ORUTerry Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 The Golden Eagles travel to Macomb to battle the Leatherneck on Saturday. Western Illinois is 10 -5 on the season; 1-2 in conference play. They are 6-0 at home and 4-5 on the road. They have lost their last 3 games (road); their conference win was at home against Denver in OT (84-80) and they lost on the road to Omaha (78-84) and St. Thomas (66-89). They have some nice wins including Nebraska and Northern Kentucky (on the road) and Miami-Ohio, Ball State and TN-Martin all at home. They appear to be a different team at home. They shoot a lot of three pointers (average 27.7 per game) with a 34.% 3-pt% on the season. In conference they are shooting 22.2% on 27.0 attempts. They average 80.0 ppg (76.0 in conference) Link to stats: https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/western-illinois/2022.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Does the team bus down from Minneapolis to Macomb or do we fly?....looks like at least 400 miles..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 2 hours ago, theeagleman5 said: Does the team bus down from Minneapolis to Macomb or do we fly?....looks like at least 400 miles..... Between check-in hassles, flight delays in the wintertime, and cramming your 6'-7" frame into a seat in Coach, flying can be a royal pain unless you charter a plane, and in this case could total as much time (or more) as hopping on a bus. And, where would you land? I doubt Southwest has a direct flight from St. Paul to Macomb. Would be very surprised to hear they did anything other than make the 6.5 hour bus trip last night or early today. Hopefully they Googled a really cool place along the way to grab some dry rub and see the world's largest ball of twine or such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 ORU goes from playing the smallest team in the conference (St. Thomas) to matching up with the tallest team in the Summit League. Western Illinois starting frontcourt is 6'7, 6'10 and 6'10. Will be interesting to see how the Eagles matchup with that NBA size. WIU has lost three in a row on the road and in those games they gave up around 88 points per game. Hard to win when your adversary is putting up those kind of numbers. Would expect their defense to be a lot better tomorrow. ORU will have bring their A game to win on Saturday. This may be the toughest road game left on the schedule or NDSU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORob1 Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 I'm amazed at how easily our opponents have simply backed us down in the lane for easy buckets. I would imagine we'll see a lot of that Saturday night in Macomb...It might be a long night if we struggle at all from outside. Go Big Blue! Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 It appears that we can watch at goleathernecks.com for free. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 7, 2022 Share Posted January 7, 2022 Really tough to turn around and play a 2nd road game in less than 45 hours plus after a long bus ride......and WIU has been sitting around all week doing very little but make snowballs......they are probably pissed from losing 3 in a row and looking to take on and beat Sweet 16 ORU......but we have the better talent....agree we have to shoot well from distance to win....gonna take our best effort and this is a huge road game that could really set us up for a Top two run in the Summit League regular season.....hopefully the Good Guys get a good nights' sleep and are rested and ready to go Saturday afternoon.....ESPN likes us....they give ORU a 61.7% chance of winning..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Generally I’m not a betting man but I am fascinated with point spreads. The Dallas Morning News reports ORU -1 in the paper this morning. Perhaps the oddsmakers are following The Eagleman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted January 8, 2022 Author Share Posted January 8, 2022 As I stated above, WIU appears to be a different team at home. They shoot the ball dramatically better and seem to play much better. The Leathernecks are undefeated (6-0) at home this year. This game will not be easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle88 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 I'm a little nervous about this game as it is our 2nd game on a road trip. WIU seems to play well at home, they are long and athletic so hopefully we are rested and shoot well. Winning this game would be big and give us a cushion in at least being a 2 seed this March. I like the way we have been playing so I predict ORU 78- WIU 74. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 According to warrennolan.com, this matchup is ORU's most difficult (lowest point spread) for the remainder of the season. This is primarily based upon Western's RPI, and takes into consideration their stellar non-conference performance. There are four significant "speed bumps" on ORU's remaining schedule, and the next two games (at Western, at UMKC) are both on the list (in addition to NDSU in Fargo and SDSU at home). Let's hope that ORU's "A" team shows up in Macomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcboy2000 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Gut check time for the good guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Are we sure the game is free on the leatherneck network? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Bad bit of scheduling with this game being in the afternoon. The conference should not allow afternoon games on Saturday following a Thursday night contest. It would be OK if a Saturday afternoon game was the only one that week between travel partners, but not like this. The travel times between games is just too great in this league. Leathernecks by 5. #TrustTheProcess 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 ORU is -2 with a huge O/U of 159. This will be high scoring for sure...we need to stay out of foul trouble and play a little D. This is surely a tough road game vs a team that plays better at home...TheEagleman has been on the fence for 24 hours....i have to lean towards OTs thinking....WIU 84 ORU 81....but Go Blue!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 1 hour ago, EagleManiac said: Are we sure the game is free on the leatherneck network? It says free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Max will need some help today, cannot always expect him to just put the team on his back and carry them to victory. No one has really stepped up and become that number two guy. Kareem is due for a good game say 15 points and 5 rebounds. The Eagles need to force some turnovers and get some easy points on the break. If it is mainly a half-court game today, then that favors WIU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eaglefan 21 Posted January 8, 2022 Share Posted January 8, 2022 Not sure how this game will end but it will be worth watching again to see the dunk Eli just threw down on one of the Western bigs. It was amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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