All season long I’ve been telling folks around town that the ORU men’s basketball team was a legitimate contender and that they should head to the Mabee Center to catch a game. Not very many people listened, and now they’re sorry they didn’t take my word for it.
ORU is a No. 15 seed and will play No. 2 seeded Ohio State from the Big Ten Conference at 2 p.m. Friday in Indianapolis.
The Golden Eagles have compiled their best winning percentage in nine years, and are currently sitting with a record of 16-10 overall (10-5 Summit League, 4th place), a .615 winning percentage.
In the 2011-2012 season, ORU finished with a .794 winning percentage and a 27-7 record overall, 17-1 in conference play.
Two weekends ago, ORU won three straight games, to take The Summit League Basketball Tournament Championship in Sioux Falls, S.D. It was ORU’s first Summit League title since 2008. With The Summit League title, the Golden Eagles received an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
The Golden Eagles earned the No. 15 seed in the South Region and will play No. 2 seed Ohio State on Friday, at one of four locations in the state of Indiana.
In five previous trips to the tournament, ORU has a record of 2-5 with its last win coming in 1974 against Louisville, 96-93. ORU last played in the NCAA Tournament during a three-year run, 2006, 2007 and 2008, losing in the first round each time. The highest seed they held in that stretch was a 13-seed in 2008.
ORU is led by the nation’s highest-scoring duo in All-Summit League First Team performers Max Abmas (24.2 ppg), who leads the nation in scoring, and Kevin Obanor (18.2 ppg).
The pair have combined for 1,060 points. Both players were named to the Summit League All-Tournament team in Sioux Falls and Abmas became the first league player since South Dakota State’s Mike Daum in 2018 to be named Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in the same season.
ORU currently leads the nation in made 3-point baskets per game (11.3) and free-throw percentage (82.4), which would set a NCAA record for best percentage at the foul line.
Ohio State finished fifth in the Big Ten regular season standings, but were ranked No. 9 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 10 in the coaches’ poll.
The Buckeyes fell to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament title game Sunday and will take a 21-9 overall record to Indiana. This will be ORU’s first time in program history to play the Buckeyes.
Giving credence to the level of competition the Golden Eagle’s faced this season, all five Division I non-conference opponents the team faced reached the NCAA tournament as Missouri, Wichita State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Arkansas all qualified.
The NCAA is working under a bubble situation, housing all the teams in the tournament in one hotel in downtown Indianapolis, with physically distanced meeting and dining rooms, as well as secure transportation to and from competition venues.
The games will be played in several different arenas around the Indianapolis area. Games will be played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Only one game at a time will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium. Teams will practice at the Indiana Convention Center with multiple courts set up inside the venue.
CBS Sports and Turner Sports will show all 67 games of the tournament across TBS, CBS, TNT, truTV and their digital platforms, including March Madness Live.