ORU Notebook - Tulsa World (3-4-2007)

[ORUTerry]

ORU Notebook:

By MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

3/4/2007

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Home away from home: Is it an advantage to play the tournament in Tulsa, even though not on the Eagles' home floor at the Mabee Center?

"It's a big advantage," said senior guard Ken Tutt. "We don't have to get on an airplane and travel or check into a hotel. We just came right up here and played and our fans always give us support."

ORU coach Scott Sutton said the largest difference between the Mabee Center and Union Multipurpose Activity Center is the Eagles' familiarity with them.

"Counting exhibitions, we've played 15 or 16 games at the Mabee Center and practiced there 50 or 60 times," he said. "Our (Saturday morning) shoot-around was our first time at the (UMAC) since last year's Chicago State game (in the Mid-Con final)."

"Every gym is different, as far as rims and background. But I'd much rather have (the tournament) played here than somewhere else," Sutton said.

Big night: Shawn King tied a career high with six blocked shots and his 13 points were one shy of a career high. He also had four rebounds.

In a furious second-half flurry, King pinned Larry Logan's first shot against the backboard, blocked a second shot by Logan and appeared to block a third, although he was not credited

in the official statistics.

Waiting game: ORU won't know its semifinal opponent until fourth-seeded Indiana-Purdue takes on fifth-seeded Southern Utah at 6 p.m. Sunday.

"We can't do a whole lot (to prepare). We'll have a short practice (Sunday) and work on a few things we didn't do well tonight, and then come and watch the game," Sutton said.

But Sutton likes the day of rest that comes with finishing as one of the top two seeds. Plus, there aren't many surprises at this point in the year.