The Oakland Michigan State game has become synonymous with Christmas time. Even though the action on the floor is usually very high level, the attention always seems to shift to the coaches.
When Greg Kampe and Tom Izzo emerged from the tunnel on Tuesday night wearing matching Grinch sweaters, that was once again the case.
The two longest tenured coaches in the country took pictures pregame, did a joint presser post-game, and put on a nice show for the fans in Detroit in between,
In front of an electric atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena, Michigan State used a late run to pull away from Oakland with a 77-58 final.
The Golden Grizzlies hung in there nicely for the majority of the night, heading into halftime down 31-30. With around 11 minutes to go the margin was five points, but MSU pulled away.
“We wore down,” Greg Kampe said, when asked what happened late by Izzo.
The big story of Oakland’s season so far has been their three-point shooting, or lack thereof. Oakland used the three to stay attached to the Spartans. The Golden Grizzlies made 11-31 from behind the long line, which has been a sight that has not been seen enough for Oakland fans.
The attack was led by DQ Cole, who made five threes in the first half. He ended the night 5-12 from three, scoring 17 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. For 20 minutes, Cole was the best player on the floor, and with Oakland heading into the meat of conference play, that DQ will be needed for the Golden Grizzlies.
Cole’s five threes were only the team-high by one, as Malcolm Christie put on his best showing at Oakland. Christie shot 4-9 from deep en route to 15 points. Sporting tinted goggles after tearing something in his eye the day before the game, Christie broke out. He is a major key going forward, as he can space the floor bigtime when he is on, something Oakland needs badly to open up the interior.
That interior was neutralized on this night, by the Spartans D and unfortunately, the injury bug. Buru Naivalarua was a major key going into the night, as he could match the Spartans physicality inside, but he injured his back minutes before the game.
“He tells me right before the game, he tells me ‘My kid isn’t gonna play’. I said what do you mean.” Izzo said, highlighting how surprising the news was.
“He’s our best rebounder and our second leading scorer,” Kampe said on Buru. “If he plays, I think it’s a single digit game.”
Michigan State seems like the most equipped team on their schedule to slow down Allen Mukeba, especially with Naivalurua out. Allen was held seven points on 3-10 shooting, while also picking up an early fourth foul. He will look to get back on track against a Horizon League foe on Thursday.
One other guy with a major impact was Isaiah Jones, who made his first start of the season after his broken foot. While he still didn’t look 100%, his prescense was felt. He scored seven points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had two steals. Jaylen Jones added five assists as well.
Oakland has little time to dissect this one, as they left straight from arena to Cleveland, where Cleveland State awaits. Both the Vikings and Oakland are 1-1 on the young Horizon League season, making this a pivotal early season swing game.
“We prepped all of last week for Cleveland State,” Kampe said. “Sunday and Monday were MSU, but before that was all Cleveland State.”
“That’s how important this game is.”
The Vikings split the Wisconsin trip, with the latter part ending in a big win in Green Bay, while their last game was a blowout win over non D1 Brescia.
Cleveland State and Oakland have been statistically the two worst teams in the Horizon League in three-point percentage. If Oakland can expand on the shooting performance they just had it could be a crucial advantage.
Tevin Smith is the leading scorer for the Vikings as the returner is the only one averaging double digits on the roster, at 12.5 points per game. Freshman Je’Shawn Stevenson, Canisius transfer Tahj Staveskie, and returner Dylan Arnett all average around nine points a contest. Arnett is the leading rebounder and will be tasked with stopping a lot of Oakland’s interior production, so keep an eye on the status of Buru Naivalurua.
The contest between Oakland and Cleveland State will be Thursday at 7pm Eastern Time. ESPN+ will broadcast the action.
