ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Men's Basketball returns to the Athletics Center O'rena on Thursday, January 12 at 7:00 pm as the Golden Grizzlies welcome Robert Morris to The Blacktop on ESPN+ and TheBet 1270AM (WXYT-AM) plus the Audacy App.

Currently on a four-game winning streak, the Golden Grizzlies welcome two-straight home games back to the Athletics Center O'rena coming off thrilling road victories at Northern Kentucky and Wright State last weekend. Jalen Moore sparked a 9-1 run, all of which was scored by the senior, to defeat the first-place Norse while Rocket Watts drained a corner three-ball to sink the dagger in the Raiders two days later.

Moore has vaulted up the scoring column for Oakland behind 14.7 points per game after the Holiday break, registering 17 against both Milwaukee and NKU along with 25 in the team's win over Green Bay on New Year's Eve and 20 at WSU. 

The Cloverdale, Indiana native is now 14th in assists per game in the entirety of NCAA Division I with 5.9, 30th in total assists at 82. Moore holds the best mark in #HLMBB with those numbers in both categories. 

Trey Townsend is good for 16.2 points per game to lead the team while Keaton Hervey currently sits in third on the team sandwiching Moore in that category with 12.8. The latter of the two stands atop the Golden Grizzlies' leaderboard in rebounds with 7.3 boards per contest, slightly edging Townsend with 7.2.

It will take about two weeks or so for both teams to see each other again as Oakland will travel the RMU-Youngstown State leg of the Horizon League road trip on January 27 and January 29. 

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 668-517 (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

ROBERT MORRIS
The 3-3 #HLMBB marked Colonials head into the Athletics Center O'rena fresh off a 77-70 win over IUPUI in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, taking down both Purdue Fort Wayne and Wright State as their other two wins in conference play.

Enoch Cheeks and Khaliel Spear both lead the team in points per game with 17.3 and 14.0, respectively, the fifth and tenth-best marks in #HLMBB, respectively. Spear is also fifth in the conference in boards per game with an average of 7.6, leading a team that ranks seventh in rebound margin in the conference at -0.9. 

As a squad, RMU is the fourth-best team in conference play with a three-point field goal shooting percentage of 35.7% (119-333) compared to OU, who is eighth in the league. Josh Corbin holds the second-best individual mark from deep at 42.0% (55-131).

Michael Green III is chasing Oakland's Moore as the conference's assist leader with 5.2 per contest. 

Since the 2001-02 season, the Golden Grizzlies and Colonials have met eight times on the hardwood with three straight going Oakland's way capped off by a 71-68 win back on February 11, 2022. 

 

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FIRST POTW IN THE NEW YEAR
Moore garnered the team's first Nike #HLMBB Player of the Week Award on Monday, January 2 with an average of 21 points and 6.5 assists in the team's wins over Milwaukee and Green Bay in Rochester.

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 668 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.