Oral Roberts Preview
November 11, 2011 10:56 AM | General
WEST VIRGINIA GAME NOTES | ORAL ROBERTS GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - With seven newcomers and a schedule considered among the toughest in college basketball, Bob Huggins knew this year was going to be a big challenge for his West Virginia Mountaineers.
Just how big of a challenge it’s going to be for his team was reaffirmed last Friday night when Division II Northern Kentucky beat the Mountaineers in an exhibition game on a last second 3-point shot. Actually, the Norse led West Virginia by as many as 17 points early in the second half and was slicing and dicing the Mountaineer backcourt like a master chef.
Fortunately for West Virginia, that game doesn’t count in the record books.
But these do, and West Virginia will be facing another tall test tonight against an Oral Roberts team with five starters returning from last year’s 19-win squad that is an overwhelming favorite to win the Summit Conference this season.
“They’re good, they had their seven leading returning scorers back (one is now out because of a preseason knee injury), plus the guy who was a redshirt who was one of their leading scorers two years ago, so they’ve got great experience and they can score,” said Huggins.
Oral Roberts made three straight trips to the NCAA tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2008 under veteran coach Scott Sutton, and this year Sutton is easily putting his most talented Golden Eagle on the floor since then.
Six-six senior forward Dominique Morrison is one of the preseason favorites for Summit League player of the year after averaging nearly 20 points and five rebounds per game in 2011. Morrison shot 51.4 percent from the floor and scored a season-high 35 points in a 13-point win at Western Illinois.
Six-four guard Warren Niles will also present a big problem for West Virginia’s backcourt, the junior averaging 14.3 point per game and topping 20 points in a game nine times in 2011.
Oral Roberts also has nice size up front with 6-foot-9, 245-pound junior Damen Bell-Holter and 6-foot-8, 190-pound Steven Roundtree working the paint. Bell-Holter averaged 13.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game last year, while Roundtree showed averages of 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.
“Roundtree is really good,” said Huggins. “He was the newcomer of the year in the Summit.”
Sutton enters this season with a 279-179 overall record, including a 223-155 mark at Oral Roberts.
The Golden Eagles have pulled off at least one major non-conference victory every season since 2003. The most recent big wins have come against Utah in 2010 and against 13th-ranked New Mexico, Missouri and Stanford in 2009.
“They’re loaded – to me they are the Oakland of last year,” said Huggins. “They’re team that not only can get into the NCAA tournament, but get in and win games.”
Last Friday, Huggins used a starting lineup consisting of Kevin Jones, Kevin Noreen and Keaton Miles at forward, with Truck Bryant and Jabarie Kinds in the backcourt. Deniz Kilicli, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound junior, did not play against Northern Kentucky but should be ready to go tonight.
Against Northern Kentucky, Bryant led West Virginia with 24 points including hitting the game-tying 3-point shot with nine seconds left. Jones added 22 points and seven rebounds. As many as three different freshmen were on the floor at the same time in the second half of last Friday’s game.
“Three on three we’re pretty good,” joked Huggins. “If we can get the other two guys out of the way … we will be fine. Gary (Browne) and Jabarie (Hinds) are getting better every day and they’re both talented guys - they just got to figure out how to play at this level and how hard you have to play at this level, and for how long you have to play hard at this level.
“Pat (Forsythe) is getting better. He’s doing some pretty good things and Keaton (Miles) has had a pretty good week. Tommie (McCune) at the end of yesterday is what I thought Tommie can be. But it’s not consistent enough, that’s the problem right now.”
Tipoff on Friday is set for 9 p.m. and the contest can be seen nationally online at ESPN3. MSN’s coverage begins with the Coliseum Countdown at 8 p.m.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - With seven newcomers and a schedule considered among the toughest in college basketball, Bob Huggins knew this year was going to be a big challenge for his West Virginia Mountaineers.
Just how big of a challenge it’s going to be for his team was reaffirmed last Friday night when Division II Northern Kentucky beat the Mountaineers in an exhibition game on a last second 3-point shot. Actually, the Norse led West Virginia by as many as 17 points early in the second half and was slicing and dicing the Mountaineer backcourt like a master chef.
Fortunately for West Virginia, that game doesn’t count in the record books.
But these do, and West Virginia will be facing another tall test tonight against an Oral Roberts team with five starters returning from last year’s 19-win squad that is an overwhelming favorite to win the Summit Conference this season.
“They’re good, they had their seven leading returning scorers back (one is now out because of a preseason knee injury), plus the guy who was a redshirt who was one of their leading scorers two years ago, so they’ve got great experience and they can score,” said Huggins.
Oral Roberts made three straight trips to the NCAA tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2008 under veteran coach Scott Sutton, and this year Sutton is easily putting his most talented Golden Eagle on the floor since then.
Six-six senior forward Dominique Morrison is one of the preseason favorites for Summit League player of the year after averaging nearly 20 points and five rebounds per game in 2011. Morrison shot 51.4 percent from the floor and scored a season-high 35 points in a 13-point win at Western Illinois.
Six-four guard Warren Niles will also present a big problem for West Virginia’s backcourt, the junior averaging 14.3 point per game and topping 20 points in a game nine times in 2011.
Oral Roberts also has nice size up front with 6-foot-9, 245-pound junior Damen Bell-Holter and 6-foot-8, 190-pound Steven Roundtree working the paint. Bell-Holter averaged 13.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game last year, while Roundtree showed averages of 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a freshman.
“Roundtree is really good,” said Huggins. “He was the newcomer of the year in the Summit.”
Sutton enters this season with a 279-179 overall record, including a 223-155 mark at Oral Roberts.
The Golden Eagles have pulled off at least one major non-conference victory every season since 2003. The most recent big wins have come against Utah in 2010 and against 13th-ranked New Mexico, Missouri and Stanford in 2009.
“They’re loaded – to me they are the Oakland of last year,” said Huggins. “They’re team that not only can get into the NCAA tournament, but get in and win games.”
Last Friday, Huggins used a starting lineup consisting of Kevin Jones, Kevin Noreen and Keaton Miles at forward, with Truck Bryant and Jabarie Kinds in the backcourt. Deniz Kilicli, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound junior, did not play against Northern Kentucky but should be ready to go tonight.
Against Northern Kentucky, Bryant led West Virginia with 24 points including hitting the game-tying 3-point shot with nine seconds left. Jones added 22 points and seven rebounds. As many as three different freshmen were on the floor at the same time in the second half of last Friday’s game.
“Three on three we’re pretty good,” joked Huggins. “If we can get the other two guys out of the way … we will be fine. Gary (Browne) and Jabarie (Hinds) are getting better every day and they’re both talented guys - they just got to figure out how to play at this level and how hard you have to play at this level, and for how long you have to play hard at this level.
“Pat (Forsythe) is getting better. He’s doing some pretty good things and Keaton (Miles) has had a pretty good week. Tommie (McCune) at the end of yesterday is what I thought Tommie can be. But it’s not consistent enough, that’s the problem right now.”
Tipoff on Friday is set for 9 p.m. and the contest can be seen nationally online at ESPN3. MSN’s coverage begins with the Coliseum Countdown at 8 p.m.
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