Oral Roberts Game

[lionboy]

what a game what a game. I thought ORU had the game until we stepped it up. Good things are to come for both teams think. Both sides played with a lot of intensity.

[ldawg]

Great game! There was some sloppiness (especially the lions turning over the ball yikes) but the energy of the players and the student section was awesome!

[smc4]

Exciting game guys! ;D

I thought the refs might have been a bit drunk with some of those insane calls on the lions. The crowd and coaching really helped push the Lions.

The players showed a lot of promise this game. It seems that everyone was gelling fine but we need to work on defense. I also thought Ken Tutt was "King Tutt" and that pissed me off.

[ironlions]

Wow what a great way to open the season! Very exciting to watch the Worthy/Knight vs. Tutt/Green battle. The turn out and crowd was great.
Go Lions!

[iggyrocks]

I had a lot of fun! I was a bit tipsy but the highlight aside from the big (W) was seeing some guy fall off his bench. He was standing on a bench and was cheering so hard his flip flops slipped and he fell on his butt. He wasn't injured so everyone had a good time laughing.

[Deleted]

LMU sets tone with solid win
Knight paces the Lions with 23 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots as they rally to top Oral Roberts, 68-65, in their season opener.
By Bob Holtzman
Daily Breeze

Loyola Marymount coach Rodney Tention looked across the court on Friday night in his team's opener at Gersten Pavilion against Oral Roberts and saw a team that looked a lot like his own.

Both LMU and Oral Roberts returned an all-conference guard and forward tandem expected to lead their respective teams to successful seasons. Both were ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 -- Oral Roberts at No. 14 and LMU at No. 16.

So what was the biggest difference coming into the season opener for both teams? Oral Roberts actually made the NCAA Tournament after it won the Mid-Continent Conference and conference tournament. LMU finished second to Gonzaga in both aspects.

It wasn't Oral Roberts that looked like the tournament-savvy team down the stretch, though, as LMU made the crucial adjustments at halftime to capture a 68-65 victory before an announced 2,855.

"We're going to clean up our offense and clean up our defense, but we did what we had to do to come out on top," Tention said.

LMU erased its biggest problem in the second half, committing just two of its 19 turnovers after halftime.

Limiting mistakes helped LMU slow senior guard Ken Tutt, who had a game-high 26 points and four steals. Tention showed a little sideline wizardry as well when he deployed a suffocating 1-2-2 zone that forced Oral Roberts into too many perimeter shots and stymied ORU forward Caleb Green.

The Golden Eagles made just 4 of 17 3-point shots, including 10 misses in the second half. Green, a two-time Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year, had 12 points and 12 rebounds, but also had eight turnovers and made just 3 of 11 shots.

"It got them out of their rhythm," said LMU guard Brandon Worthy, who had 19 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and two steals. "We were able to identify and settle in on their shooters and that threw off their momentum."

While the zone helped LMU slow down Oral Roberts on one end, forward Matthew Knight made sure the Lions cut into the lead on the other. The senior led the way with 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting with nine rebounds and three blocks.

"I love those kinds of challenges," Knight said about playing against Green. "But the zone helped me because he has such a big body and banging against him takes it toll."

Worthy made a pair of plays midway through the second half that seemed to infuse LMU with the confidence to win the game down the stretch. First, he made an off-balance shot that began with a move that looked like he bounced off a wall. He followed it up with a steal and started a fast break that finished with Knight giving LMU its first lead of the second half.

[LMUpepbander]

smc4 said:

Is the pep band going to be back?

Yep, we're definitely around for the long haul.

[smc4]

^ Good to see you guys rocking out!