The final second round game of the CIT is on tap for tonight as the UC-Irvine Anteaters travel to Oral Roberts to take on the Golden Eagles (8:00 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com). Oral Roberts enters tonight’s game at 19-14 overall coming off of their first round victory over Texas-Arlington. A win tonight would give the Golden Eagles their sixth 20 win season under head coach Scott Sutton since he took over the program’s reigns in 2004-05. ORU is led by a trio of all-conference performers, Damen Bell-Holter, Warren Niles and Shawn Glover. Bell-Holter led the Southland Conference in both scoring and rebounding during league play this season and is a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the court.
UC-Irvine comes into tonight’s game at 21-15 on the season. The defeated High Point in the first round of the CIT. The Anteaters notably knocked Big West conference regular season champion Long Beach State out of the conference tournament before losing to Pacific in the finals. This postseason appearance is the school’s first since 2002.
Tonight marks the third all-time meeting between these two schools. Oral Roberts won at UC-Irvine back in 1985, and Irvine returned the favor winning at ORU the following year. The winner of tonight’s game will advance to the CIT quarterfinals, and is scheduled to play at Weber State on Wednesday night.