Through the first nine games of the season, one thing was clear about the Golden Grizzlies early in the year.
The defense was ahead of the offense.
The Golden Grizzlies had held Kansas and Michigan State in the 70s, Illinois to 66, Toledo to 52, and in two conference games they hadn’t allowed more than 66.
Unfortunately for Oakland, the house of horrors that has become the Wolstein Center struck again.
Cleveland State went most of the game with only one turnover, and came away with a 92-75 win against Oakland, dropping OU to 1-2 in the league, 3-7 overall.
It was the third year in a row that Oakland has seen a deficit that reached 20+ in Cleveland.
For years now, Oakland has been very good at shutting down an opposing teams’ best options, something that has carried into this year as well. On this night though, Tevin Smith diced through the zone en route to 37 points, while Tahj Staveskie shot 6-8 from three, on his way to 20 points. Cleveland State also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds.
All in all, it was by far the worst defensive performance of the year. Hopefully for Oakland fans, it will be looked at something that happened, not what this team is, much like the loss at Cleveland State was after last years championship campaign. The Golden Grizzlies dropped to 1-2 in the league after a big loss to the Vikings last year as well.
Thursday night’s contest was not void of positive signs however. After a nice shooting performance on Tuesday, Oakland sank 13-31 from three, good for 41.9%.
The attack was led by DQ Cole, who became the Golden Grizzlies leading scorer on Thursday, poured in 22 points. He made four threes while dishing out five assists.
Perhaps the biggest development is the continued breakout of Malcolm Christie. His five threes were the key to him dropping his D1 career high 19 points. Christie was recruited as an elite offensive player who can space the floor, and him displaying those abilities this week raises the potential of this team greatly.
Allen Mukeba posted the first (probably not last) double double of the year. He scored 10 points and had 12 rebounds. His partner in crime down low, Buru Naivalurua, may have been feeling the effects of his back injury that caused him to miss Tuesday’s game as he only had one basket in 22 minutes.
Isaiah Jones added seven points, while Jaylen Jones stuffed the box score with a 5/6/5 stat line. They each added a three to add to the encouraging offensive output.
Oakland will need to find their defensive intensity again quickly, as the team left early Friday morning for the Diamond Head Classic, hosted by the University of Hawaii.
The Golden Grizzlies will play three games in four days in a tournament that features a stacked field every year. This year features Nebraska, Oregon State, Charleston, Murray State, Charlotte, host Hawaii, and Oakland’s first round opponent, Loyola Chicago.
The Ramblers are the defending A10 regular season champs and are out to a 9-1 start this year. Their head coach is Oakland’s all-time winningest player, Drew Valentine. It will be the first time Greg Kampe coaches against one of his former players.
Valentine is in his fourth year since being tasked to lead a historic program that made a final four in 2018 and won a National Championship in 1963. Valentine made the NCAA Tournament in year one after winning the Missouri Valley Tournament, struggled in year two, then had the championship season last year in the A10.
Loyola Chicago is led in scoring by Des Watson, who averages 12.6 points per contest. Jayden Dawson, who also scores 12 points a game, will be sidelined with an injury in this one.
The Ramblers will also be without starter Kymany Houinsou, who scores almost seven a game while grabbing over five boards per contest, as well as starting point guard and leading assist man Justin Moore, who is lost for the season.
That means Loyola Chicago will be down three starters entering the Diamond Head Classic, but Watson, double-digit scorer Sheldon Edwards, leading rebounder Francis Nwaokorie, and A10 leading shot blocker Miles Rubin form a more than formidable squad. It will be a tough task for Oakland on Sunday.
The tip Sunday is slated for 5pm Eastern Time. ESPN2 will carry the National TV broadcast.
