Before the calendar flips to winter, college basketball teams usually are still finding themselves, most of the time in non-conference games. While every game matters, coaches don’t lose sleep over results in the out of league season.
Oakland is certainly no exception to that rule, but for the next few Fall days, it matters. Conference season is here.
The Golden Grizzlies start their Horizon League champion defense at home against the Wright State Raiders.
Wright State enters this game with a 5-4 record, coming off of a double-digit home win over Air Force out of the Mountain West in front of almost 10,000 people. Before that the Raiders went 1-2 in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. Wright State dismantled a quality Princeton team and fell to two high quality opponents in Bradley and South Florida by one score each.
“Their win over Princeton is the league’s best win so far,” said Greg Kampe. “If you had to say who has had the best non-conference season it would be Wright State.
The Raiders knew they had talent, but it was a bit of an unknown how exactly they would look this year. Longtime coach Scott Nagy moved on, and Trey Calvin, Tanner Holden and AJ Braun all were no longer on the roster.
But first year head coach Clint Sargent, who between his playing and coaching career had spent well over a decade under Nagy, has not missed a beat to this point.
While there was plenty of turnover with the Raiders roster last offseason, it is two returners that lead the way for a high-powered offensive attack.
Preseason Horizon League player of the year Brandon Noel has been a stud. He has put up 21 points a game while also grabbing eight boards per contest. While Noel has looked like the potentially the best player in the conference, Alex Huibregste has been a perfect compliment. While Noel dominates inside, Huibregste is averaging almost 17 points a game on over 45% from three.
The two preseason all-league performers provide a formidable duo, and Oakland’s zone will definitely be geared to at least slowing both of them down. Other factors include returner Logan Woods and transfer Jack Doumbia who both average over eight points a game. Keaton Norris, brother of former Oakland point guard Braden Norris is the starting point guard, and averages over five assists per game.
While Wright State has had a nice start to the year, they took a trip to Toledo in November and lost 86-77. Of course, even with Oakland coming off of a dominant win at Toledo, this is a very even matchup on paper, but the common opponent should be noted.
Allen Mukeba and Buru Naivalurua will be heavily leaned on, like they have been all year, and it will be important that they are able to stay on the floor. Oakland’s worst performance of the season came when Mukeba fouled out in 14 minutes of action, and with him protecting the rim against a force like Noel, it will be key he is maximizing his time on the court.
Wright State has been an excellent measuring stick over the years for Oakland. Every year from 2018-2022, the Raiders won either the Horizon League regular season or tournament crown, with an NCAA Tournament win over Bryant in Dayton coming in 2022. Before Oakland last season, that was the only Horizon League NCAA Tournament win since 2011. Per Kenpom, Wright State is ranked second in the league, with Oakland third. It sets up to be a key early league season matchup on the Blacktop.
The game is slated for Thursday night at Oakland. Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm, with the broadcast on ESPN+.
