of a crowd of 5,239 at ORU's Mabee Center.

Jeriah Horne had 30 points and 8 rebounds to lead a remarkable TU comeback where the Golden Hurricane rallied from a 15-point first half deficit to take the lead in the second half.

But ORU held Horne scoreless in the last four minutes, hit two key three-pointers down the stretch and got a timely officiating break, which all combined to help ORU prevail.

Tulsa (4-3) was able to overcome ORU's first half lead early in the second half, and the two teams then took turns exchanging leads. Two consecutive three-pointers by Sam Griffin, the last with 2:43 remaining, put TU up 75-73.

But ORU's DeShang Weaver drained a three with 2:27 remaining to give ORU the lead for good at 76-75. Another Golden Eagles' three-pointer followed with 1:39 left to increase the ORU lead to 79-75.

A long two-pointer by Keyshawn Embery-Simpson with 1:07 left cut the margin to 79-77, setting up a key possession where ORU caught a major break.

While dribbling, Abmas lost the ball out of bounds while being closely guarded. But a hangnail foul was called on TU with 46.3 seconds left.

"The bang bang plays, we didn't get any breaks," Haith said. "There were some tough ones. Some really tough ones."

"He (Abmas) just booted it out of bounds. That was tough."

So instead of TU having the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead, Abmas drained his first two of eight consecutive free throws he made to end the game for ORU.

With no chance for TU to take the lead on the next possession, ORU could be more aggressive on defense, and a drive by Darien Jackson was blocked with 35 seconds remaining. More Abmas free throws followed, and game, set, and match.

"He shot 15 free throws, and we shot 9 (as a team)," Haith said. "It's tough."

Abmas hit 13 of 15 free throws, including his final 11. He hit 7 of 13 three's, and 9 of 16 from the field, while dishing 6 assists to only 1 turnover. He also had 2 steals.

The leading scorer in the nation last season at 24.5 points per game, Abmas was electric, making highly contested threes. And with TU having to concentrate so much on Abmas, that opened up their offense, making 19 of 41 (46.3 percent) on three's, and 26 of 55 (47.3 percent) overall. ORU hit 7 of 14 (50 percent) on two-pointers.

Horne was blistering the nets, hitting 5 of 8 three's (62.5 percent) and 11 of 19 field goals (57.9 percent). TU made 12 of 24 (50 percent) three-pointers, and 31 of 65 (47.7 percent) overall from the field.

Playing only eight players, and often playing small against ORU's quick lineup, TU was able to withstand an early aerial display of bombs that had Tulsa's heads spinning for much of the first half, with ORU leading 33-18 with under 8 minutes to play in the half.

But Tulsa closed the margin to 45-40 at halftime, and a layup by Horne at the 15:38 mark in the second half put TU up 47-46. From that point, there were several lead changes, as each team answered the other until ORU had the final responses.

“We fought hard. In the first half they made all those three’s, and we were only down five and we missed some bunnies and then missed some in the second half," Haith said. "We’ve got to make those baskets. Every point matters in a game like this. That was disappointing.

“We scored 36 points in the paint, but we never got in the one-on-one and only shot nine free throws. We have to find a way to get fouled and be better there.”

Tulsa's rotation were starters Horne, Griffin, Anthony Pritchard, Rey Idowu and Tim Dalger, with Jackson, Curtis Haywood and Embery-Simpson coming off the bench.

"We had a lot of guys do some really good things," Haith said.

Noteworthy was Haywood making both three-point attempts, finishing with 7 points and 4 steals. Pritchard had another strong game with 6 points to go with 5 assists and no turnovers. Jackson had 9 points. Embery-Simpson had 8 points (2 of 4 on three's).

ORU (4-3), coming off a one-point overtime loss at home to OSU, did a terrific job of clamping down on Griffin, who didn't score until the second half. Even with the two late three's, he only finished with 8 points.

Former TU commit Trey Phipps scored all 7 of his points in the second half for ORU, going 2 of 5 for the game on three's in just over 20 minutes.

For Abmas, the experience of winning tough NCAA Tournament games to get to the Sweet 16 last year is a plus.

