ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Men’s Basketball rolls into another Horizon League matchup on January 8, at 1:00 pm against the Wright State Raiders on the road at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio on ESPN+ and with the “Voice of the Golden Grizzlies” Neal Ruhl on the call on the Audacy App.
The Golden Grizzlies are coming off of a hot three-game winning streak, most recently taking the win over in Northern Kentucky against the Norse in a tight, nail-biting game resulting in a 64-63 win. Senior Jalen Moore tipped the Golden Grizzlies over into the lead in just the last five seconds of the second half with his free throw from the charity stripe. And combined with his 17-point tally overall for the night, the Cloverdale native helped the team walk away with the energetic win.
Three other Golden Grizzlies climbed into double digits for the night including Trey Townsend (14), Keaton Hervey (10), and Rocket Watts (10) for their points on the board. Alongside Moore, Hervey and Townsend lead the team in assists to contribute further to the action on the court.
This is the first game in the 2022-23 season that the Golden Grizzlies have secured the win with a small margin of a one-point score difference, bringing the team to a 3-2 Horizon League record, and a 5-11 season record.
Townsend remains the top scoring leader for the Golden Grizzlies with a 16.4 point average, and beside him is senior Jalen Moore with 14.3 points and Keaton Hervey with 13.3. Hervey takes the spot for rebound leader for the Golden Grizzlies averaging leads the team in 7.5 per game, and Townsend with the second-highest rebound average of 7.1.
Townsend currently ranks sixth in the Horizon League in scoring with the third-best field goal percentage mark of 51.9% (109-210). Hervey ranks fourth in the conference in rebounding alongside Townsend who ranks seventh.
Moore leads the conference in assists with a total of 76 on the year. The recent college graduate rises up in the NCAA Division I rankings as he ranks 10th in assists per game (6.1).
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 665-516 (56.3%) 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.
SCOUTING REPORT
WRIGHT STATE
Trey Calvin is the teams leading scorer averaging 18.9 points per game with 284 on the year, and ranks third in the Horizon League in scoring. Additionally, Brandon Noel leads the team in rebounds with an average of 7.3 per game.
Wright State is on a two-game winning streak with a season record of 9-7 and 2-3 in the conference. The Raiders rank first in the league for team field goal percentage (.500), and first in assist/turnover ratio with a 15.8 assists average per game, and 12.8 turnover average per game, respectively.
The Raiders have played the Golden Grizzlies a total of 23 times since their first matchup in 2000 all the way up to their most recent loss last season in the Nutter Center.
The Horizon League conference revealed the pre-season poll ranking Wright State third in the league, just ahead of the Golden Grizzlies in fourth.
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.
COURTESY OAKLAND ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
