ORU Notebook: New lineup (TW)

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ORU Notebook: New lineup

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

11/29/2006

Sophomore swingman Kelvin Sango made his first start for the Golden Eagles, replacing junior forward Yemi Ogunoye, who injured his foot in Saturday's Panhandle State game.

ORU coach Scott Sutton said not having the 6-foot-9 Ogunoye handicapped the Eagles' defense against Tulsa's 6-foot-7 Darold Crow, who scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

"We were having a hard time covering Crow. His size created a real disadvantage for us and (Ogunoye) is our best perimeter defender," Sutton said. "But I don't know how much difference it would have made on offense, because Yemi is struggling as much as anybody else."

Sutton said it was a "gametime decision" not to play Ogunoye, who was averaging 2.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game.

"We felt, and he felt, that it was better for him to sit out than it was to play and maybe injure it worse and then he misses three or four weeks," Sutton said.

The 6-foot-3 Sango, who transferred from Northeastern A&M, collected five points and six rebounds in 30 minutes.

Shooting woes continue: ORU shot only 32.2 percent overall and more poorly from beyond the arc for the third game in a row, hitting 2-of-14 (14.3 

percent). Since the KU game when the Eagles were 11-of-19 from 3-point range, they have made 9-of-59.

Adding up: Caleb Green's 19 points and 10 rebounds gave him the 50th double-double (double digits in two statistical categories) of his career. He also scored in double figures for the 34th consecutive game.

Green fouled out for only the 10th time in 99 games.

Season worst: ORU's 24 turnovers were its most this season. The previous high was 19 in the season-opening loss at Loyola Marymount. ORU's 34-20 halftime deficit was its most lopsided since trailing 36-20 at Utah State in an eventual 65-64 loss last Dec. 20.

Big margin: Tulsa won by its widest margin in the series since beating the Golden Eagles 99-54 Dec. 10, 1994.

Spoils of war: Tulsa won the traveling Mayor's Cup for the first time in four years.

"The city is the big winner because we have two great basketball teams and dedicated fans to watch them," said Mayor Kathy Taylor, who presented the trophy to the Hurricane.

Getting fit: If ORU coach Scott Sutton looks trimmer these days, it's because he's working at it. Sutton has dropped about 15 pounds by cutting down on what he eats and running three or four miles per day.