ORUTerry Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 ORU travels up to Fargo this week to take on the Bison. NDSU is 19-8 on the season and 11-4 in league play. Here is a link to their season/conference stats. Obviously, if ORU wants to capture the 2nd seed and extra day of rest in the conference tournament, they need to post a win against NDSU this Thursday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 The Eagles have been really good on the road this year in conference play, 6-1. They will need to bring their A game and hit some threes early to have a chance to win in Fargo. Interesting to see how Lufile does agaisnt the Bison's frontline of 6'10 and 6'11 guys. That will pose a serious challenge, even for Big Maple. He only played seven minutes the first time ORU played NDSU and Coach Mills was out with an illness. The guys should be pumped for this rematch! Remember ORU won in Fargo last year, breaking a ten year losing streak but even that took two games to accomplish. A very tough place to steal a win at is NDSU's homecourt. Guessing on average they win 90 percent of their home games in conference play. In the last 50 home games NDSU is 41-9. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 I listened Tuesday night to a Twitter Spaces broadcast featuring about a half-dozen amateur Summit League gurus, and it was disappointing how little regard they hold for ORU in comparison to NDSU and SDSU. It seems a forgone conclusion in their minds that the Bison will clinch 2nd place this week, that NDSU will make the finals in Sioux Falls, and that the Jacks will sweep the tourney for the NCAA berth. ORU is seen as little more than “a puncher’s chance” of repeating their 2021 success, with UMKC and Western Illinois lumped in as dark horses as well. I suppose it’s understandable, what with ORU’s 0-2 record so far this season vs. the XDSU’s, and the real possibility that will be 0-4 by season’s end, but it still rankles to hear them dismissed so casually. Wish the players could have been listening for a little audio bulletin board material! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 You should shoot that snippet over to Coach Mills who would be able to get the players a little fired up....heck, it has you and me fired up.....ORU needs to bring the A game from the opening tip in order to compete with the Bison tomorrow night...agree that our chances of getting to the Summit Finals are so much better if we get the day off with a 1st or 2nd seeding.....and a loss in Fargo is probably going to doom ORU to no better than 3rd.....need to beat NDSU and SDSU or going to the dance will be a tall task..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Some may disagree but here is a theory. Say ORU loses to SDSU and NDSU in the next week or so and has the #3 seed, which makes them 0-2 agaisnt both teams. That may favor ORU because once they get to the Summit League tourney then that means NDSU or SDSU would have to beat them three times in one season. If NDSU or SDSU could do that, then they are obviously the better team and deserve to go to the NCAA's. Just do not think they can beat the Eagles three times in a season. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 17 minutes ago, Keenan Henderson said: Some may disagree but here is a theory. Say ORU loses to SDSU and NDSU in the next week or so and has the #3 seed, which makes them 0-2 agaisnt both teams. That may favor ORU because once they get to the Summit League tourney then that means NDSU or SDSU would have to beat them three times in one season. If NDSU or SDSU could do that, then they are obviously the better team and deserve to go to the NCAA's. Just do not think they can beat the Eagles three times in a season. Just a thought. I’m not sure I disagree with your view. The way I look at 2 vs 3 is really the first round opponent. Either way you avoid SDSU until the finals. So currently that means Denver or WIU. Denver could certainly be an easier out but, frankly, we should be able to beat the Leathernecks in round 1 despite that game I’d like to forget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Fair points, but lets not forget the day of rest that the #2 seed gets that the #3 seed does not get. That day is a big deal. I also am not ready to accept that the Bison are a superior team. I'll admit that SDSU is, but I think if we play 10 games against NDSU, we win 5-6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 8 minutes ago, EagleManiac said: Fair points, but lets not forget the day of rest that the #2 seed gets that the #3 seed does not get. That day is a big deal. I also am not ready to accept that the Bison are a superior team. I'll admit that SDSU is, but I think if we play 10 games against NDSU, we win 5-6. Good reminder. I had forgotten about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 NDSU is surprisingly only a 2.5 point favorite tomorrow night......TheEagleman was expecting ORU to get more like 4.5-5 points especially at home.......the O/U is 152.5........ESPN has ORU as a 51% favorite to win..... ..... VS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmg1984 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 The guys who helped ORU on the special run need to