Florida now knows their opponent for Sunday, the #15 seed Oral Roberts Golden Eagles from the one bid Summit League who shocked the #2 Ohio State Buckeyes with a dramatic 75-72 win in overtime. While not many were bold enough to pick it, the Golden Eagles were a trendy pick to upset Ohio State. What made their victory so impressive was that it wasn’t a monumental collapse from the Buckeyes, or a ridiculous series of shotmaking by the Golden Eagles, it was a wire to wire performance where Oral Roberts controlled the play and beat the team from the Big Ten in multiple facets of the game.
For that reason, the Gators should have plenty of respect for Oral Roberts. On short prep it could be difficult to prepare for a team they likely haven’t heard much about from a league that doesn’t get a lot of attention, and Oral Roberts will be playing with a ton of confidence. Against Ohio State they looked like the more confident team from the tip who knew they belonged on that floor, never appearing scared of going up against a bigger conference, higher-seeded team.
Here’s the thing about Oral Roberts and hanging in with high major basketball teams–they have done it a number of times already this season. They did get blown out by Missouri in the first game of the season, but they played competitive games with Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Wichita State, so they have plenty of experience playing against high level size, athleticism, and scoring ability. Sure, their league didn’t offer a ton of opportunities for them to play against the level of athleticism they’ll see against Florida, but they were able to get accustomed to it in non-conference play.
Of course, everything regarding Oral Roberts starts with the play of Max Abmas, a 6’1”, 165 pound guard. He led the NCAA in scoring this season with 24.2 points per game and he not only piled up the points, but he did it efficiently. He hit 52% of his twos and 43% of his threes, and he gets it done all over the court. What made his performance against Ohio State so special is that he was able to score in multiple ways. With the ball in his hands he used screens or simply went into isolation and created space before hitting a pull up. Away from the ball he moved intelligently to find open catch and shoot attempts, which he drilled. When Ohio State started to crowd him, scared of letting him get loose, he cut hard and finished strong with layups.
He finished with 29 points and 3 assists, and will be the starting point of Florida’s scouting report. Having scored 33 points against Oklahoma State he has now shown on multiple occasions that he can get it done against just about anyone, so don’t be surprised if he has a big game against the Gators.
Abmas wasn’t the only player who stepped up against Ohio State as it was actually forward Kevin Obanor who led the way with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Standing at 6’8” and weighing 220 pounds (generous listings, likely) he’s not particularly imposing physically, but he is talented, quick, and crafty. Inside he’ll use intelligent angles to find layups and he can also step outside to hit threes, going 5-12 against Ohio State to play a huge role in the win. Obanor is the largest player on Oral Roberts, and his 46% stroke from three causes all kinds of matchup problems. In Oral Roberts’ games against high major opponents early in the season he was arguably the Golden Eagles’ best player, even more important than Max Abmas, so you could easily argue he’s the player Florida needs to be most concerned with.
As a team, the most important thing to know about Oral Roberts is that they are a lethal three-point shooting team who knows how to create those attempts. They are 11th in the country in three-point percentage at 38.8% and they shoot a boat load of them, currently 22nd in the country in attempts. That is something that made their offensive performance against Ohio State so impressive–despite the fact that the Buckeyes knew they wanted to shoot a lot of threes and were game planning to take away those attempts, the Golden Eagles were still able to get looks at three that were wide open.
Teams that shoot a lot of threes and hit them at a good percentage are the teams that make upsets in March every single season and considering that Oral Roberts just did that to Ohio State, the Gators will have to be on high alert.
Another element of Oral Roberts’ offense that makes them a tough out is the fact that they don’t turn the ball over. They have been one of the most responsible ball handling teams in the country this season by the numbers and they only had 6 turnovers against Ohio State, and doing that in 45 minutes of basketball is nothing short of spectacular. They don’t give away possessions, which is very important when you’re the lower seeded team going against a high major.
A big reason why they don’t turn the ball over is that they keep the ball in the hands of their best players and like to run a good deal of isolation basketball, whether on the wing for Max Abmas or in the post for Kevin Obanor. They’re not going to get beat by having secondary players turn the ball over, they give it to their stars and completely operate around them.
Making it more impressive how well they take care of the ball is the fact that they play very fast, 39th in the country in average possession length. Playing fast allows them to catch defenses off guard and when that happens they’re able to get free for the wide open threes they crave more than anything.
Led by Max Abmas, Oral Roberts is extremely difficult to press. They were at 1.1 points per possession when pressed this season, knifing through opponents’ futile attempts at clamping down Abmas. Florida may try to press but considering how it struggled against Virginia Tech and how good Oral Roberts has been against presses, it may not be wise.
Being a team from the Summit League, historically a low major, the Golden Eagles lack size. As mentioned earlier Kevin Obanor is their center at 6’8” and 220, and looking at him he’s likely smaller than that. Off the bench, they bring on a pair of 6’7”, 215 pound players.
However, even though they are undersized they’re actually quite solid at guarding in the post. In the Summit League there are a lot of teams that play through the post, so Oral Roberts is very used to guarding that style of offense. That’s why they were able to match up so well with Ohio State, a team that plays through the post more than anyone in the high major ranks.
So, Florida can look to pound the ball inside to Colin Castleton, who will have a massive size advantage, but he might not be quite as dominant there as you might expect. This is a scrappy team in the post who has played against bigger centers all season, and they have shown they can handle it. Of course, Castleton is still a lot bigger than most of the players they have seen, including the undersized Ohio State bigs that Oral Roberts was largely able to handle.
Where Oral Roberts’ lack of size does hurt them is when it comes to rebounding. They’re an awful rebounding team, both offensively and defensively, and rank in the 300s nationally in both categories. For the Gators who will be longer and more athletic in all frontcourt positions they should be able to dominate the boards, though Florida hasn’t been a great rebounding team this season.
Oral Roberts has played almost exclusively man to man defense, as shown against Ohio State. This means they’re going to rely on help defense and double teams to match up against talented players, not so much zones or presses. Coming off a series of games where Florida has played against exclusively man to man defense, they should be just about as prepared for this as they could be. Their half court offense hasn’t exactly been inspiring recently, but at least they shouldn’t be surprised by Oral Roberts’ alignment.
One place Oral Roberts is vulnerable is when it comes to depth. They only really play seven guys, and really…they only play six with the seventh guy usually playing around 4-5 minutes. Against Ohio State Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor played all 45 minutes and the other starters played 44 and 42. They don’t have a deep bench, as is the case with many low majors, and Florida could have a big advantage there. Because Oral Roberts is so thin they also avoid fouling at all costs. That makes scoring at the rim against them a bit easier, as they never really give 100% effort at defending the rim knowing they simply cannot afford to foul. The Gators need to be aware of this and constantly attack, as settling for lots of jump shots will play into their casual defensive strategy.
Florida has seen what Oral Roberts can do and will have to be prepared for their unique style of offense. The Golden Eagles, and particularly Max Abmas, are going to be different than anything the Gators have seen this year and that could make for some tough scenarios if they aren’t prepared. With a Sweet Sixteen on the line you can be sure they’re going to give it their all, and if they play to their abilities you can hope they’d be able to take down the Summit League champions.