ROCHESTER, Mich. – On Thursday, February 2, Oakland University Men's Basketball will take to the floor at the Athletics Center O'rena at 7:00 pm against Purdue Fort Wayne as #HLMBB play rolls on. The "Voice of the Golden Grizzlies" Neal Ruhl will have play-by-play responsibilities on ESPN+ with Dane Fife on Analysis.
On Sunday, Jalen Moore's 24 points weren't enough as the Golden Grizzlies fell in the UPMC Events Center 68-63 to Robert Morris for the team's fifth Horizon League loss. Rocket Watts and Keaton Hervey each saw double-digit scoring numbers with 13 and 12, respectively. Trey Townsend added nine rebounds in the defeat.
The last time Oakland and PFW met on the hardwood, the game had national television implications on ESPNU with an overtime performance as Moore hit a near-half-court shot to send the game to extra time. Unfortunately, the Mastodons would outlast the Golden Grizzlies on their home court.
Moore leads the team with 17.2 points per game with Townsend in tow with 15.9 while Hervey and Blake Lampman can be counted on for 12.3 and 10.3, respectively. Moore's average puts him fifth in #HLMBB in scoring.
Townsend and Hervey mark the sixth and seventh-best marks in rebounding in the league with 7.4 and 6.9 each.
The whole team has the third-best free throw shooting percentage in the conference at 74.5% (298-400) just behind Youngstown State and Detroit Mercy while handing just ahead of Milwaukee in fourth, respectively. In all his games played, Moore has the best individual free throw shooting mark at 81.7% (116-142).
Townsend is fifth in #HLMBB in blocked shots with 1.1 per game. Moore and Lampman combine for a menacing third and fourth in the league in steals per game with 1.9 apiece.
Moore is currently 11th in NCAA Division I in assists per game with 6.0, 16th in total assists as 119 on the year, tied with Divant'e Moffitt of the University of Idaho.
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 671-516 (56.8%) career record.
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.
The Washington Wizards have acquired former Oakland University Men's Basketball student-athlete Kendrick Nunn from the Los Angeles Lakers.
SCOUTING REPORT
PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Damien Chong Qui posted a career-high 31 points in the Dons' 79-74 loss to Cleveland State last Friday. With the 6-6 conference mark by PFW, the team sits in sixth in the #HLMBB standings heading into Thursday's game. For reference, Oakland is in fifth.
PFW has the second-best scoring margin in #HLMBB with 7.8 after averaging 75.1 and only allowing 67.3 per fame. This puts them behind Youngstown State, who has the best mark. Jarred Godrey posts 16.2 points per game ahead of Bobby Planutis at 11.0. Ra Kpedi is good for 8.3 rebounds per game, third in the conference.
The Mastodons hit an average of 10.0 three-pointers per game with a percentage of 35.1% (229-652) from deep as Planutis hits around 2.4 per contest.
The Golden Grizzlies have dropped the last two meetings against PFW but still lead the all-time series 15-7 with a 7-3 home record.
NO MERCY
Oakland has now won eight straight in Calihan Hall, the best record of any of the Titans' opponents in history. Marquette held the previous record of 7-0 until January 23 when Oakland won the 12th of the last 13 games in the Metro Series 76-67.
1,000 POINT CLUB
Townsend became the 37th Golden Grizzly to reach 1,000 career points in the team's overtime win against IUPUI off a free throw. Townsend followed it up with his 500th rebound in the win versus Detroit Mercy.
100 #HLMBB VICTORIES
Coach Kampe and the program registered its 100th #HLMBB win against Wright State on January 8. Kampe is the fourth coach in the conference to reach this feat.
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 671 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.
