Game Preview, Game 9: Oral Roberts University

The first marquee match up of the Summit League season is tonight: IUPUI vs Oral Roberts. A rivalry game. Always close, though if either team had a chance to win by 100 they wouldn't hesitate. Hunter vs Sutton. Young vs Morrison. Public vs Private. (One might even say Good vs Evil...but that's just one's opinion...)


All About Oral Roberts

Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Founded: 1963
Type: Private
Denomination: Christian interdenominational
Football: No
Student Population: 2,317
Home Arena: Mabee Center; 10,575
Head Coach: Scott Sutton (since 1999)
2009 Record: 20-13 (13-5)

----------

Individual Leaders

Points/Game
ORU: Morrison, 19.1
IUPUI: Young, 18.6

Minutes/Game
ORU: Morrison, 32.3
IUPUI: Nobles, 35.9

FG%
ORU: Morrison, 55.6%
IUPUI: Thomas, 55.8%

FT%
ORU: Holdman, 77.8%
IUPUI: Ashworth, 100.0%

3P%
ORU: Bell-Holter, 50.0%
IUPUI: Ashworth, 42.9%

Rebounds/Game
ORU: Roundtree, 7.0
IUPUI: Young, 7.0

Assists/Game
ORU: Morrison, 3.0
IUPUI: Thomas, 2.5

Assists:Turnovers
ORU: Morrison, 3.0:1
IUPUI: Ashworth, 1.6:1

Steals/Game
ORU: Holdman, 1.3
IUPUI: Thomas, 1.5

Blocks/Game
ORU: Bell-Holter, 1.3
IUPUI: Young, 1.0

----------

Team Statistics

IUPUI	Statistic	ORU
4-4	Record	3-4
135	BB State Rank	117
243	RPI	129
219	SOS	108
67.6	Points/Game	73.6
65.1	Points Against/Game	72.7
45.0%	Fieldgoal %	47.3%
31.9%	3-Point %	42.2%
75.9%	Free Throw %	59.0%
11.0	Assists/Game	12.7
0.623	Assists:Turnover	1.099
29.0	Rebounds/Game	31.0
3.6	Blocks/Game	3.3
15.8	Fouls/Game	23.0

The Official Sponsor Of Student On Sports

----------

Keys To The Game

1) Young vs Morrison.
Both players are absolutely fantastic, and in my mind they are tied for second best in the league. The only true way to see who is better? Head to head! (Sorry BCS, no computerized polls here.) The better player tonight will be on the winning team, though I think they could potentially both go for 30 and 10 each.

2) Turnovers!
IUPUI has been struggling all season in the turnover department, not as much in the amount as in the timing. They are forcing 22 turnovers (including 5.6 steals per game) with their trap defense, and creating points off of those tonight will be very important.

3) Keep The Students In It.
At the Oakland game, the students were about as rowdy as they've been since UMass came to town in 2007. Those kids helped propel the Jaguars to a giant victory over the best team in the Summit League. This game is the most important one on the schedule (conference-wise) until mid-January. The student's vocal participation will be crucial to taking ORU out of their system.

4) 40% FG; 35% 3P; 80% FT.