The Pinkie Previews: Oral Roberts (6-5) @ Louisville (5-3)

Oral Roberts Golden Eagles @ Louisville Cardinals

Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky

Time: 7:07 pm EST
T.V.: WHAS 11 (Insight Channel 4)
Radio: WKRD 790 AM and 101.7 FM

The University of Louisville Men’s basketball team looks to end its struggles tonight as the Cards play host to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.  Louisville is coming off back to back home losses to Charlotte and Western Carolina.  The latter was an 83-91 battle this past Saturday.  Tonight the Cards try to right the ship but it won’t be easy. 

Tonight’s opponent is much like Charlotte and Western Carolina.  Oral Roberts, just like Louisville’s last two opponents, is a very good mid major school.  You see the name and think, the Cards can’t lose to a team like this.  It should be a blowout.  Well my friends, Oral Roberts is very good.  Despite a lack luster 6-5 record, the Golden Eagles have already defeated the likes of Stanford and Missouri.  That’s the same Stanford team that took Kentucky to overtime, and if they could of hit just one of two free throws at the end of regulation, would of beaten the Cats. 

Oral Roberts is also no stranger to big name competition.  Besides Stanford and Missouri, the Eagles have also played Wake Forest andVirginia with New Mexico awaiting them this weekend.  Oral Roberts has been road tested and they have passed.  The Cards better have learned their lesson from the past two weeks, because this team is very capable of handing Louisville its third consecutive loss.

Louisville and Oral Roberts have met twice before in program history.  The overall series is tied at 1-1 with each team winning at home.  The last meeting between the two teams came on January 2nd, 1993 when Louisville routed the Eagles 122-76 at Freedom Hall. 

Meet the Golden Eagles

Oral Roberts came into this season with high expectations.  They have been very good in recent years, making the Big Dance three of the past four years.  This season they were picked to finish second in the Summit League  but ran into some bad luck early on.  Three important players, Hunter McClintock, Tim Morton, and Roderick Pearson are all out for the season with ACL injuries.  Javier Nasarre is out for two weeks with a fractured wrist, and guard Beloved Rogers quit over Thanksgiving break.  In all, the Golden Eagles have only seven healthy scholarship players.  But despite these injuries, Oral Roberts has perceviered. 

Oral Roberts isn’t very impressive on paper, but they find way’s to get it done.  For the season, they average a decent 66.8 points per game on an average 43% shooting.  They are not a very good three point shooting team, making just 57-195 for 29%.  

The Eagles aren’t very impressive in their assists to turnover ratio either.  Oral Roberts averages just 12 assists per game while turning it over 15.3 times per game.  Their average turnover margin per game is -3.1 and their assist to turnover ratio is 0.8.  This is something that Louisville needs to take advantage of.  The Eagles will make mistakes and against the Cardinals pressure defense, Oral Roberts should have trouble.    

The strength of this Oral Roberts squad is on the boards.  The Eagles have crushed opponents in rebounding lately.  Oral Roberts is out rebounding their opponents by an average margin of 38.6 to 32.8 which is +5.8.  Since getting out rebounded badly (51-25) to Wake Forest to start the season, the Golden Eagles are out rebounding their opponents by an average of nine boards per game over the last 10 games.  This is the area that could hurt the Cards the most.  We have all seen that Samardo Samuels is a terrible rebounder, and the Cards haven’t been impressive all year on the boards.  They need to find a way to keep Oral Roberts off the glass, andlimit the Eagle’s second chances.

On the defensive side of things, Oral Roberts is about average.  They give up 64.3 points per game and allow opponents to shoot 42% from the field, including 32% from beyond the arc.  They don’t create a lot of turnovers or steals.  Opponents turn the ball over about 12 times per game, while the Eagles average only five steals.  The Cards offense shouldn’t have many problems tonight scoring or taking care of the ball.  If they play smart on the offensive end, they will be able to put up a lot of points. 

Oral Roberts is lead by three main players that are exceptional scorers and rebounders.  All three are starters in 6’6 sophomore forward Dominique Morrison, 6’5 junior forward Michael Craion, and 6’9 senior center Kevin Ford. 

