ORU Notebook - Tulsa World (3-16-2007)

[ORUTerry]

ORU Notebook:

by MIKE BROWN World Sports Writer

3/16/2007

Another Milestone: With 13 points Thursday, Caleb Green finished his ORU career with 2,503, becoming the 19th player in Division I history with 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. Green finished with 1,189 rebounds and has the Mid-Continent Conference record in both categories.

Let them talk: Junior center Robbie Cowgill said it doesn't matter that many experts doubted WSU's credentials and predicted a first-round loss to ORU.

"They can say what they want to say. We just need to believe in ourselves and stay together," Cowgill said. "They'll probably say, 'See, we told you, because look what happened in the first half.' But that's OK, because we believe in this system and we know that if we play the right way, like we did in the second half, we're going to be able to compete against anybody we go up against."

On covering Green: "He was strong and crafty and he has a nice touch, but it was just a team effort against him," Cowgill said.

"We started out trapping and he did a good job of finding open shots and we just decided to go 1-on-1, but always trying to have a good choke on him. I tried to stay down and make him shoot over me, and when you have Ivory Clark behind you blocking everything, it's pretty easy."

Clark had five blocks for the third time this season.

Green not himself: Sutton called WSU's defense "one of the better performances we've seen against Caleb, but he didn't play as well as he normally does. He missed a layup in the first half and he missed a couple of jump hooks, even though one of them, to me, looked like a clear goaltending call."

Near the end of the first half, Clark swatted away a shot that clearly seemed to be on its downward arc when shown on arena monitors. Fans reacted with groans for the officials.

"That didn't hurt us because we ended up getting (a Moses Ehambe 3-pointer) on the play. But if a few more of (Green's) shots go in, maybe he gets a little confidence."

Green finished 4-of-16 from the field and scored 13 points, his lowest output since scoring 12 points in a season-opening loss at Loyola-Marymount.

Sutton was surprised Green didn't attempt more jump shots.

"He didn't step out and take the 15-footer, which he will at times. We wanted him to, with the guys who were guarding him. We felt like he had a quickness advantage and could get around them, which he did at times, but they did a great job, especially in the second half, of sending weakside help and Clark had some big-time blocks."

Green said he didn't feel comfortable taking jump shots when the Eagles were struggling.

"I felt like I could get to the basket. I got there a few times and (shots) rolled out three or four times. That's just how it was for me tonight."

Thinking of the team: Green and senior guard Ken Tutt seemed almost apologetic that they didn't give ORU at least one NCAA Tournament win before ending their careers. Green and Tutt, with 2,019 points, finished as the school's third- and sixth-leading career scorers. They led the Golden Eagles to 86 wins in four seasons.