TULSA, Okla. - Coming off a historic 94-39 victory, the Oral Roberts University men's basketball team (1-1) will travel across town for a battle with Tulsa (2-0) in the annual Mayor's Cup game at the Reynolds Center on Wednesday (Nov. 11). Tip-off against the Golden Hurricane is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+ with Chad McKee and Alvin Williamson on the call.
Game 3
Oral Roberts (1-1) at Tulsa (2-0)
Date/Time: Wednesday, November 11 / 7:00 PM
TV/Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: Stats
Listen: Behind the Mic
Location: Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
Game Notes:
Last Time Out
Junior forward Thomas Zorbas scored 17 points off the bench to lead the Oral Roberts men's basketball team to a 94-39 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday night in the home opener at the Mabee Center.
The Golden Eagles improved to 1-1 on the young season. Zorbas, a native of Athens, Greece, shot 7-of-8 from the field and 3-of-3 at the line in just over 13 minutes. He scored four points in the first half and added 13 in the second, when ORU stretched its lead to as many as 58 points. His 17 points came in only his second game as a Golden Eagle, after he scored just one in the season opener at Central Arkansas.
ORU led from the opening minutes and scored 48 points in the first half, shooting 50 percent while holding NWOSU to 17 points on 20.7 percent shooting. Luke Gray added 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting with eight rebounds, and Cal Furnish had 10 assists to go with seven points and four rebounds. The Golden Eagles used an 18-0 run in the second half to push the lead past 50 and finished at 48.6 percent shooting overall.
The Rangers shot 13-of-52 (25.0 percent). ORU out rebounded Northwestern Oklahoma State 50-34, outscored the Rangers 44-14 in the paint and had 27 assists on 34 made field goals. The Golden Eagles forced 25 turnovers and scored 34 points off them. They also scored 20 fast-break points.
Putting a Bow on Last Season
ORU went 10–23 in Kory Barnett's first season, finished 4–12 in Summit League play and entered the league tournament as the No. 8 seed. In the tournament, ORU beat Kansas City 84–62 in the first round, then fell to North Dakota State 76–65 in the quarterfinals. Graduate guard Ty Harper averaged 17.9 points through 31 games, including 47 against Denver to earn Second Team All-League honors. Prior to the tournament loss, ORU won four straight to end the season.
Returning Production
Six of last season's 15 players are back as ORU returns about 42% of its scoring from last season. Connor Dow, is the leading returning scorer (12.5 ppg), Luke Gray (8.4 ppg) and Cal Furnish (4.0 ppg) look to step in to larger scoring roles this season. Chase Martin, Martins Kilups, and Alex Couto round out the six returners.
The Newcomers
Nine new players rebuild the roster, four (Smith, Haffner, Robinson, Gavazov) arrive through the transfer portal from other Division I or college programs. The other five have no college experience.
The Mayor's Cup
Wednesday is the 61st edition of the cross town rivalry. Tulsa has controlled the series, holding a 38-22 series record. ORU is 3-2 in the last five meetings, but has dropped two straight. The first meeting was a 85-84 Tulsa win on Mar. 4, 1974.
LG's Hot Start
Junior forward Luke Gray has broken his career high in each of the first two games this season, scoring 22 against UCA and 23 against NWOSU. He has been efficient, going 17-of-28 from the field. He has also recorded 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block.
Dish It Out
Sophomore guard Cal Furnish posted a career high 10 assists against NWOSU, after recording only 1 dime against UCA. He is also second on the team in scoring with 9.0 points per game on 4-of-9 three-point shooting.
The Greek Freak
Junior forward Thomas Zorbas recoded an impressive 17 points off the bench on Saturday, going 7-of-8 from the field. The Athens native scored just one point against UCA in his collegiate debut.
The League of Nations
Including the United States ORU's roster spans to seven different countries. Latvia (Martins Kilups), Greece (Thomas Zorbas), Montenegro (Marko Pavlovic), Bulgaria (Mihail Gavazov), Switzerland (Jamal George), and Spain (Alberto Blanco).
Oklahoma Ties
Five players on the roster are from Oklahoma, the most Oklahoma born players on any DI roster. The five include, Connor Dow (Broken Arrow), Luke Gray (Edmond), Cal Furnish (Edmond), Chase Martin (Jenks) and freshman Boden Williams (Owasso).
Year Two Under KB
Kory Barnett, a Rochester, Ind., native, was named head coach March 28, 2025, after assistant stops at Indiana (2012-13), UCLA (2013–19), Nevada (2019–24) and West Virginia (2024–25). His first team went 10–23, but won four of its last five regular-season games, including a 102–80 win over Denver and a 94–70 win at Kansas City, and then beat Kansas City 84–62 in the Summit tournament before falling to top-seeded North Dakota State.
Program Tradition
ORU has made seven NCAA Tournaments, reached the Elite Eight in 1974, and made the Sweet 16 in 2021 as a No. 15 seed after beating No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Florida. The Golden Eagles have won five Summit League tournament titles (2006, 2007, 2008, 2021, 2023).
For the latest information on ORU men's basketball, follow @ORUMBB on X, Instagram, and Facebook or go to www.ORUAthletics.com.
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