Claremore Daily Progress

Sports

November 9, 2012

New conference, same goals for ORU men's basketball

ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

TULSA — It's a new conference and the same mission for Scott Sutton and his Oral Roberts basketball team.



The Golden Eagles left the Summit League after winning their fifth regular-season championship, moving to the Southland Conference for the upcoming season. And no different than before, ORU will seek out respect with a handful of games against teams from bigger conferences and then buckle down to try and earn an automatic trip to the NCAA tournament.



"Our main goal is to get the NCAA tournament and win the conference, like it was in the Summit," said guard Warren Niles,



"To do that, we're going to have to play defense because we can score. We're just going to have to play defense and rebound."



Just like the Summit League, the Southland has never placed an at-large team on the NCAA bracket. Oral Roberts tried to make a case last season, setting a record for most wins during the school's Division I era with 27. It still wasn't enough, and a dreadful stretch during a 54-53 loss to Western Illinois in the conference tournament semifinals dumped the Golden Eagles into the NIT.



This season, it'll be the Southland's automatic bid that ORU is chasing as the preseason favorite in a poll of the league's coaches.



"We won't change anything up," said Sutton, who led Oral Roberts to the NCAA tournament in 2006 through 2008. "I think the league, just from the outside looking in, is probably more of an athletic league. The Summit, for the most part, you knew going in you were going to face some size. It seemed like everybody had a true center. This league, you'll probably face more 6-6, 6-7 athletes that are having to play the (center) position. But that's not going to change how we play."



Sutton said he expects to bus to a few more games, with the closer-to-home destinations that the Southland brings. But when weather dictated it, the Golden Eagles would even bus to the Dakotas in recent years.



"There is going to be an adjustment, just not knowing much about the programs and not knowing the players and as simple as not knowing the towns — where to stay, where to eat," Sutton said. "There's going to be some adjustments this year, but that hopefully won't affect our play on the court. It shouldn't."



Oral Roberts will open its season Friday night at UTEP and, as usual, play a challenging nonconference schedule that includes Arizona, Memphis and Oklahoma. There's also the return of the Mayor's Cup crosstown rivalry against Tulsa after a one-year hiatus.



Then it's on to a completely different set of conference opponents in the Southland.



"It's really like going and playing nine new nonconference games, for this year, because you don't know much about the teams besides what you'll see on tape. You certainly don't know much about the type of crowds they'll have and gym conditions," Sutton said.



The Golden Eagles are largely new, too, with Dominique Morrison — who ranked among the top 20 scorers in the nation last season — among the departures. Forward Damen Bell-Holter has dropped 20 pounds to return in better shape, and Warren Niles and Steven Roundtree also bring back starting experience.



"We have a lot of depth but with DoMo gone, somebody's going to have to pick up his scoring load," said Niles, the team's second-leading scorer last season at 12.1 points per game.



"But I think all of us are capable of doing that."



Morrison's spot will be occupied by Shawn Glover, who had to sit out last season after transferring from Utah.



"He's not Dominique, but he's an excellent scorer and scores in a lot of the same ways that Dominique did — the mid-range game, post-ups, I think he'll be able to get to the free-throw line a bunch, he can step out and hit the 3," Sutton said. "He's a good replacement for Dominique."



In all, the Golden Eagles have eight newcomers and will be counting on senior leaders to show them the ropes on how Oral Roberts does things — no matter the conference.



"We've had chances to win conference championships over the last eight years mainly because we've been a good road team. We've protected our home court for the most part, but we've gone on the road and we've been able to win some games," Sutton said. "Going into any league, you're going to have to do that."

 

Text Only
Sports
  • DSC_9471web.jpg Howe, Whatley shine at OU Showcase

    Claremore High School seniors Bryce Howe and Matt Whatley caught the eyes of several NCAA Division I and JUCO scouts Friday in Norman.
    Howe and Whatley, as well as Claremore’s Cole Weiesnbach and Cameron Smith, competed with the Bearcats — a competitive baseball team coached by Jenks’ Jeff Owens — at the University of Oklahoma Showcase.

    June 15, 2013 2 Photos

  • DSC_0119web.jpg ‘Staying close to home’

    Home is where the heart is.
    Claremore graduate Isaac Hollihan loves playing baseball and takes his academics pretty serious.
    For the next four years, Hollihan will continue his baseball career a short distance from his Claremore residence at Rogers State University.

    June 13, 2013 2 Photos

  • TRACK: Tyson Gay healthy heading into nationals

    For a little bit, Tyson Gay's first step tearing down the track made him wince and his next made him wonder: Would he ever be the same sprinter again?
    The runner who captured three gold medals at the 2007 world championships. The runner who broke the American 100-meter record in 2009.

    June 18, 2013

  • Texas Longhorns men's track coach retires

    Texas men's track coach Bubba Thornton is retiring after 18 years and 12 conference championships.
    According to a statement from the school on Monday, Thornton and athletic director DeLoss Dodds mutually agreed to terminate the coach's contract effective Aug. 31. The Longhorns won this year's Big 12 indoor and outdoor championships and finished sixth at the NCAA outdoor championships.

    June 18, 2013

  • Daytona frontstretch getting $400M facelift

    Daytona International Speedway is getting another facelift, this one considerably bigger than the last.
    Three years after a complete repaving project, the famed track is overhauling the frontstretch to enhance the "fan experience.''

    June 18, 2013

  • STANLEY CUP NOTEBOOK: Rough ice affects play in Game 3

    Teams try to avoid risky plays in the postseason that they might try in the regular season. And when the ice surface isn't smooth, even greater care is necessary.
    Boston took that approach with less-than-ideal ice conditions during its 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks that gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup finals on Monday night.

    June 18, 2013

  • STANLEY CUP: Rask shuts down Blackhawks, Bruins take 2-1 lead

    The puck bounced off the post and rolled across the crease, away from the goal line. The red light flashed briefly, but replays would confirm that Tuukka Rask's shutout streak was intact.
    For the last 122 minutes, 26 seconds of the Stanley Cup finals, the Bruins goalie has prevented Chicago from scoring.

    June 18, 2013

  • New $15M scoreboards planned for Jazz arena

    Owners of EnergySolutions Arena are upgrading the home turf of the Utah Jazz with a new $15 million scoreboard system.

    June 18, 2013

  • NBA FINALS: Heat have no room for error versus Spurs in Game 6

    They lost three times in three months in one of the most overpowering stretches the NBA has ever seen.
    Now the Miami Heat have lost three times in five games.
    So superb during the regular season, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat have to be something even more for the rest of the NBA Finals.

    June 18, 2013

  • NBA FINALS: Spurs' coach puts 'Pop' into news conferences

    During his team's Game 3 rout of the Heat, Gregg Popovich was shown on TV talking to his players while they were in the process of burying Miami with a stirring offensive display.

    June 18, 2013