Oral Roberts guard Obi Emegano’s foul trouble saves Missouri

First half

▪ Key play: Oral Roberts’ Obi Emegano picked up his second foul after scoring 18 points in 7 minutes.

▪ Key stat: The Golden Eagles were 13 of 20 from the field (65 percent).

Second half

▪ Key play: Missouri never trailed after Montaque Gill-Caesar hit a three-pointer with just 13 minutes to play.

▪ Key stat: Oral Roberts shot five of 24 (20.8 percent percent).

Foul trouble hurts

Foul trouble might have saved the day for Missouri.

In a game that featured 49 total fouls and 64 combined free throws, it was the two fouls Oral Roberts junior Obi Emegano picked up in the game’s first seven minutes that made the biggest difference.

Emegano, who scored 26 on Saturday in a win against Tulsa, started the game on fire — making his first five from the field, including a couple three-pointers, and all six from the free-throw line.

He had 18 points in the game’s first seven minutes.

“Emegano was just unreal in the first half,” Anderson said. “We really had no answer. The only answer was when he had fouls.”

Emegano had 18 points in the game’s first 7 minutes, and Golden Eagles coach Scott Sutton admitted after the game that he should have put Emegano back in despite the foul trouble as well as he was playing.

“He was the best player on the floor tonight,” Sutton said.

Emegano finished with 30 points in 27 minutes, four shy of the Mizzou Arena record for opponent scoring. Texas’ J’Covan Brown had 34 on Jan. 14, 2012.

This story was originally published November 19, 2014 at 11:14 PM with the headline "Oral Roberts guard Obi Emegano’s foul trouble saves Missouri."