Oakland gets dominated by Boise State in first loss of the season

Mama said there’d be days like this. 

After an emotional win on Monday, Oakland traveled across two time zones on Tuesday to play a Boise State team that was projected to be a buzzsaw on Wednesday.

The result was what you think could happen by that description.

Oakland fell 87-43 at the hands of the Broncos, and that final is pretty indicative of how the night went. The Golden Grizzlies shot 3-26 from deep, good for 11%, and 18-66 from the floor overall, that’s 27%. The icing on the cake was a 4-9 night from the free throw line.

Meanwhile, Boise State shot 33-62 on field goals, good for 53%. They also made nine of their 20 threes, which is 45%.

In the exhibition opener, Oakland shot 2-30 from three against Michigan, and saw a similar result on the scoreboard at the final buzzer. If Oakland is going to hang with the type of quality of teams like Michigan and Boise State, that number will be one that they have to improve on.

That improvement better come fast, with #24 (Coaches Poll) Illinois, and #1 Kansas as the next games on the schedule starting next week.

It was hard to find many bright spots on the night, but let’s try to find some.

One bright spot was right off the bat, when Allen Mukeba was inserted into the starting lineup after sitting out Monday’s opener with an ankle injury. He did not look 100%, but the fact he was out there should be a good sign he will be a full go after a week off before Illinois.

Not only did he play, he continued his good showings from the preseason. Going against one of the best defensive frontcourts in college basketball, he got to his spots, and shot 5-9 from the floor, totaling 10 points.

That point total was tied for the team high, and the other double figure scorer was yet another post player. Buru Naivalura only played 21 minutes, and was scoreless at halftime. He scored five buckets in the second half, while also grabbing six boards. Oakland’s efficient post scoring in a game like this is a good sign for a consistent path to points in conference play for an offense that may be proving to be streaky on the perimeter.

While streaky may (it is so so early) be what the three-point shooting will end up being, nights like the Golden Grizzlies just had will be few and far between, if at all.

DQ Cole, a 36.2% shooter on the year last year, a player that went 3-3 in an NCAA Tournament win over Kentucky, shot 1-15 from the three. He is too good for that to become the norm, and while concern is fair over whether he will be able to take the leap he is capable of, the panic button should not be pressed over this performance.

Jayson Woodrich and Malcolm Christie each made one three, with Woodrich shooting four and Christie shooting six. Again, the concern over these nights maybe reoccurring is ok, but these are guys who have made shots for a long time. Christie is a career 38.3% three point shooter on 402 attempts, and he has been a difficult shot taker and maker for years. Jayson Woodrich shot a shade under 36% a season ago at Horizon League for Cleveland State. It is safe to say these guys will not shoot under 20% for the entire season.

Oakland will get some time to recover now, as they don’t see the floor for a full week after this game, when they hit the road at Illinois.