ORU needs more from standout Issac McBride, promising freshmen

Oral Roberts Mens College Basketball Early season review/Conference preview Record: 3-8 Best win: 83-76 vs.

Northern Arizona on Dec.

4 as Issac McBride scored 28 and Sam Alajiki had 15 rebounds.

The Golden Eagles, in their only win over a D-1 opponent, showed the potential to finish in the Summit League's top half.

Worst loss: 69-68 vs.

Rogers State on Nov.

25.

RSU, which won on a layup with 7.5 seconds left followed by a missed ORU 3-pointer, is 10-4 and a really good D-2 team -- but it's never good for a program that was in the NCAA Tournament two seasons ago to lose to a team outside of D-1.

Top player: McBride was selected as the Summit League's preseason player of the year.

His performance has been up and down, not at a POY level.

Some teams could afford that, but ORU can't.

His shooting has been off at 36% from the field although he has been terrific on free throws at 50-of-54.

If he can return to his form from last season, it could make a big difference for ORU.

Runner-up for top player has been Alajiki, a 6-7 forward from Iceland, who is averaging 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds, but missed the Texas Tech game with an injury.

In his previous three seasons at California and Rice, he averaged only 5 points and 3 rebounds.

Alajiki looks like the real deal and ORU needs him to be to contend in the Summit.

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Kevin Stitt orders state agencies to end most remote work Berry Tramel: OSU football makeover, from players to coaches, is unprecedented Sink your teeth into 20 of Tulsa's best sandwiches Three storylines 1: Will McBride finish among ORU's all-time scoring leaders? McBride needs to average about 19 points per game to reach ORU's all-time top 10 in scoring.

McBride had 1,566 points for ORU -- Tim Gill, who is in 10th place, has 1,959 points.

2: Can JoJo Moore build on Monday's breakout game? Moore, a 6-4 freshman, was the bright spot in Monday's 86-50 loss at Texas Tech as he scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 28 minutes.

The Golden Eagles need either Moore and another freshman, 6-6 Luke Gray, to develop quickly to have a chance at finishing in the Summit League's top half.

Gray, a two-time All-State performer at Oklahoma Christian School, has shown flashes of his vast potential that enabled him to score more than 2,000 points in high school.

3: Can ORU keep its 3-point streak going? The Golden Eagles have made at least five 3-pointers in 136 consecutive games dating back to 2020 -- the longest current active streak in the nation and third-longest of all-time, trailing only North Florida (235, 2014-22) and Akron (155, 2014-19).

A year ago: ORU was 5-6 at this point last season en route to a 12-19 record.

Conference outlook: Kansas City was the preseason favorite, but is off to a slow start.

The favorite looks instead to be preseason runner-up South Dakota State, which won the Summit tournament last year.

ORU was picked for the middle of the pack at fifth and that looks about right at the moment.

Marquee games ahead: Sunday at Oklahoma State -- ORU last chance to compete this season against a Power-4 school; Jan.

9 vs.

North Dakota State -- ORU's Summit home opener, a quick start in league play is vital for the Golden Eagles to contend.

Feb.

1 vs.

Kansas City -- It will be Hall of Fame Night against the preseason favorite.

Feb.

27 vs.

South Dakota State -- will ORU be contending for a high seed in the Summit tournament when it faces the current favorite in the home finale? Barry Lewis, Tulsa World The Tulsa World is where your story lives.

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