ROCHESTER, Mich. – On Sunday, December 18, Oakland University Men's Basketball heads to Boise State for the first time since 2012 to battle the Broncos on the Mountain West Network at ExtraMile Arena. The "Voice of the Golden Grizzlies" Neal Ruhl will have the call on the Audacy App.
Trey Townsend currently leads the squad with 17.3 points per game with three double-doubles on the year, registering his third most recently against Syracuse on December 6. This is the third-best of any Golden Grizzly in the Horizon League though the Oxford native's field goal shooting is second out of #HLMBB competitors at 54.9% (79-144).
Grad transfer Keaton Hervey slightly edges Townsend in rebounds per game with 7.7 to 7.6 while the native Texan is good for 13.8 points per contest, starting in all 11 games. Jalen Moore has put up double-digit points in eight of his ten games played this year with 12.7 a game while dishing out the 19th-best mark in NCAA Division I in assists with 59 total, 5.9 per game for 14th in the nation.
In its last outing at Syracuse, Townsend held a team-high 29 points and 12 rebounds while Moore was the only other Golden Grizzly to grab double-digit points with 12 that evening, adding in an extra seven assists. This was the second-highest point total Townsend has amassed this season after posting 30 against Toledo.
As previously mentioned, this will be the second-ever meeting with the Broncos, the first since November 13, 2012, where Travis Baders hit his 17th double-figure game with 13 points, just four points shy of his 1,000th at 996 at that time. Duke Mondy registered a team-high 21 points while current Loyola Head Coach Drew Valentine posted 15 and six rebounds.
Townsend was named to the Lou Henson Award Watchlist on November 22 as one of four #HLMBB student-athletes listed.
Moore was the lone Golden Grizzly named to the Preseason #HLMBB All-League Team honor with OU predicted fourth with two first-place votes in the preseason poll as Purdue Fort Wayne and Northern Kentucky tied for the top honor. The Horizon League and ESPN released the annual wildcard selections for national telecasts with Oakland on four of the five potential selected dates, denoted on the team's schedule page and the game notes.
Head Coach Greg Kampe enters his 39th season at the helm for Oakland University as the second-longest tenured coach in NCAA Division I basketball behind Jim Boeheim from Syracuse, who is in his 42nd season. Kampe has posted a 664-515 (56.8%) career record.
Michigan State was recently ranked No. 12 in the latest AP Top 25 poll as the only ranked non-conference opponent the Golden Grizzlies will potentially see. Toledo came close with a receiving vote ranking ahead of the two team's matchup on November 16.
The early signing period has come for OU as Aundre Polk will join the team on The Blacktop in the fall of 2023. Polk is a former MAC All-Freshman Team member at Central Michigan.
SCOUTING REPORT
BOISE STATE
The reigning Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament champions have started 8-2 in non-conference play as the Golden Grizzlies are the second-to-last out-of-conference team the Broncos will play before the MWC slate begins on December 28 against Nevada.
The Broncos throttled New Orleans on Tuesday night 91-50 as Max Rice posted 12 points and eight rebounds as the team's scoring leader out of the starting five. Bench sub-Kobe Young registered a team-high 16 points, going a team-best 5-8 from the field to tie with Rice who also grabbed a team-high eight boards.
With five players scoring in double figures on Tuesday night, Boise State is led by Marcus Shaver Jr. with 14.8 points per game followed closely by Tyson Degenhart at 13.1 and Rice at 12.5. Shaver Jr. is also good for 7.4 rebounds per game through 11 contests.
Boise State has the best scoring defense in the Mountain West Conference, allowing an average of 57.1 points from its opponents while registering the eighth-best mark in the league on offense at 71.2. This margin is good enough for third in the MWC at 14.1. Shaver Jr. is ninth in the conference, currently, in points per game, the best out of any Bronco in any category.
The scoring defense at 57.1 is the tenth-best in the entirety of NCAA Division I men's basketball.
DA-DA-DA DA-DA-DA
Moore and Hervey connected from a steal for the off-the-glass slam by the grad transfer from Missouri State for the team's first #SCTop10 of the 2022-23 season, coming in at No. 10 in the daily ESPN show on October 20.
NEW FACES
The Golden Grizzlies welcome in four transfers, two from the power five-level, Rocket Watts (Mississippi State), Lorne Bowman (Wisconsin), Keaton Hervey (Missouri State), and Chuol Deng (Hill College). Three freshmen join the new class Cooper Craggs, Dominic Capriotti, and Evan Solomon.
NEW HEAT IN MIAMI
Oakland's own Jamal Cain has earned a contract with the Miami Heat for the upcoming season wearing No. 8. Cain is just the latest active Golden Grizzly in the NBA with Kendrick Nunn, a regular part of the Los Angeles Lakers rotation.
GET YOUR TICKETS
Season tickets can be purchased through the Athletics Ticket Office by calling (248) 370-4000 or emailing outickets@oakland.edu. Single-game tickets and mini-plans are also available for the 2022-23 basketball season.
NEW HOME FOR OAKLAND BASKETBALL
Oakland recently announced a partnership with Audacy that made 97.1 The Ticket HD3 and The Bet 1270AM (WXYT-AM) the official radio providers for the department. With this new partnership, 97.1 The Ticket HD3 and The Bet 1270AM (WXTY-AM) will provide coverage for all Oakland men's basketball games and the Greg Kampe Radio Show.
BACK FOR ANOTHER RUN
Kampe enters his 39th season at the helm of the Oakland men's basketball program. He is the second-longest tenured active coach in Division I, only behind Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 45 seasons). Kampe's 664 career wins rank 12th among active Division I coaches.
PUTTING OAKLAND ON THE MAP
Kampe joined Oakland in 1984 after six seasons as an assistant coach at Toledo (1978-1984). Formerly known as the Pioneers, OU had only six winning seasons in 16 years of competition before his arrival.
