Watch Out for the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
The 2021 NCAA tournament begins Friday My March 19th. Every year” except 2020” the annual college basketball tournament takes place every March. The tournament is known for the smaller schools that make a Cinderella-type run. Here is a smaller school you should know going into March.
The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles is a sneaky team that you should be paying attention to going into March and are currently a 15 seed according to Espn’s Joe Lunardi. The Golden Eagles defeated North Dakota State 75-72 and won after having a rough shooting day going 9-29 from three. Speaking of three-pointers, they’ve made more threes per game than any team in the country at 11.3 three-pointers per game. The Golden Eagles are 10th in the country in three-point percentage and 2nd in free throw percentage at 82.6 percent. They also do a remarkable job taking care of the ball ranking 24th in the country in turnover percentage. Turning the ball over on only 15.7 percent of their possessions.
via Richard Carlson/Intertia
A player for the Golden Eagles you need to know is Max Abmas. Even though he is a small guard at 6’1 165. Abrams, a sophomore in college basketball’s leading scorer at 24.2 points per game, the teams leading assist man at 3.7 assists per game and was also named Summit League player of the year. He’s shooting an excellent 48.4/43.3/89.9 from the field and has shown the ability to go off with 7 games with 30 plus points and a career-high 42 against South Dakota State.
Kevin Obanor, a Junior who made the First-Team All-Summit League, is averaging 18.2 points and 9.5 rebounds on a 50.3/46.9/88.1 line. At 6’8 his ability to shoot the ball is super beneficial for the Golden Eagles. They run a lot of big and pop actions with him that helps stretch the defense. His physicality is also important that allows him to rebound at a solid clip and to play center which helps their spacing.
RJ Glasper is another smaller guard at 6’0 180 pounds that scores 11.0 points per game. He’s also an excellent free throw shooter at 92.9 percent. Kareem Thompson is a 6’6 wing who contributes 8.8 points per game and is another awesome shooter at 42.2 percent from three on limited attempts.
DeShang Weaver and Carlos Jurgens are two more rotation players for the Golden Eagles. They score 38.8 percent and 34.6 percent from the field respectively. A reason this Oral Roberts team could struggle in March is that they struggle defensively. According to Kenpom Oral Roberts has the 283rd adjusted defense in the country. They especially do a really bad job guarding the three-point line ranking 267th in the country. Also, the Golden Knights struggle to keep teams off the offensive glass ranking 328th in the country giving up offensive rebounds on 33 percent of possessions.
With Oral Roberts shooting ability they are a fun team to watch. Them advancing in March is going to depend on the matchup. It would be great for them to play a team that doesn’t offensive rebound very well and they will need to shoot from three. It would be beneficial if they could get up to a 14 seed but if the Golden Knights will be a team to pay attention to.
