ORU Blows Out UT-Arlington to Open Season

Luper scores 28 in 110-58 Oral Roberts victory.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:02 pm

By: News On 6

ORU Blows Out UT-Arlington to Open Season

Originally Published: Nov 13, 2010 4:53 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles put on an offensive clinic on Friday, blowing out the Texas-Arlington Mavericks 110-58 to open the season at the Mabee Center.

Guard Kevi Luper appeared to not miss a beat over the offseason, scoring 28 points and grabbing five steals to lead ORU.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and controlled the game through the opening minutes.

But UT-Arlington crawled its way back in, cutting the ORU lead down to a single point seven minutes into the game after hitting four 3s in six possessions.

Oral Roberts responded positively and opened up a 30-point lead (57-27) by halftime.

The Golden Eagles forced UT-Arlington into 35 turnovers and stole the ball 21 times on the game.

ORU shot 50 percent from the floor and 56 percent from 3-point range, while holding the Mavericks to 37 percent shooting.

Jordan Pyle added 19 points and eight rebounds for ORU, and six players reached double figures for the Golden Eagles.

Oral Roberts (1-0) will host North Texas at 4 p.m. on Sunday.