Arizona holds off Oakland

TUCSON, Ariz. – Reggie Hamilton scored a game-high 31 points and Travis Bader added 17 as Oakland (8-5) fell to Arizona (8-4), 85-73, on Tuesday night inside the McKale Center.

The Golden Grizzlies were outrebounded 39-28 and the Wildcats outscored OU 42-22 in the paint.

“I thought Arizona played really good tonight,” said OU coach Greg Kampe. “At one point in the second half they were 9 of 10 from the field. We guarded them well for stretches, but they made shots. They shot 56 percent from the floor and 8 of 18 from three. It’s hard to beat a BCS school on the road when they shoot it that well.”

The only other player in double figures for Oakland was Laval Lucas-Perry, finishing with 11 tonight. The Cats had three players reach double figures, led by Solomon Hill’s 23 points and 11 rebounds. Kyle Fogg scored 17 points and Jesse Perry finished with 13.

The Wildcats used a 14-0 run midway through the first half to take their largest lead of the half at 15 points, 34-19, with 6:07 left until halftime. Hamilton then scored 11 of his 20 points over the final six minutes to bring the Golden Grizzlies within four, 40-36, at the break.

The Cats would use a 16-2 run early in the second half to take a 16-point lead, 60-44, and extended that to a 19-point advantage, 67-48 (12:21).  The Golden Grizzlies clawed their way back in to the game with a 10-1 run as the lead was cut to six, 73-67, with just under six minutes left in the game. Arizona would respond with an 8-2 run and pushed the lead back to double digits and won by 12.

The Golden Grizzlies will host Western Michigan this Friday night inside the Athletics Center O’rena. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and bleacher tickets can be purchased for $5 on OUgrizzlies.com.

Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University