SWSiouxMN Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 UND battled Kansas City in what would be best described as a rock fight between the two teams. Each team came away with a win last year. Now UND hits the road for a tangle in Tulsa with the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts About Oral Roberts: After two rough years and two mid-pack finishes in the Summit, ORU made some progress in 2019-2020 season. They won 17 games and finished with a winning record overall and in conference play for the first time since the 2014 season. They finished tied for 4th in the conference, falling to NDSU in the semi-finals. It was still a bit of a helter skelter year, as there was games where they looked like a team that could challenge for the Summit Crown... and then games where they would have a headscratching loss (see the UND game in Grand Forks). Nevertheless, it appears that the Golden Eagles are heading in the right direction under Paul Mills. He went away from his zone defense and went to man to man, and on offense... the tempo cranked up. This year: Its raining 3s. This is a squad that is top 10 in the nation in not only attempts, but makes. They shoot and make the most 3s in the Summit (the next team in attempts is 100 less, which is, believe it or not, UND). They want to push the pace as much as they can. They have perhaps the best 1-2 punch that the Summit has to offer in Guard Max Abmas and Forward Kevin Obanor, both who are averaging over 20 points a game this season. They had two very impressive performances on the road against Omaha, with both players taking turns dominating in the series. If you were looking for a team to finally break through the Dakota Monopoly that the Summit is holding... you are looking at it. About Paul Mills: (44-61 overall, 23-25 Summit, 4th year) The former Baylor assistant steps into his 4th year as head coach and is coming off his best season. He led ORU to their first winning season since 2014. He showed some good changes in his third year and they have paid off and they look to take the next step. Oral Roberts has a proud basketball tradition of being a dominate basketball power in the Summit/Mid-Continent under former head coach Scott Sutton, and they want to return to those days of consistent top 3 finishes year in and year out. Mills has a team that is certainly capable of winning in Sioux Falls. The question is... are they ready to take the next step? Key Players: Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor Trying to pick which one of these players to key on is very tough, so instead we will share both players. I am a big Abmas fan since he stepped on campus and he might have the greenest light to shoot. He will pull up from 30+ and his numbers back it up (shooting near 46% from 3 this year). He can definitely get 40 when he is on. He had a big performance against UND last year down in Tulsa, so UND will have their hands full. Obanor is the big that really has tapped into his potential after a bit of a sophomore slump. He can score in all 3 levels and is nearly averaging a double-double so far. He had two MONSTER games down in Omaha, basically dominating against Pile, who is no stiff in the post. He is another guy that can drop 40 when he is on. Shooting 44% from 3. One or both will be on the shortlist for Summit POY, they are that good. Series History: This will be the 5th and 6th meetings all time, with the series split at 2 all. UND has yet to win in Tulsa (0-2 all time) Milestone Watch: -With 1 more win, Paul Sather will reach 300 career wins as a head coach -Rebraca is now tied for 10th all time in blocks with 68, he needs 1 more to break the tie and is 5 away from being 9th all time on the list. -Rebraca has 874 career points, 126 points away from being the 39th player all time to get to 1000 career points. He would also become the 24th player in UND history to have 1000 career points and 500 career rebounds (If my count is accurate). If he maintains his current average, he should get that sometime during the Western Illinois games at home in late January. Other Summit Games USD (2-0) @ Kansas City (1-1). The Yotes are coming off a sweep of Denver at home, while the Roos got a split up in Grand Forks. Umude vs McKissic should be a great scoring matchup and it will be interesting to see how the Yotes handle the Roos tough defense. WIU (0-2) @ SDSU. SDSU will be playing their first two Summit league games, while Western licks it wounds after being swept by NDSU. Doesn't get easier for Jeter and company as they get the leagues top team at their place. Omaha (0-2) @ NDSU (2-0): The Mavs suffered two losses at home verses ORU, while NDSU went to Western and swept them. Now these two squad battle it out in Fargo. NDSU is feeling pretty good after winning two on the road and now head home with a good shot of entering next week 4-0. The Mavs needs to get a win on the road after losing two at home, they don't want to pile up too many losses if they want any chance of finishing in the top 4. Pile vs Rocky will be a good battle down low BYE: Denver (0-2): It was a tough weekend for the Pios, they got smacked around by USD. They might be the worst team in the league. They need to figure out something and quick. Key Questions 1) Who will be able to dictate the pace? 2) Who outside of Rebraca will step up the scoring pace The call This is a tough matchup for UND, they do not have the weapons to match up with Oral Roberts from the 3 point line. This is a team that will live by the 3... but they are also a team that could die by the 3. If UND can steal one down in Tulsa, it would be huge and would be a shot in the arm for a squad that is going to go through a tough stretch of games. If UND is going to win, they need to slow the pace down, they cannot turn it over, they need to efficient on offense and they need to play inside-out. I think they do a good enough job to slow down the Big 2... but inconsistency will still reign enough for UND to fall short of the upset. ORU 79-73 Game is here: ORUMBB vs. North Dakota - Oral Roberts University (oruathletics.com) Quote
majormid Posted January 8, 2021 Posted January 8, 2021 Hi everyone, just an FYI. We started doing a preview of one matchup a week on the Reaching the Summit podcast with our writer for each team. This week's preview was North Dakota vs Oral Roberts. You can check it out here or wherever you find podcasts. http://reachingthesummitpodcast.com/2021/01/07/thursday-30-minute-preview-north-dakota-at-oral-roberts/ 1 Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 Two changes to the starting lineup Nero Igbanugo Sims Sueker Rebraca *No Ihenacho tonight, upper body injury Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 So does this mean that Shockey might get some minutes tonight? Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 Sueker with a bank shot (a bit of a bail out/desperation shot) 2 all Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 UND is going to have to be disciplined on the rebounding side of things tonight. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 Back door and Ethan fell 7-4 UND Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 Hasn't been too bad of a start for UND so far. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 Obanor to the line for 2. Made a good slip and got to the basket and Sueker had to foul Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 7-6 UND after the Obanor free throws Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 Nero needed to hit G right away when he cut to the basket. These are the plays that UND needs to be making. Media UND 7 ORU 6 15:41 1st Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 I sense a little more movement from the UND offense to start. Thats good to see. Nero knocks down 2 free throws 9 all Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 G confidently steps up and knocks down the 3 14-11 UND Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 Bad pass by DAE, needs to get that lower. Quote
SWSiouxMN Posted January 9, 2021 Author Posted January 9, 2021 I'd say the tempo is favoring ORU right now. Quote
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