Busting Brackets
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Oral Roberts Basketballs looks to keep the dream run alive against Arkansas

By Tristan Freeman

Mar 21, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles celebrate defeating the Florida Gators at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles celebrate defeating the Florida Gators at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports /

Increased production from Jurgens and Thompson

What makes what Oral Roberts is doing so impressive is that they haven’t been fully equipped for the past month. Senior guard RJ Gasper was the third-leading scorer on the team and the only other double-digit scorer at 11.0 ppg. He’s been injured and has missed the last 10 games, leaving the Golden Eagles without another true offensive weapon.

This team doesn’t have much depth at this point, with both Abmas and Obanor playing every minute of the NCAA Tournament so far; seven players total. Two other starters have played heavy minutes as well in 6’5 guard Carlos Jurgens and 6’6 guard Kareem Thompson.

In the win against Ohio State, those two combined for 83 minutes played, along with nine points and eight assists on 3/13 shooting. Versus Florida, they were more efficient offensively, producing 18 points on 8/13 from the field. Besides that, these two were great versatile defenders against the power level competition.

Against Arkansas, Thompson and Jurgens will have to replicate what they did against the Gators. More importantly, they’ll have to be even better on the defensive side of things, as the Razorbacks have more potent scorers than Florida and Ohio State do. 6’6 Moody, 6’7 guard Jalen Tate, and 6’7 forward Justin Smith will be players this duo will have to contend with throughout the game in order to win.