There are 364 teams in Division I men’s basketball. Through five games, the Golden Grizzlies are shooting 20.3% from three-point range.
You guessed where that ranks. 364th.
“Our offense is historically bad right now,” Greg Kampe said. “You should win on your home floor giving up 68 points.”
68-64 was the final on the blacktop, with Oakland shooting 3-18 from three. It was a very weird game throughotut.
Oakland came out looking like they were excited to be on their home floor, taking a quick multiple possession lead going into the first media timeout. A nice close to the half saw the Golden Grizzlies extend that lead to 36-28.
The problem with the first half was Oakland had gotten themselves into foul trouble, and within the first few moments of the second half, Allen Mukeba picked up his fourth foul and had to head to the bench.
Eastern Michigan went on an immediate run. With Oakland struggling to score with Mukeba in there, the Eagles pushed into the lead, and even extended it. This forced Oakland to put Mukeba back in, who promptly fouled out with over 10 minutes to go.
“Four of his five fouls were away from the ball,” said Kampe. “That’s unacceptable. He needs to understand that is unacceptable.”
Not 30 seconds later fellow starter Cooper Craggs fouled out, leaving Oakland shorthanded down the stretch, and trailing by nine.
Somehow, Oakland hung in there. The Golden Grizzlies stood tall defensively, and found some pathways to points, giving themselves a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds, but it wasn’t meant to be.
The charge down the stretch was led by Buru Naivalurua and DQ Cole. Buru shot 7-9 from the floor on his way to 16 points. With Allen sidelined, it was very encouraging to see Buru able to carry a major load by himself in the post. He has emerged into a go to guy for this squad, and with no telling when the shooting slump will end, it’s a great sign to have a few options to go to inside
DQ began working the inside as well. He shot 0-5 from the three but finally decided in the second half that he needed to use his frame to get to different spots on the floor, and it worked. He shot 5-7 from two and scored 12 points, mostly in the second half. It seemed like something clicked for him in the final 20 minutes, and as Oakland heads into a big stretch of early conference games soon, having DQ as a scoring threat from the guard spot is key.
The aforementioned Allen Mukeba was frankly unguardable but was unable to stay on the court. He was 4-5 from the floor, scoring eight points, and drew six fouls in only 15 minutes. He is too important to this Oakland offense right now to get the fouls he did, and hopefully for Oakland he will take this as a learning experience.
Jayson Woodrich scored nine points but continued his shooting slump going 0-4. While some of his shooting will fix itself, he has never shot the shots that Oakland is asking him too right now. Something to watch will be if more of his shots become threes where he is spacing the floor, instead of off the move, like he shot at Cleveland State.
Malcolm Christie also could not get going from three, although he did hit one. He looks like he is getting better in the zone that Oakland plays, which could lead to more of an opportunity to find a game to really breakout from three.
Jaylen Jones shot 1-6 from the floor, but had five assists on the night, while Deng Majak took advantage of the major foul trouble and performed defensively in the clutch, while even getting a bigtime tip in. Nassim Mashhour hit a three and Cooper Craggs got a lay in, but not much else to report.
Overall, this was not a good loss for Oakland. While Eastern Michigan proved that they may be an improved club, Oakland had too many chances to win this game and just couldn’t put the ball in the basket enough to do it. A week plus long break heading into thanksgiving gives the Golden Grizzlies a chance to evaluate how to get an easier path to points, before one last non-conference game at Toldeo before a few early season Horizon League games.
That Toledo contest will be on November 30th at 7pm. The Saturday night affair will be on ESPN+.
