Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz.-Arizona proved up to its No. 4 ranking as the
Wildcats shot 57 percent from the field and topped Oral Roberts
89-64 on Tuesday night at the McKale Center. The Wildcats (9-0)
scored 10 of the first 12 points of the game and the first 11
points of the second half to put away ORU (5-5) as the Golden
Eagles suffered just their second road loss of the season.
Warren Niles led the way with 22 points, hitting his final four
3-point attempts in the game. Shawn Glover tied his career high
with 18 points and was the most efficient offensive threat for ORU
hitting eight of his 12 shot attempts.
ORU turned the ball over 20 times on Tuesday, the most since the
season opener, leading to 27 Arizona points off turnovers. The
Wildcats also held a 37-27 advantage on the glass and dominated the
paint with a 42-18 point advantage around the basket as they shot
57.6 percent (34-59) for the game, hitting eight 3-pointers.
"We needed them to come out a little flat and they didn't," said
Coach Scott Sutton. "I'm awfully impressed with them. I knew
offensively they were really good but I thought defensively they
did a great job and really smothered Niles the first half and
didn't give him any good looks."
Arizona picked up right where it left off in its top-10 victory
over Florida, hitting four of their first five 3-point attempts to
open a 21-12 lead just over eight minutes into the game. It was
Glover who kept ORU in the game, scoring eight of the first 12
points for the Golden Eagles.
The 3-point barrage was not over as Arizona went on to hit six
of their first nine 3-pointers and opened up a 45-31 at halftime
after shooting 63 percent (17-27) from the field for the half. The
Wildcats led by as many as 17 in the half.
Any hopes of an ORU comeback were quickly put to rest as Arizona
scored the first 11 points of the second half to swell the lead to
56-31 before a Roundtree drive scored the first Golden Eagle points
of the half more than 3:30 in.
The Wildcats would hit five of their first six shots in the
second half and the lead would hover around 25 points for the next
six minutes before a 7-0 spurt by ORU cut it to a 67-49 Arizona
lead. The two teams would trade mini runs from that point, with
Arizona scoring the next five, followed by four-straight by Glover
for ORU.
As Niles heated up from 3-point range, the deficit continued to
drop and ORU climbed back to within 16 (80-64) with less than three
minutes to play, and Niles had a good look in the paint to cut in
even further but it rimmed out and Arizona avoided any further
threat.
ORU will return home for just the third time this season as they
face Tulsa on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the PSO Mayor's Cup game at the
Mabee Center. Fans are encouraged to bring canned food items to
donate and those who do will be entered to win tickets, ORU
Athletics gear and KJRH prizes.
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