TULSA, Okla. - Oral Roberts hit 66 percent from the floor, including an 80 percent second half shooting effort en route to a 77-66 win over IUPUI on Saturday night in the Mabee Center. Senior Caleb Green had a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Mid-Continent Conference leaders, while junior Austin Montgomery led the Jaguars with 16 points.
ORU (15-7, 7-0 Mid-Con) hit 12-of-15 field goal attempts in the second half as both teams did the bulk of their scoring at the foul line after intermission. Meanwhile, IUPUI shot hit just 19-of-50 (38.0 percent) from the floor in the game, but knocked down 22-of-24 (91.7 percent) free throw tries.
Freshman Billy Pettiford hit an early trey to stake IUPUI to a 3-0 edge, but ORU scored the game's next eight points to take the lead for good. The Jags were within five with 9:28 left in the first half on a Jon Avery layup, but the Golden Eagles crept away behind Green and Ken Tutt's strong play.
The First Team All Mid-Con duo combined to score 21 of ORU's 39 first half points.
IUPUI (9-11, 3-4 Mid-Con) closed within nine on their second possession of the second half, but would get no closer the rest of the way. After Green scored on ORU's first offensive trip, Montgomery responded by swishing a three. Green then turned the ball over, and Angelo Smith hit a pair of free throws at the other end, making it 41-33. The hosts scored the next five points and led by double-digits the remainder of the game.
Marchello Vealy had 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting for ORU, while Tutt finished with 12. Tutt was limited to just two points in the second half and attempted just seven shots in the game.
IUPUI got 11 points, three assists and three rebounds from sophomore guard Gary Patterson, while Smith finished with 10 points before fouling out. David Barlow and Craig Swoope added nine each, while Barlow also grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Oral Roberts dominated the smaller Jaguars on the glass, outrebounding the guests 32-19. IUPUI offset the rebounding disadvantage by forcing 18 turnovers and committing just nine. Montgomery collected two of IUPUI's six steals as the Jags outscored Oral Roberts 17-8 off turnovers.
IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter was unavailable for comment after the game, due to illness.
Having played just six home games all season, IUPUI will wrap up the regular season by playing six of its eight February games in The Jungle. The busy home slate is scheduled to begin with a Thursday night non-conference contest with Chicago State. That game is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m., while Greg Rakestraw (pbp) and Scott McCauley (color) are on the call. Pregame coverage on Gold 95.9 FM begins at 6:30 p.m..
