ROCHESTER, Mich. — The Oakland men's basketball team will conclude regular-season play at Milwaukee on Feb. 19-20 for games at 6 p.m. ET (Friday) and 5 p.m. ET (Saturday). Fans can listen to
Neal Ruhl for both games on 106.7 WLLZ H2-3 and the iHeart Radio App. The weekend series will stream on ESPN3 with Scott Warras on the call.
Oakland trails 11-9 in the overall series. MKE won eight of the first nine meetings between the two schools, which began in 1969. The Golden Grizzlies have responded by taking eight of the last 12 matchups, including season sweeps in 2017 and 2018.
The Golden Grizzlies were held winless in road meetings at MKE from 1969-2016 (seven meetings). However, Oakland has secured wins in four of its last five trips to Milwaukee.
OU split its series to the Panthers last season, as both teams won at home. Current Golden Grizzly playmakers
Rashad Williams (16 points) and
Daniel Oladapo (12 points) scored in double figures to help Oakland to a 75-68 victory over MKE from inside the O'rena.
The Panthers are 6-9 in conference play, good for eighth in the Horizon League Championship seeding. COVID-19 protocols have resulted in the cancellation of five games, including three in HL play for Milwaukee.
MKE is under the direction of fourth-year head coach Pat Baldwin, who has amounted an overall record of 44-68. The Panthers are led by a pair of experienced guards in DeAndre Gholston and Te'Jon Lucas. Gholston leads the team in scoring (16.4 points per game) and rebounding (5.2 rebounds per game), while Lucas is averaging 13.9 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game.
The Golden Grizzlies are coming off a series split at Robert Morris. Oakland opened the weekend with an 88-82 loss in double overtime but responded with an 86-81 win in the Saturday rematch.
Oakland has won nine of its last 16 games after an 0-9 start to the season. OU's non-conference schedule featured four-straight Power-5 schools in Michigan (11/29), Purdue (12/1), Oklahoma State (12/5), and Michigan State (12/13) and three schools top-50 in the current NCAA NET rankings. Eight of Oakland's 25 games have been against teams top-100 in the NET rankings.
For the third-straight week, Oakland sits third in the #HLMBB Championship Seeding. Cleveland State and Wright State rank first and second while Northern Kentucky is right behind OU in fourth place. Due to the unbalanced nature of schedules across the conference, the championship will be seeded utilizing a formula that considers four factors: League winning percentage, strength of schedule, weighting road wins vs. home wins, and number of League games played.
The HL unveiled its bracket for the 2021 Horizon League Basketball Championships three weeks ago. The first round will feature teams placing fifth through 12th competing on campus at the highest-available seeds on Thursday, Feb. 25. The top-four teams in the regular season will receive a bye to the quarterfinals to host the winners of the first round on March 2. The semifinals and championship will take place on March 8-9 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.
INSIDE THE SERIES
• Overall: Milwaukee leads 11-9
• At Home: 5-4
• At Milwaukee: 4-7
• At Neutral: 0-0
• Current Streak: Oakland, 1
• Last Meeting: W, 75-68 (at the O'rena, 2/21/20)
• Series Note: Oakland has won six of the last eight meetings
PLAYER NOTES
RARE COMPANY
Daniel Oladapo exploded for 25 points and 20 rebounds, both career highs, in OU's series opener at Robert Morris (2/12) last weekend. Oladapo joined rare company in program history, as Keith Benson was the last Golden Grizzly to post 20 or more points and rebounds in a single game (Austin Peay, 11/27/10). The Bladensburg, Md. native became the fifth player in NCAA Division I this season to record a 20-20 game against a D1 opponent and the 12th player in the country to record 20 or more rebounds in a single game. It marked the lone 20-20 performance from a player in the Horizon League, as well as the second 20-plus rebound game in the conference.
SHOW US MOORE
Jalen Moore has put on a show in his first year sporting a Golden Grizzly uniform. The junior transfer leads the team in points per game (17.9), assists per game (8.1), steals per game (1.8), free throw attempts (181), free throws made (139), and minutes per game (37:00). The Cloverdale, Ind. native has started 24-straight games and finds himself atop NCAA Division I rankings in several individual categories such as assists per game, total assists (203), free throw attempts, free throw makes, and total minutes (925:48). To add, Moore ranks top-15 nationally in triple-doubles (1 / second), total points (447 / second), and total steals (44 / 12th).
LEAVING HIS MARK
Moore is on pace to become the first NCAA Division I player in the last 36 years to lead the nation in assists per game and free throws made in a single season. Colbey Ross (Pepperdine) is closest to Moore averaging 7.7 assists per game. Cameron Thomas (LSU) trails Moore by 11 free throws at 128.
