Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at Missouri Tigers
Thursday, 12/16/10, 8:00 PM EDT, TV: ESPN3
Opening Point Spread: Missouri -15
Current Betting Line: Missouri -15
Opening Total: 150
Current Total: 150
Oral Roberts is set to take on its third Big 12 foe of the season in visiting the Missouri Tigers on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles have already clashed with Texas Tech and Oklahoma. The team is coming off a disappointing 73-60 road loss to the Sooners, after holding leads of 13 and 12 points during the first half. Defensively, the squad allowed Oklahoma to shoot 50.9 percent from the field, the first opponent in seven games to shoot over 50 percent against them and the second all season. The Golden Eagles are 9-45 all-time against Associated Press ranked opponents and picked up their last such victory with a 75-66 win over No. 13 New Mexico last December 22 at Mabee Center. Oral Roberts is 5-4 ATS on the season and currently a double-digit underdog on the college basketball lines page.
The Golden Eagles captured a shocking 60-59 home win over the Tigers last year on forward Michael Craion’s layup with 0.9 seconds left on the clock. He has played sparingly this season due to a right foot injury that has caused him to play just 17 minutes. Sophomore Warren Niles has had to pick up his scoring with the team’s second-leading scorer from last year sideline, averaging 14.9 points and he scored a team-high 22 points off the bench against the Sooners on Saturday. Kansas City native Dominque Morrison is averaging a team-best 17.3 points on the season and scored 17 points in his last trip to Mizzou Arena in 2008.
Missouri continues a four-game home stand on Thursday night and has won three consecutive games, including a 70-55 win last Saturday versus Presbyterian. The Tigers used the entire roster in playing 12 players in the victory, but will be missing starting point guard Michael Dixon due to being suspended indefinitely on Wednesday for violating team rules. “It’s nice to have a chance to play a game like this because some of our guys have played a lot of minutes,” said guard Marcus Denmon. “They give guys that normally aren’t able to play as much a chance to do things and show coach that they’re able to help us.” Missouri hasn’t lost at home to a team outside the Big 12 Conference since November 14, 2005. The squad is 1-5 ATS on the season.
The Tigers have been one of the country’s winningest programs the last two-plus seasons, winning 62 games over that stretch, the 11th most wins in all of college basketball since the 2008-09 campaign. Missouri’s bench has been a key to the team’s success early on this year, averaging 27.3 points, including a season-high 49 points versus LaSalle. The offense has also started to show signs of coming together, shooting 49.4 percent from the floor over the last five games, while the club features five players averaging in double figures.
Bettors will be interested in knowing that the Golden Eagles are 4-1 ATS on the road versus winning home teams, while the Tigers are 1-6 ATS in non-conference games.
