Duke will open the NCAA tournament play on Thursday night in Orlando against the Summit league champion Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. The Tulsa based Golden Eagles are led by 5th year coach Paul Mills a former long time assistant under Scott Drew at Baylor. They went 30-4 overall and 18-0 in conference play. The Golden Eagles hold wins over Tulsa and Liberty, with their only 4 losses coming to NCAA tournament teams, Houston, Utah State, St. Mary's and New Mexico.
The Golden Eagles are highly experienced with their 6 man rotation sporting 5 seniors and 3 juniors with 4 of them being transfers from major programs. All 5 starters started all 34 games. Here are the starters and key reserves.
6-0 Sr. Max Abrams 22.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 37.7% on 117 made threes.
7-5 Sr. Connor Vanover 12.9 pts, 7.2 rebs, 33.1% from 3 on 45 made, Arkansas transfer
6-1 Jr. Issac Mcbride 11.9 pts, 2.7 rebs, 2.6 assists, 41.1% from 3 on 90 made, Vanderbilt transfer.
6-5 RS Sen. Carlos Jurgens 9.2 pts, 4.1 rebs, 2.4 assists, 33.7% from three on 35 made.
6-5 Sr. Kareem Thompson 8.6 pts, 5.7 rebs, 3.1 assists, 39.2% from three on 31 made.
6-7 Jr. Patrick Mwamba 7/9 pts, 5.5 rebs, 39.1% from three on 25 made, UT Arlington transfer.
6-7 Sr. Deshang Weaver 6.4 pts, 2.1 rebs, 42.3% from three on 30 made.
6-2 Jr. Trey Phipps 6-2 Jr. 3.8 pts, 1.4 rebs, 34% from three on 18 made, Oklahoma transfer.
The Golden Eagles are averaging 84.4 points per game and allow 70.1. They are shooting 47.9% from the field and hold their opponents to 41.4%. They are shooting 36.7% from three on 10.8 made per game. They are averaging 14.8 assists per game and are shooting 77.6 from the free throw line. They are only committing 9.4 turnovers per game while forcing 12.9. They are out rebounding their opponents by 1.6 per game.
Notes: The Golden Eagles 36 in the NET rankings, 56 in Ken Pom and hold a 23rd ranking in offense and 107 on defense. Oral Roberts went to the Sweet 16 in 2021 beating 2nd seeded Ohio St and 7th seeded Florida to advance. The game is scheduled to tip on CBS at 7:10 on Thursday.