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Oakland vs. IPFW
March 8, 2009
Oakland University
• The Golden Grizzlies improve to 9-3 all-time against IPFW.
• Oakland is 7-6 all-time at the Summit League championship, and this year's tournament marks the fourth time that OU has entered the league tournament from the No. 3 seed. OU has an all-time record of 2-3 at the No. 3 seed, with the lone win prior to tonight coming last season with an 80-66 win over Western Illinois.
• Senior guard Erik Kangas added to his OU records with three 3-pointers today. He now has 335 for his career and 122 for the season, both OU records.
• Junior Guard Johnathon Jones entered play with 241 assists this year, ranking as the fourth-best single-season performance in Summit League history. With his nine assists, Jones now has 250 and has passed UIC's Craig Lathen (244 assists, 1982-83) to move into third place. He now needs four to pass Wright State's Mark Woods (253 assists, 1992-93) and move into second place. Jones' career 560 assists have also moved him into fourth place all-time in Summit League history. He now trails UIC's Craig Lathen (562 assists, 1982-85), and can move into third place all-time with three assists.
• Sophomore center Keith Benson also enters play today with one of the top ten seasons in Summit League history, with his accomplishment coming in blocks. With six blocks, Benson passed Buffalo's Kelvin Robinson (80 blocks, 1994-95) and tied Oral Roberts' Shawn King (81 blocks, 2006-07) for the sixth-best.
• OU picked up its first 3-pointer of the contest when Dan Waterstradt drained a 3-pointer at the 10:05 mark of the first half. The basket marks the 626th consecutive contest where OU has made a 3-pointer. Only UNLV, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Duke, Arkansas, and Western Kentucky have a longer streak.
• Oakland started the lineup of Will Hudson, Johnathon Jones, Erik Kangas, Drew Maynard, and Keith Benson. OU improves to 11-3 using that lineup.
• OU improved to 6-5 when the opposing team scored first.
• Oakland made seven of its first ten baskets.
• OU guard Johnathon Jones was in foul trouble early, picking up his third foul of the game at the 9:15 mark of the first half. Jones was held to just 11 first-half minutes, scoring two points and dishing out five assists in his limited play during the first half.
• Sophomore guard Will Hudson made his first four baskets of the night.
• OU held a solid shooting advantage throughout the first half. At the first media timeout, OU was outshooting IPFW 71.4 percent to 22.2 percent; at the second media timeout, the margin was 77.8 percent to 38.5 percent; at the third media timeout, the margin was 71.4 percent to 30.0 percent, at the final media timeout, the advantage had grown to 70.6 percent to 23.1 percent. However, IPFW improved its shooting percentage in the final four minutes of the half, and at half OU held a 56.8 to 32.3 percent advantage from the floor.
• With Jones in foul trouble for a good part of the first half, freshman Guard Matt Samuels came off the bench and filled in at point guard. A 32 percent free-throw shooter (8-25) on the season entering play, Samuels matched his season total in free throws with a perfect 8-for-8 performance from the charity stripe.
• The win today marks Oakland's eighth consecutive victory. The eight-game streak ties the longest winning streak in school history; the previous streak coming from Nov. 29, 1994 to Jan 12, 1995.
• Will Hudson had three blocks on the game. The performance ties his career high, set against Adrian on Nov. 11, 2007; and sets a new season high.
• Keith Benson notched his ninth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
• Oakland improved to 3-0 on the season when five or more players reach double figures in points.
• With 10 team blocks today, Oakland tied The Summit League tournament's single-game blocks mark, previously set by Oral Roberts against Centenary on March 3, 2007.
• The Golden Grizzlies shot 61.9 percent from the floor, the first time OU shot 60 percent or better from the floor since February 14 of this year, when OU accomplished the same feat against IPFW at the Athletics Center O'Rena.
• Keith Benson's six blocks tonight tie for the third-highest total in Summit League tournament history. The record is nine, set by Oral Roberts' Kendrick Moore against IUPUI in 2002.
• Oakland notched assists on 16 of 26 baskets.
IPFW
• IPFW falls to 1-2 all-time in Summit League tournament play. Last season, the Mastodons' first in the league, saw the `Dons enter as the No. 5 seed. IPFW topped Southern Utah 66-62 in the quarterfinals before dropping a 58-42 decision to eventual league champion Oral Roberts in the semifinals.
• Despite finishing the regular season with a 13-16 record, IPFW saved some of its best basketball for the month of February. IPFW posted a 5-2 record during February, finishing the regular season with wins at Western Illinois and at home against UMKC and Southern Utah. The 3-game winning streak tied for the longest winning streak of the season for the Mastodons, who won three in a row against Eastern Illinois, IU-East, and at Eastern Illinois. Oakland's win foiled IPFW's chance at its longest winning streak of the year.
• Today's game marks the first time all season that the Mastodons have played on a neutral court.
• Senior David Carson struggled from the floor in the first half, going 2-for-9. The senior finished with 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
• IPFW missed its first eight field goal attempts of the second half.
• The Mastodons entered today's game shooting 41.1 percent from beyond the arc, but were held to just 33.3 percent shooting from long range today.