step it up Abmas can only do so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTex Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 4 hours ago, Keenan Henderson said: Some may disagree but here is a theory. Say ORU loses to SDSU and NDSU in the next week or so and has the #3 seed, which makes them 0-2 agaisnt both teams. That may favor ORU because once they get to the Summit League tourney then that means NDSU or SDSU would have to beat them three times in one season. If NDSU or SDSU could do that, then they are obviously the better team and deserve to go to the NCAA's. Just do not think they can beat the Eagles three times in a season. Just a thought. It's actually not hard to beat a team 3 times in a season, since usually the team coming in 2-0 is better. As of 2018: "According to STATS LLC., there have been 981 similar matchups across Division I college basketball over the past 10 seasons. The teams entering the third game 2-0 are a combined 710-271 (.724 winning percentage) in the third meeting." https://coachbobwalsh.com/2018/03/02/its-hard-to-beat-a-team-three-times/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 NDSU is not the same team that visited the Mabee Center last month. They have not one but two front line players back from injury and playing major minutes. They are simply huge, and in close games at home they are pounding it inside down the stretch and living at the free throw line. Simply a terrible match-up for a team like ORU that can’t/won’t defend the post. Nothing short of a torrent of made threes will be required to stay in this game. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 Yep. Gotta make shots… and probably a lot of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 I believe we have the talent on this team to play and beat anyone in the Summit. That said, I can have all the latest/best tools in my shed but if I do not know how to use them or do not use them properly and to their potential then I will not get the most out of them and may well fail in my task even though I have what I need to accomplish that task. Sorry if this sounds critical of our staff but at the end of the day you have to be able to adapt to what your opponent is throwing at you in a game and also to meet the challenges presented by the personnel the opponent has or puts on the floor. That to me is real coaching, devising and executing a game plan for all of the above which does not include tanking a game so that in the Tournament that same opponent will have to beat us a third time. Seriously???? If we want to become an elite team in the Summit or otherwise you have to get rid of the loser mentality and believe going in you can beat any team we face on our schedule. It is time we quit making excuses and start acting/playing like a winning program competing at a higher level. 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 ORU82 lays it all on the line....well said, sir....and TheEagleman agrees 100%.....ORU needs to come out blazing tonight and adapt as the game plays out......a win in Fargo would be huge.....so let's get it done!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 If ORU somehow manages to find a way to win tonight, I would rank it right up there with anything last year's team did in the postseason. That's how much I think of NDSU right now; they were my preseason pick to win the league and now that they're healthy, I still feel the same way. As the eternal pragmatist/pessimist, I'm frankly worried about enduring a blowout of epic proportions. I just have a bad feeling about tonight...but, as usual, I hope I'm wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 NDSU is a very good team and Sam Griesel is their real sparkplug. A point forward who can do a little bit of everything: pass, score, rebound, etc. The Eagles need someone (Special K: Kareem) to slow him down. This is a game that will be won on the defensive end, which ORU has struggled with recently. Not going to be a race to 90 but a slower paced game in the low 70s. Hoping DJ finds his rhythm tonight. He has been off the last couple of games. DJ has been in the program for 4 years and now is his time to shine for the Golden Eagles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 TheEagleman has to say that he also has had a bad feeling about this game all week......unless the Good Guys have revenge on their minds from last month's loss at Mabee and come out firing and hitting....I just don't see ORU winning this game in Fargo and being victorious at a tough place to play for the 2nd year in a row....the Bison have their entire team back and on a 5 game winning streak....ORU hasn't put together a complete game for six weeks.....Max, Eli and Kareem will all need monster nights for us to win.....and as mentioned about we need contributions from everyone.....otherwise TheEagleman has no choice but to take NDSU and the Over.....I think our guys will battle but we need to play some D......can't play like did last Saturday night giving up 86 points to a UMKC squad the averages under 70.....could be a tough night......Max might need 40+.....Bison 87 Golden Eagles 79...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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