If Ohio State’s going to make a deep run in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, it’s going to have to start by avoiding a first-round upset against Oral Roberts.
As a No. 2 seed playing a No. 15 seed, Ohio State is a 16.5-point favorite (per BetOnline) for Friday’s game against the Golden Eagles, who earned an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament by winning the Summit League tournament. The Golden Eagles' ability to score could make them a dangerous first opponent, though, against an Ohio State defense that enters the tournament ranked just 79th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency.
| Who | Where | When | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORAL ROBERTS (16-10, 10-5) | MACKEY ARENA (WEST LAFAYETTE, IN) | 3 p.m. FRIDAY | CBS |
Five Things to Know is back for the NCAA Tournament with a first look at the Golden Eagles, who enter the tournament on a five-game winning streak and with a 16-10 overall record for the season.
The Nation’s Leading Scorer
No player in Division I college basketball has scored more points per game this season than Max Abmas, who has averaged 24.2 points for the Golden Eagles this year. He’s scored in double figures in all but one of Oral Roberts’ 25 games, and has scored at least 18 points in each of the Golden Eagles’ last 12 games – including a 42-point game against South Dakota State on Feb. 13 and a 41-point game against Western Illinois on Feb. 27.
Another notable performance came during Oral Roberts’ non-conference slate in December, when Abmas scored 33 points – four more than projected No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Cade Cunningham in the same game – in an 83-78 loss to Oklahoma State.
A 6-foot-1, 165-pound sophomore guard from Rockwall, Texas, Abmas has made 48.4 percent of his field goal attempts, 43.3 percent of his 3-point attempts and 89 percent of his free throw attempts this season.
They Dig the Long Ball
If Oral Roberts is going to upset Ohio State on Friday, it’s almost certainly going to be because the Golden Eagles shoot the ball well from long range. Not only is that usually a component of major upsets in the NCAA Tournament, but it’s also a huge component of the Golden Eagles’ game.
Oral Roberts leads all Division I college basketball teams this season with 11.3 3-pointers made per game. The Golden Eagles have attempted 29 3-pointers per game, the seventh-most attempts of any D-I team this season, but they also have the seventh-best 3-point field goal percentage, converting their shots from beyond the arc at a 39 percent clip.
Each of Oral Roberts’ top five scorers have averaged more than one 3-pointer per game this season, led by Abmas, who’s made 90 on 208 attempts. Other sharpshooters Ohio State will need to defend include forward Kevin Obanor, who’s made 46 of 98 3-point attempts (46.9 percent); wing Kareem Thompson, who’s 35-of-83 from beyond the arc (42.2 percent); and forward DeShang Weaver, who’s 33-of-85 (38.8 percent) on 3-point shots this year.
Kareem Thompson and Oral Roberts shoot a lot of 3-pointers. (Photo: Rob Ferguson – USA TODAY Sports)
Don’t Put Them on the Line
Another category Oral Roberts leads the nation in is free-throw percentage. The Golden Eagles have made 82.4 percent (364 of 442) of their free throw attempts this season, better than any other Division I basketball team.
Individually, RJ Glasper has been one of the nation’s most accurate free-throw shooters this year, missing just three of his 42 free throw attempts for a 92.9 percent conversion rate. The starting guard hasn’t played since Feb. 6, however, due to an injury.
Abmas’ 89.9 percent free-throw rate (116-of-129) ranks 11th among qualifying Division I players, while Obanor ranks 24th, having made 88.1 percent (96-of-109) of his free-throw attempts.
Worst Defensive Team in the Tournament
While Oral Roberts is more than capable of putting Ohio State’s defense to the test, Ohio State’s offense shouldn’t have much trouble scoring against Oral Roberts. Among all 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament, ORU is rated as the worst defensive team in the field, ranking 285th out of 357 teams in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency.
The Golden Eagles have allowed opponents to score 75.8 points per game this season, which ranks them 287th nationally in scoring defense, while they’ve allowed opponents to shoot 43.1 percent from the field (166th in the nation).
One reason why they’ve struggled defensively: They’ve allowed opponents to grab more than 12 offensive rebounds per game. Per KenPom, they rank 328th nationally in offensive rebound percentage allowed per game. Ohio State won’t have to worry about the size disadvantages it’s faced in many games this season, as the Golden Eagles don’t have a single player taller than 6-foot-8.
Oral Roberts allowed at least 79 points in each of the five games it’s already played against NCAA Tournament teams this season, all of which it lost. The Golden Eagles fell 91-64 to Missouri, 85-80 to Wichita State, 83-78 to Oklahoma State, 79-65 to Oklahoma and 87-76 to Arkansas.
Defense is not Oral Roberts' strong suit. (Photo: Rob Ferguson – USA TODAY Sports)
A Roster from All Over the World
Unsurprisingly for a school located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts has five players on its roster from Texas, including three of its top players in Abmas, Obanor and Weaver. The rest of its roster, however, includes players from not only all over the country but all over the world.
Thompson is an Alabama native while Glasper is from Arkansas, but six players on the Golden Eagles’ roster are from other countries: Elijah Lufile (Canada), Jamie Bergens (Netherlands), Carlos Jürgens (Estonia), Francis Lacis (Latvia), Jonathan Alexandre (Haiti) and Ismael Pelt (Netherlands).
Jürgens has started 10 games at guard for the Golden Eagles and has averaged 5.6 points per game this season, while Lacis has started 22 games at forward and averaged 3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
