ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Men's Basketball returns to non-conference play starting the three-game slate at Syracuse on Tuesday, December 6 at 6:00 pm in the JMA Wireless dome on the ACC Network and on The Bet1270AM (WXYT-AM) plus the Audacy App with the "Voice of the Golden Grizzlies" Neal Ruhl on the call.

Keaton Hervey recorded his second double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds in Oakland's 79-73 overtime loss to Purdue Fort Wayne as the squad dropped to 0-2 in #HLMBB play. Rocket Watts registered his first 20-point game in a Golden Grizzlies uniform as two others, Trey Townsend and Jalen Moore, also had a double-digit point game.

Townsend and Hervey combine for fourth and fifth in the Horizon League in field goal percentage at 55.0% and 54.7%, respectively, as both team members lead the Golden Grizzlies with 16.1 and 14.4 points per game. 

Hervey can also find his name among the top three in the conference in rebounding with an average of 7.9 while the aforementioned Townsend sits at 7.2. Moore is still 15th in the country in assists per game at 52, averaging 5.8 per game putting him 18th in that category. 

This will be the fourth time the Golden Grizzlies and Orange have met on the hardwood with all four times coming in the previously named Carrier Dome (now the JMA Wireless Dome), the most recent meeting resulting in a 74-62 loss on December 18, 2019. 

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 664-510 (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

SYRACUSE
The Orange return to the JMA Wireless Dome following a 62-61 win over Notre Dame to open Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. Prior, Syracuse fell to No. 16 Illinois 73-44 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and 73-72 to Bryant at home on November 26.

Jesse Edwards lead the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game followed shortly by Judah Mintz and Joseph Girard III with 14.4 and 14.3, respectively. Edwards is also good for 14.8 boards per game as well as the best rebounder in the ACC, fourth in NCAA Division I.

With an average of 69.38 points per game, the Syracuse scoring offense has a 0.13 scoring margin behind a defense that allows 69.25 per contest which puts the New York-based squad 12th out of the 15 ACC teams. 

Syracuse is 181st in the first edition of the NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings. 
 

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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.