INDIANAPOLIS — The No. 3 seed Oakland men's basketball team will face No. 1 seed Cleveland State on Tuesday, March 9, in the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship game at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN 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 Tuesday would clinch a trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the fourth time in program history. The Golden Grizzlies last made a trip to the tournament in 2011, when they fell to No. 4 seed Texas, 85-81, in the opening round.
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 dominant 69-58 victory over two-time defending champion Northern Kentucky in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship. Oakland led for over 36 minutes in the contest and never trailed in the second half en route to a double-digit win. The upperclassman trio of Daniel Oladapo, Rashad Williams, and Jalen Moore combined for 50 points (72% offense) in the victory.
The Oakland defense was in full display, as they held the Norse to 33.3% shooting (23-of-69) from the field, including 23.3% (7-of-30) from beyond the arc. Marques Warrick, the League's Freshman of the Year, was limited to 3-of-15 shooting and eight points in the game.
CSU swept OU during regular-season play at the Athletics Center O'rena. Both games were decided by eight or fewer points, including an 80-78 contest in the series closer.
Senior forward Torrey Patton leads the Vikings averaging 14.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Viking guard Craig Beaudion has added 9.5 points and a team-high 3.4 assists per game. Tre Gomillion (10.3 ppg) and D'Moi Hodge (10.3 ppg) have also contributed to the CSU offense.
Oakland won all three contests against Cleveland State during the 2019-20 season. OU swept CSU in regular-season competition and proceeded to face the Vikings in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament inside the O'rena. The Golden Grizzlies handily defeated CSU, 80-59, to advance in the tournament. Xavier Hill-Mais led Oakland with a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.
OU is slightly ahead in the overall series, 11-10, but has won five of the last seven games against CSU, including 11 out of the last 15 matchups. The Golden Grizzlies went into the 2020-21 season with a five-game winning streak over the Vikings with an average margin of victory of 13.2 points.
CSU earned the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League Championship bracket after finishing the regular season 17-4 against Horizon League opponents. However, the Vikings closed conference play with series splits against Detroit Mercy and Purdue Fort Wayne.
Oakland has won 12 of its last 20 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 29 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.
