ORU shows it deserves No. 1 seed - Tulsa World (3-4-2007)

[ORUTerry]

ORU shows it deserves No. 1 seed

by JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist

3/4/2007

The advantage of finishing first or second during the regular season of the Mid-Continent Conference is the all-important day off during the tournament.

It does you no good if you don't win that first game.

"Nope, you're right," said Oral Roberts coach Scott Sutton. "You've got to get that first one first."

So, getting past the first round as top-seeded Oral Roberts did on Saturday night was not only a first step toward the NCAA Tournament, but got it the bye the Golden Eagles earned earlier this year.

Oral Roberts, hoping to claim an NCAA Tournament bid for the second straight year, got off to the kind of start Sutton hoped.

ORU erased a slow start with a spurt midway through and stars Caleb Green and Ken Tutt got plenty of help in a 79-59 victory over Centenary at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center.

"The first one is never easy in these tournaments," said Sutton. "These games can sometimes be kind of ugly, especially if you are favored like we were.

"You are always going to have some nerves. I thought we did at the start. But, overall, I felt we played a pretty good game."

Yes, the Golden Eagles played well enough to win by 20 over a team that had taken ORU to the final minute just two weeks ago (an 85-80 ORU victory at the Mabee Center).

It sends ORU into Monday's 6 p.m. semifinals, two victories away from the Big Dance.

"It sure didn't seem like a 20-point win," said Sutton. "They played hard and they've been difficult for us to play against this year."

Oral Roberts shouldn't expect anything to come easy. In winning the regular season for a third straight year, they come into the tourney favored once again.

But as ORU learned two years ago in a stunning finals loss to Oakland, and in last year's struggles to the title, there is no such thing as a stroll to the championship.

"I don't think we wanted to make a statement," said Green, who fought his way to 25 points. "I think we set a tone.

"You've got to bring it every night in this tournament. We set the tone for our guys that have not played in this tournament before."

That tone would be you better come ready to play. That's something ORU did not do at the start against Centenary.

"I don't know if it was nerves or what," said Sutton. "We were throwing the ball everywhere."

They were throwing it a lot of places it shouldn't be. The Eagles had 13 turnovers in the first half (just six in the second half).

"We know if we play our game and play hard, we can beat anyone," said Tutt. "We also know if we don't that anyone can beat us."

Centenary, with just nine victories on the year, was enough of a challenge early on to send a serious wake-up to the Eagles.

The Gents, led by two all-conference players, led by as much as six in the early moments of the game.

In fact, ORU didn't score its third point of the game until nearly six minutes had elapsed.

Green picked up a quick second foul and the Eagles looked a little wobbly.

In fact, ORU was clinging to a two-point lead with a minute left in the first half.

But Moses Ehambe nailed a shot, then Tutt knocked down a bucket at the buzzer for a six-point lead, which sent a signal to the Gents.

If Centenary goes to the half tied or just down a bucket, suddenly the confidence is swelling for the underdogs.

Instead, the late flurry seemed to take something out of the Gents. In fact, ORU scored the first seven points of the second half for a 42-29 lead and the game was never close again.

ORU proved early that nothing should be taken for granted in this tournament.

But the way the Golden Eagles played the final half reminded folks of why they are the top seed.

"When we are balanced like we were in this game, we're pretty good," said Sutton.