Leatherneck Nation

ESPN named Jalen Chapman as Western's "Top Performer": 13 Pts, 8 Reb, 1 Stl, 2 Blk.

J.C. Fuller was Western's top scorer with 18 points.

Obi Emegano had 19 points for Oral Roberts.

Big free throw differential. Oral Roberts shot 29 free throws and made 18. Western only shot 13 and made 9.

Western matched its season-high in turnovers with 21, and Oral Roberts was able to score 21 points off of those turnovers.


Attendance at Oral Roberts was 3,281.

Attendance at the other Thursday games:
South Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha = 1,457. South Dakota won 74-73.
North Dakota State at Denver = 1,469. North Dakota State won 73-69 in overtime.

Officiating was extremely one sided and horrible overall. Although I think we still played under potential, we had a shot at a few spots in the game being within 5 points. However, still being a relativley young and injured team at this point, growth will hopefully prosper going forward. A March run is highly optimistic, but anything is possible. I do think we easily have 3-5 guys that can get hot for a periodnof time.

It has been a tough year to watch Covington, I know it is because he is really one of our only true star DI players and he is being pressured and has to take poor shots, but his production is not even close to last years and has almost been getting worse all season. I am sure this has a lot to do with other injuries and what not, but I do not see any upturn in WIU basketball in the coming year unless we land some miracle player that has not been seen yet.

Chapman got 33 minutes and Mo Conde only 10. I would try to keep both of them on the court for more minutes at the same time so Garret could be Garret and not get beat up so bad in and around the paint.

I agree on the horrible officiating. Didn't lose us the game, but horrible. Like usual the other team was more athletic and we gave them way to many second chances. Sloppy play, Garrett is very off and we still kept it close.

Jalen stepped up. At times he has trouble hitting anything with his shots inside, but got a nice rhythm going and does that on occasion.

Dalan is getting valuable experience, but wish he could have redshirted. If he sticks around, he could be a very good player in another year or two. He's too raw and light at this point, but has length, quickness and a shot that could become something.

We desperately need a big man to score and/or a scorer like Obi if Garrett is going to be a difference maker. He's forced to force shots and he lacks the quickness and hops to be consistent scorer on penetration. He gets inside and makes plays and has some nice dishes, but gets cutoff and trapped inside to often because of the lack of explosion. If teams were forced to focus on someone else, he'd get better looks and a better chance to get in rhythm. Would also get the sharpshooting Aussie move looks from the corner.

Like Fuller's game. Maybe he can take it to a next level next year. That could certainly improve our chances.

21 turnovers this late in the season...season high for 'Necks. Does not speak well to team's development.

21 turnovers this late in the season...season high for 'Necks. Does not speak well to team's development.