The No. 3 seed Oakland men's basketball team will face No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky on Monday, March 8, in the semifinals of the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 with Jason Benetti (PxP) and Chris Spatola (Analyst) on call. Fans can listen to Neal Ruhl for both games on 106.7 WLLZ H2-3 and the iHeart Radio App.
A win on Monday would advance Oakland to its sixth Division I conference tournament championship game and first since joining the Horizon League. The Golden Grizzlies would pair up against the winner of the other semifinal between No. 1 seed Cleveland State and No. 8 seed Milwaukee on Tuesday, March 9, at 7 p.m. ET.
Oakland last appeared in a tournament title game in 2011 as a member of the Summit League. OU would go on to win the championship crown over Oral Roberts to clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season.
The Golden Grizzlies are coming off a thrilling 87-83 overtime victory against Youngstown State in the League quarterfinals. Jalen Moore and Daniel Oladapo each recorded double-doubles, while Rashad Williams scored 19 of his team-high 22 points in the second half.
OU is 5-7 in the Horizon League tournament since joining the conference in 2014. The Golden Grizzlies fell to NKU on a last-second 3-pointer in the 2019 semifinals, which marked their only matchup in tournament play.
NKU leads 13-11 in the all-time series. OU has fallen to the Norse four-straight times with two of the four matchups being decided by three or fewer points. NKU also holds a 2-0 advantage in neutral-site meetings. Oakland previously held the upper hand with five wins in six matchups from February 2016 to January 2019.
Oakland has won 11 of its last 19 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), along with three schools top-50 in the current NCAA NET rankings. Eight of Oakland's 28 games have been against teams top-100 in the NET rankings.
The Horizon League Board of Directors announced that the 2021 Horizon League Basketball Championships will be played without fans for all rounds of the tournaments. Team pass lists and complimentary tickets will also be prohibited. The update follows the Board of Directors announcement on January 8 not to allow fans or team pass lists for the remainder of the basketball regular season and championships rounds hosted at the sites of the highest seeds.
INSIDE THE SERIES
• Overall: NKU leads 13-11
• At Home: 4-7
• At NKU: 7-4
• At Neutral: 0-2
• Current Streak: NKU, 4
• Last Meeting: L, 73-70 (at BB&T Arena, 2/6/20)
• Series Note: Last OAK win vs. NKU - Jan. 3, 2019, 76-74
PLAYER NOTES
DIFFERENCE MAKER
Trey Townsend was a menace on the defensive end in Oakland's 87-83 quarterfinal victory against the Penguins. In the game, he tallied nine rebounds, three steals (matched a season-high), and a team-leading one block. Additionally, he drew a game-best six charges.
ALL-LEAGUE NODS
Jalen Moore, Daniel Oladapo, Micah Parrish, and Townsend earned Horizon League honors. The four selections were Oakland's most since the 2014-15 season. Moore (First Team) and Oladapo (Third Team) were selected to the All-League team, while Parrish and Townsend earned a spot on the All-Freshman team. All-League voting was done by the 12 head coaches in the conference.
FIRST TO EVER DO IT
Moore is on the cusp of becoming 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. Moore leads Cam Mack (Prairie View) in the assists category by just 0.4 per game. Cameron Thomas (LSU) trails Moore by three free throws at 153.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE SPECIALTY
Moore (10) and Oladapo (nine) have combined for 19 out of Oakland's 23 double-doubles this season. Both have recorded double-doubles in the same game on four occasions. Entering Monday's matchup, there are only 29 Division I players in the nation with nine or more double-doubles. OU is the lone school with teammates among those 29 players. Furthermore, Moore holds the most double-doubles in the country by a player below 6-foot.
1K CLUB
Rashad Williams is nearing 1,000 points in his collegiate career, as he currently sits at 977 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 15.6 points per game in his two-year career with the Golden Grizzlies spanning 41 games.
* Kendrick Nunn arrived at OU with 1,018 career points.
RARE COMPANY
Oladapo exploded for 25 points and 20 rebounds, both career highs, in OU's series opener at Robert Morris (2/12). 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.
RACKING THE ACCOLADES
The newcomer duo of Townsend and Parrish won Horizon League Freshman of the Week twice during the regular season. Only three players in the conference managed to win the award two or more times. NKU's Marques Warrick led the League by earning the award on eight occasions en route to winning conference Freshman of the Year.
ZION FROM DEEP
Zion Young has made a 3-pointer in seven-straight games, good for the longest stretch by a Golden Grizzly. On the season, he is shooting a team-best 35.9% (46-of-128) from deep and has converted at an improved 39.8% (35-of-88) rate in conference play.
HOT STRETCH
Over the last nine games, Parrish is averaging 13.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.1 steals while shooting 62.2% from the floor. The freshman has scored in double figures in all nine appearances, including 15 or more points in three of the last five games. He has notched two double-doubles in the nine-game span as well.
EXCELLING IN THE CLASSROOM
Sophomore guard Blake Lampman was one of six players named to the Horizon League's All-Academic Team voted on by the League's faculty athletics representatives. It marked the second-straight season Lampman received an HL accolade, as he was named to the All-Freshman Team in 2020. Lampman, a Marketing major, has been named to the Dean's List twice in his two-year career with the men's basketball program. Last fall, he earned a team-best 3.70 GPA.
TEAM NOTES
OVERTIME MADNESS
The Golden Grizzlies have reached overtime six times, the most in a single season in program history. In the last five games alone, Oakland has played in three overtime games, producing a 1-2 record in the span. OU has recorded a 2-4 record through six overtime games, including two losses in double overtime. Parrish hit a game-winning bucket to seal a 77-75 win over Detroit Mercy (12/26) in Oakland's first overtime triumph of the season. OU collected its second overtime victory in the Horizon League Quarterfinals against YSU (3/2).
SEMIFINALS HISTORY
The Golden Grizzlies have reached the Horizon League semifinals four times since 2016. The three previous appearances have resulted in losses by a combined six points. OU lost 64-63 to NKU in its last appearance in the semifinals.
8-FOR-8
OU extended its streak with a First Team selection to eight seasons (2014-21). The streak is the longest among current Horizon League programs and tied for the second-longest in conference history behind Xavier (1986-95). An OU player has earned First Team honors 15-straight seasons dating back to its time in the Summit League.
WHAT IF?
The entirety of the NCAA Tournament will be played in Indiana from March 18 to April 5, with the majority of the tournament's 67 games taking place in Indianapolis. Below is a rundown of the tournament schedule.
• Selection Sunday — March 14 on CBS
• First Four — March 18 (Thursday)
• First round — March 19-20 (Friday-Saturday)
• Second round — March 21-22 (Sunday-Monday)
• Sweet 16 — March 27-28 (Saturday-Sunday)
• Elite Eight — March 29-30 (Monday-Tuesday)
• Final Four — April 3 (Saturday)
• NCAA championship game — April 5 (Monday)