1K CLUB
Rashad Williams is closing in on 1,000 points in his collegiate career, as he currently sits at 934 points. He would become the fourth transfer player to reach 1,000 points while at Oakland and the first since Martez Walker in 2017. The junior guard began his career at Cleveland State, where he averaged 10.8 points per game as a freshman. Williams has averaged 15.7 points per game in his two-year career with the Golden Grizzlies spanning 36 games.
* Kendrick Nunn arrived at OU with 1,018 career points.
RACKING THE ACCOLADES
Micah Parrish earned Nike® #HLMBB Freshman of the Week honors for the second time in his collegiate career, as he averaged 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals while shooting a team-high 75 percent (9-of-12) from the field in the Golden Grizzlies weekend split in Pennsylvania. In the series opener, Parrish totaled 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting along with six rebounds and one steal. He posted 18 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and two assists to help lead Oakland to an 86-81 win over RMU in the Saturday rematch. The Ypsilanti, Mich. native hit career bests in points, steals, free throw makes (11), and free throw attempts (15) in the victory. On the weekend, Parrish led OU in field goal percentage and steals per game. He ranked second on the team in free throws and third in rebounding.
BREAKOUT YEAR FOR THE BIG MAN
Oladapo has scored in double-figures in 16 games this season, including 12 times in his last 13 games. More importantly, the junior forward has been efficient offensively, ranking second in the League in field goal percentage (60.1%) against conference opponents. His numbers at the free-throw line have also improved, as he is shooting 63.6% (49-of-77) in his previous 13 games compared to 40% (12-of-30) in his first 12 games.
FINDING HIS SHOT
Young struggled through the first 15 games of the season, averaging 6.2 points per game while shooting 27% (30-of-112) from the field and 28% (20-of-70) on 3-point attempts. The junior transfer has bounced back with four double-digit scoring performances in his last eight games, including a season-high 28 points against Detroit Mercy (1/22). Young has averaged 11.3 points per game on 47.7% shooting from outside the arc in the eight-game stretch. The strong play has propelled Young to atop of the team leaders in overall 3-point percentage (36.1%) and in-conference 3-point % (40.7%).
HE'S JUST A FRESHMAN
Trey Townsend garnered Nike® #HLMBB Freshman of the Week (2/1) for the second time this season, after averaging a double-double with 15.0 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 60 percent (12-of-20) from the floor in Oakland's series sweep at Purdue Fort Wayne. On the season, Townsend leads Oakland in blocks per game (0.9) while ranking second on the team in rebounds per game (6.0) and third in field goal percentage (52.9%).
TEAM NOTES
TAKING WHAT'S OURS
Oakland ranks first in the Horizon League with 8.6 steals per game (21st nationally) and 216 total steals (second nationally). The Golden Grizzlies have tallied 10-plus steals in nine games and at least five in 23 of their 25 games.
Leaders in total steals:
Moore: 46 steals — 12th in the country — first in the HL
Parrish: 42 steals — 18th in the country — second in the HL
Townsend: 34 steals — 56th in the country — fourth in the HL
FEBRUARY SUCCESS
The Golden Grizzlies have been successful in February over the last 10 seasons (2009-present) with an overall record of 69-26 (.726). Oakland twice went undefeated in February (2010, 2017) over the 10-year stretch while concluding the month with a losing record only once (2014).
PASSING THE ROCK
Oakland ranks second in the conference with 16.11 assists per game through 18 Horizon League matchups. The Golden Grizzlies have also taken care of the ball, as they rank third among HL teams with a 1.25 assist-to-turnover ratio. OU has notched 20 or more assists in four games, including a season-high 25-assist output against Youngstown State (1/15).
FREE POINTS
As a team, the Golden Grizzlies rank second nationally in free throw attempts (514) and fourth in free throw makes (364). However, the Golden Grizzlies shot 63% (132-of-210) at the free-throw line in their first ten games, including just two games above 70%. Oakland has turned it around by shooting 76% (232-of-304) at the charity stripe in its last 15 games. OU has made over 80% of its free throws six times in the 15-game span and went a perfect 14-of-14 at the line versus Wright State (1/2).
INCREASED SCORING
Oakland has scored 70-plus points in 19 of its last 20 games with an average of 78.0 per game. The Golden Grizzlies reached the 70-point plateau just once in the first five games, averaging 56.6 per game. The improved offense has resulted in success, as OU holds a winning record of 9-5 in games with 75 or more points scored. The Golden Grizzlies are averaging 77.7 points per game in League play, which ranks second among the 12 HL teams.
