Oral Roberts hosts Tulsa in the 46th installment of the
Mayor’s Cup basketball series when they face off Wednesday
night at 8 pm ET at the Mabee Center on FCS Central. The
Mayor’s Cup is the name of the basketball rivalry between
cross-town rivals University of Tulsa Golden Hurricanes and Oral
Roberts University Golden Eagles which began on March 4, 1974 when
Tulsa defeated Oral Roberts 85-84.
Tulsa currently holds the edge in the overall series 29-16,
however there have been streaks held by each team through the
years. Oral Roberts won eight consecutive match-ups in the late
1970s; directly following that streak, Tulsa won the next 13 in a
row and 18 of 19. In recent years the rivalry has become more
balanced as Oral Roberts has won 4 of the last 6 meetings.
Tulsa (14-3) has one of its best teams in coach Doug
Wojcik’s five seasons and ORU (10-9) is once again fighting
to be a top contender for the Summit League title. The Golden
Eagles are 6-1 at home this season, including upset wins over
Missouri and New Mexico. However, the Golden Hurricane is currently
on a five game winning streak as they are one of the top teams in
the Conference USA with wins over Oklahoma State and Houston.
Tulsa is led by senior guard Ben Uzoh, who is the 5th leading
scorer in Conference USA averaging 16.8 points per game, and 7-foot
center Jerome Jordan, who is the 3rd leading rebounder and 2nd
leading blocker in the conference with 8.3 rebounds per game and
3.1 blocks per game, respectively. Oral Roberts has some of the
best rebounders in its conference in forwards Michael Craion and
Kevin Ford who are 5th and 3rd in rebounds per game in the Summit
League conference. ORU’s Kyron Stokes returns from an ankle
injury, and as one of the Eagles top perimeter defenders, he is key
to preventing Tulsa’s main outside scoring threats, Ben Uzoh
and Justin Hurtt (15.6 ppg), who combine to account for over 40% of
the Hurricane scoring. The Golden Eagles are led by sophomore
Dominique Morrison who is averaging a team best 15.5 points per
game and 2.9 assists per game.
You can catch the Doug Wojcik Show on FCS this Wednesday at 4
pm ET and also check out the ORU Sports Report this Thursday at
7:30 pm ET.