Morrison is by far the most complete player on the Oral Roberts squad.  He leads the team in points (15.3 ppg) and assists (3.3 apg).  He is also the third leading rebounder at 4.7 boards per game.  He is coming off a game high 17 point performance against Indiana State where he also collected six rebounds and five assists.  Morrison was named to the All-Summit League Freshman team last year andwas picked as a preseason Second Team All-Conference performer this year.  This kid is the biggest threat that Louisville needs to pay attention to.  He is very versatile and will hurt the Cards in more ways than one.  Rick Pitino’sboys better find a way to keep him in check tonight. 

Craionis the second leading scorer for the Golden Eagles.  He averages just over 12 points per game.  He is also the second leading rebounder for Oral Roberts at 7.4 boards  per game.  He is a first year transfer from Independence Community College in Kansas and has played exceptionally well in his first season of Division 1 basketball.  He is responsible for hitting a layup at the buzzer last week to beat Missouri.   The Cards need to limit his scoring opportunities and keep him off the glass.

Ford is the big man in the middle for the Golden Eagles.  He stands at 6’9 250lbs.  He is the third leading scorer on the team with 11.3 ppg and is first in rebounding at 7.9 rpg.  He has recorded five double-doubles thus far in 11 games.  Ford was named to the Summit League All-Newcomer squad last season and is also a preseason Second Team All-Conference pick this year.  Ford is a flat out beast that will get physical with Samardo Samuels.  This type of center is the type of player that Samuels struggles against.  Samuels will need to man up, get strong, and go toe-to-toe with Ford.  If Samuels gets pushed around underneath, Ford will eat him alive.  Louisville must keep this kid off the glass and out of the paint. 

Key’s To Victory

1)  The most important thing the Cards need to do is stop Dominique Morrison.  He can hurt Louisville in more ways than one.  Louisville must force him into some tough shots or make him pass.  With the Rick Pitino style defense, I look for the Cards to play hard pressure defense on him to try to get him to make mistakes and turn the ball over.  If Louisville can take Morrison out of the game, the Oral Roberts offense should struggle.

2)Rebound, Rebound, Rebound.  The Cards must beat Oral Roberts at their own game.  Louisville has not been very good in this department this year, but tonight they must find a way to get on the glass.  If the Cards allow Oral Roberts to dominate the glass, then the Eagles will generate some second and third chance opportunities that will lead to some unnecessary points.  Also, the Cards must generate second chance opportunities for themselves.  If they are limited to one and done on the offensive end, Louisville won’t put up enough points to win.  Rebounding will be the main thing to watch during this game.

3) The front court needs to have a monster game.  Oral Roberts will have the best front court that the Cards have faced this season.  As I mentioned earlier, the Eagle’s two forwards and center are the top three scorers and rebounders on this team.  All three starting front court players average double digits in scoring and are monsters on the glass.  Louisville’s big men need to play physical and meet the challenge head on.  Samardo Samuels need to play like a man and attack the rim.  The same goes for Terrance Jennings, Rakeem Buckles, and Jared Swopshire.  It’s going to be a battle of the bigs tonight.  If Louisville’s front court can outplay the Oral Roberts front court, the Cards will earn a victory.

4)  Defense.  That one word has been absent from this Louisville team since the trip to Vegas.  The Cards are allowing opponents to score with ease over the last few weeks.  It seems as if the defensive intensity is missing from this team.  They aren’t getting out on shooters, they are allowing guard penetration deep into the lane, and they are giving up some easy buckets inside.  The Cards gave up 76 points to UNLV, 87 to Charlotte, and 91 to Western Carolina.  These numbers are unacceptable and will get you beat.  The Cards can’t do this tonight or the losing streak will continue to three.

5)  Run a more efficient offense. From what I have seen lately, the Cards offense has been stale.  It’s a lot of guy’s standing around while one person dribbles.  I want to see more movement without the ball, and more passing.  The Cards are forcing their shots and forcing passes.  This has led to a high number of turnovers and a lot of missed shots.  Tonight is a chance to get this back on track.  Oral Roberts isn’t a spectacular defensive team.  Just play smart on the offensive end.  Get the offense in motion, make smart decisions with passes, and the shots will open up. 

Injury Update

All three Cards who had been bothered by injuries lately will be in action tonight.  Jerry Smith, Preston Knowles, and Peyton Siva all returned to action against Western Carolina last Saturday and should be good to go tonight.  

The Cards will be without center George Goode tonight.  Goode suffered a bone bruise to his right knee at practice on December 10th.  His return could take a few days or a few weeks depending on how well he recovers.  We wish George a quick recovery and hope to see him on the court soon.