Old Titan Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 This is one of those games where I want to see the opponent lose just as much as I want to see ORU come out victorious. Talk about a “win/win”! The Jacks haven’t lost to a Summit League team since Sweet Sixteen ORU’s stunner in the semi’s of the conference tournament in the Stanford Pentagon bubble two season ago. Their last regular season league loss was a 2-point nail biter at North Dakota State in February of that same season. ORU’s last win over SDSU was the 103-86 blowout in the Mabee Center on 2/13/21, the game in which Max exploded for 42 points and mercurial Jacks guard Noah Friedel cratered in frustration at halftime and was basically benched for the next season-and-a-half before transferring to James Madison. No love lost between these two head coaches, either. There have been a couple of noteworthy sideline shouting matches between the two, transcending anything with NDSU other than the infamous handshake line dust-up last season. SDSU’s Eric Henderson loves himself some Eric Henderson, and does little to mask his contempt toward similarly-prickly Paul Mills. The two preseason favorites to win the league - what a way to launch the conference season! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 17, 2022 Author Share Posted December 17, 2022 Scheduling note: the Jacks were forced to cancel their Wednesday night tune-up with Bellevue due to the expected blizzard that dumped as much as 4 feet of snow on the Dakotas Friday. SDSU’s last action was a 30-point blowout of Mount Marty last Monday. Here’s hoping the Jacks enjoy a safe but delay-filled trek from the frozen north to Tulsa… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 17, 2022 Author Share Posted December 17, 2022 And another thing: Jackrabbit fans likely couldn't care less right now about Monday's early season tilt in Tulsa, as they bundle up for today's FCS semi-final playoff game this afternoon in Brookings vs. Montana State (ESPN2 and ESPN+). Currently a brisk 7º in Brookings, but it's supposed to warm up to 10º by kick-off! A win would pit the Jacks against fellow Missouri Valley (football) rival North Dakota State for the FCS national championship on January 8th in Frisco, TX. Defending champ NDSU's only conference loss this year was at the hands of the Jackrabbits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 SDSU just does not have the firepower they had last year. Losing Baylor and Douglas Wilson, both Summit League player of the year winners, is a lot to replace for any team. Of course ORU wants to turn this match up into a track meet and force some turnovers. The only concern for the Eagles is SDSU's post play and if Luke Appel will play or not. ORU will need some better post defense from Connor and Patrick to slow down the Jackrabbits bigs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 For the third game in a row, ORU Media Relations can truthfully say “this will be the toughest opponent ORU will face in Mabee Center for the remainder of the season.” Liberty and Mo State are both better than SDSU and the Eagles were victorious in both matchups. But, the conference season and the rivalry with the Jacks adds another component to Monday night’s game - and ratchets up the intensity. Losing either of these first two conference home games would be a disastrous start for ORU, especially when the Eagles should be 8-12 point favorites in both games. Should be a great matchup to kickoff the conference season! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 So easy to get "jacked" up for this game. Pardon the pun. I know Mills likes him off the bench, but I kinda hope Mwamba starts this game just for the enthusiasm and energy factor alone. This game is the way for ORU to put a flag in the ground and declare to the rest of the league that they will rule the Summit this year. Let's go Eagles. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 I agree. These two games could send a message to the rest of the league. It is important for us to play hard and defeat both of the South Dakota schools on our home court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 17, 2022 Author Share Posted December 17, 2022 Just hate that the students won’t be here for these two critical games. They were certainly missed last night; I would like to think they might have helped stem the tide during the second-half meltdown. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 Not having the students in attendance certainly lowers the crowd intensity in the Mabee Center. That should be (relatively) helpful to SDSU and USD. They can add energy to a game and provide some level of encouragement to the team - especially when things aren’t going well. I agree that I think they would have helpful last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 2 hours ago, Old Titan said: Just hate that the students won’t be here for these two critical games. They were certainly missed last night; I would like to think they might have helped stem the tide during the second-half meltdown. I thought the same thing about Friday and this coming week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 SDSU has had a lot of injuries this year and three players missed their last game: Arians, Easley, and Luke Apple. I would expect those guys back for tomorrow's game but only the Jackrabbits training staff knows for sure. If they are out then ORU should have no problem winning in the Mabee Center. Besides the Tulsa game, one would think that this game has been circled on the calendar for a long time. SDSU is very battle tested (at Arkansas and Alabama) and has been on the road for most of the non-conference schedule. For the most part they are very experienced but their big question is: who will be the new leader/star? Zack Mayo is good but still kind of young. Is he ready to put up 20 a night on a consistent basis? If he is then SDSU can be very dangerous tomorrow night and throughout conference play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Zack Mayo?....isn't he the guy from Officer and a Gentleman?....the short fast little dude played by Richard Gere who battled with Lou Gossett for 2+ hours????...TheEagleman isn't much worried about a player like that.....lol.....but truthfully, the game Friday Night vs MSU has somewhat eroded my trust in the players and especially this coaching staff who failed to make necessary player moves and call much needed time outs when the game started to take a sour turn.....completely blowing a 23 point lead on your home court in under 12 minutes of playing time should never happen and almost turned a sure win into a horrible loss....talk about spitting in my egg nog......that game gives me pause and makes me wonder just what was going on during that terrible spell on the Golden Eagles' Bench.....were Coach Mills and Coach Springman paying attention at all? So instead of predicting a huge Good Guys win on Monday Night...TheEagleman is extremely worried about this one.....maybe I am totally off and last Friday Night was a wake up call and it will not happen again.....but geez......well....you guys know where I am coming from......and then to add to my rant, TheEagleman is totally hacked at the Summit League Schedule makers for placing two of our toughest and most important home games during the Holiday Break when we will be lucky to have 20 local students in attendence....talk about whizzing on our home court advantage.....that's a disgrace and those schedule guys should be boiled in their own pudding......shameful......but somehow I still think the Good Guys find a way to pull out a victory.....it may not be easy but Max and Company need to shoot well and the big guy has to shoot the lights out.....Mwamba needs to spread some Holiday Cheer with an intimidating performance...Vanover has to block some shots underneath and Thompson must play some lock down D.......most likely a back and forth game with ORU pulling it out in the end.......we are a 9 point favorite but it's too much......ORU 83 SDSU 77.....GO BLUE!!! vs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 My bad: Zeke Mayo not Zack! Good call Eagleman and should be a very tough game tomorrow night. You are right, maybe around 5-6 point spread. I think ORU has a little more fire power then the Jackrabbits and will get to 80 first. Should be an exciting game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakesbison Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 well NDSU gonna pound them in football next game at natty title game, so you guys might as well be the appetizer! They have no one to guard Max, you got this 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 Good luck to the Bison and beat the stuffing out of the Bunnies. Hopefully we will do the same tomorrow night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 19, 2022 Author Share Posted December 19, 2022 Vegas line opens with ORU as a whopping -8.5 favorite; wondering if ORU has ever been favored by that much over the Jacks in this century? That’s a lot of points… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 Is it 8pm est yet? It's going to be a long work day. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted December 19, 2022 Author Share Posted December 19, 2022 I can’t recall ORU ever bookending a weekend with Friday and Monday home games, and I gotta say, it’s AWESOME. Feels kinda like an extended holiday weekend. Need to petition the league to switch the Thursday-Saturday format to Friday-Monday! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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