"It does give us some confidence," Abmas said of ORU's NCAA tourney run last year. "But really, at the end of the day, just the work we put in. Not necessarily basing it on last year, but understanding that, if we want to get back to that point, we've got to be a whole lot better."

Next up for TU is playing at Boise State (3-3) Friday night. The Broncos last game was a 46-39 home loss to CSU Bakersfield. On a neutral court, Boise State lost 67-61 to No. 22 St. Bonaventure, and defeated Temple and Ole Miss.

"We've got to get ready to play a Boise team on the road that is really good," Haith said.

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2 hours ago, EagleManiac said:

That was my thought when the students ran on to the floor. Somewhat embarrassing, though I'm sure it was fun for them. As far as I'm concerned, they can do whatever they want as long as they keep coming back. 

ORUTerry astutely pointed out following the game that ORU students are rarely afforded the opportunity to celebrate a home win over TU, since so many times the game is scheduled during holiday break in December.

It was great having them there Monday, and I hope they enjoyed their time on the court afterward! 😎

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My thoughts on the game: 

- Obviously it was an incredible crowd. Props to the students. I noticed most of the players tweeted a thank you to the students almost immediately after the game and Mills has been tweeting at them before every game. An intentional effort is being made by the team to get students to games and it's paying off. 

- DJ had another huge game. What a block at the end. He's really coming into his own. 

- Announced attendance of 5,239. Less than 900 fewer than the OSU game. How does that work? The upper bowl was mostly full against OSU, while there were 0 in the upper bowl this game. Weird. 

- Surprised by how few TU fans there were and how quiet they were. Had no impact on the game. 

-Offensively we looked TERRIBLE. We're shooting so many threes because that's all we can get (not knocking our 3p attempt rate, just noting that we can't get any good lucks inside the arc).  I noticed the same thing the last couple of games. It's kind of just a pass the ball around the perimeter and maybe someone look to drive to the basket at some point. Too much standing around and not a whole lot of intentionality with what we're doing with the ball. I'm not worried about it by any means at this point. Just kind of interesting. 

- Anybody worried about Max's toe? I heard someone say they saw him limping a bit after the game. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a nagging injury for the rest of the season. 

 

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There were missed calls both ways.  I thought we did a good job of letting the ref know when he clearly missed the out of bounds call in the 2nd half.

There were a lot of times especially in the first half when Max did not get the call.  Did you notice him walk over to the ref and say something at a timeout after a non-call in the 2nd half?  I wonder what he said.

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15 minutes ago, MrsSmith said:

There were a lot of times especially in the first half when Max did not get the call.  Did you notice him walk over to the ref and say something at a timeout after a non-call in the 2nd half?  I wonder what he said.

I saw that too; it was after he thought he had been fouled on a 3-point attempt. I don’t remember Max ever speaking with a referee about a call. 

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TU is a very good defensive team and I think they ran a match up zone (looks a lot like ma-to-man) defense most of the game. That makes it difficult/different to read. We also played small and hardly ever posted up inside. Mostly five guys on the perimeter (3-point line).

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Some more random observations:

  • The sequence of events that sealed the game were 1) Weaver’s 3 pointer 2) Lacis’ 3 pointer and 3) Weaver’s blocked shot. Also Max’s free throws. 
  • It’s nice to see the team weather several runs by TU. That shows resilience and toughness. Basketball is a game of runs/volatility and it takes mental toughness to play through the rough patches. 
  • TU shot lights out from beyond the perimeter. While some were open shots, others were contested. If they shoot the ball like their previous six games, we would have run them out of the gym. 
  • The energy in Mabee Center was great and I have to think contributed to the win. Nice student turnout. Hopefully it will grow. I think casual ORU/basketball fans in Tulsa will start coming to see the Max & Company show. 
     
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42 minutes ago, MrsSmith said:

Did you notice him walk over to the ref and say something at a timeout after a non-call in the 2nd half?  I wonder what he said.

My guess would be he very politely informed the ref that he was fouled on the 3 point shot that was a no call, he did that knowing that the call would not be changed, but hoping to get the ref to call it the next time! And actually, Max did get a foul call on a 3 attempt not much later and the big call on the dribble with less then a minute left and we only had a 1 point lead- right before they had to start intentionally fouling, both were very big calls, good job Max- way to work the refs!!!  

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