Oakland rolls past Buffalo into CollegeInsider.com Elite Eight
BY DAN FENNER
CORRESPONDENT
Special to NorthOaklandSports.com
ROCHESTER — No, it isn’t the NCAA Tournament, but for Oakland University men’s basketball coach Greg Kampe and his players, the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament is not being taken lightly.
Coming off a convincing victory over Bowling Green on Wednesday, the Golden Grizzlies followed up with one of their best defensive performances of the season against the University of Buffalo Saturday afternoon. Oakland advanced to the CIT quarterfinals with a 84-76 win over the Bulls on its home court.
After seeing its relatively comfortable lead slip away when Buffalo went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 76 with 3:55 to play, Oakland promptly put an end to the momentary slide. A 3-pointer by the nation’s leading scorer, Reggie Hamilton, pushed the Grizzlies right back into the lead and the Bulls were held without another point for the remainder of the game.
“I think our effort was phenomenal,” Kampe said. “Our kids played like there was no tomorrow, like the season was over if we didn’t win. I’m very, very pleased.”
Though he came up one point shy of his ninth-straight game with 30 or more points, Hamilton was his typical self, scoring in a variety of ways for a game-high 29 points and five assists. It was sophomore Ryan Bass, however, that really served as the catalyst for Oakland on Saturday. Bass poured in a career-high 22 points that included 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range and an monstrous dunk that left fans scratching their heads, wondering how the 5-foot-10 guard could slam one down with such force.
“It’s exciting as well when you see guys that you know are putting in the work behind the scenes and they go out there and believe in themselves and also put on a show (in games). You love it,” Hamilton said of Bass. “I was able to relax out there and count on other guys and it felt good.” Kampe said it was probably the best offensive game Bass has delivered for the Grizzlies and emphasized the importance of a third scorer stepping up to supplement the steady scoring provided by Hamilton and Travis Bader each game. ”
I really would rather bring (Bass) off the bench because he’s electric and he has energy,” Kampe said. “When you bring him in, the game changes, but we can’t afford to do that right now. He’s going to have nights where he does this in his future here.”
From the onset of the game, it appeared a mismatch in the frontcourt would give the Bulls a decisive advantage and possibly a win. Featuring the Mid-American Conference’s player of the year, senior Mitchell Watt, at center, Buffalo initially scored at will around the basket and grabbed a 10-point lead midway through the first half with over 60 percent shooting. But following the final media timeout before intermission, the Grizzlies ripped off 12-straight points, took their first lead of the game, and led 46-44 at the break.
“Laymen people don’t understand that just because the score is 80-70, they think we don’t defend, but whatever. Go ask Buffalo if we defended them,” Greg Kampe said. “From the last four minutes of the (first) half to the first eight minutes of the second half, I thought we were phenomenal on defense. Our covers were great, we got all misses and we played just an outstanding game.”
Kampe said Oakland changed its defensive philosophy in an effort to better defend the pick-and-roll and it paid dividends for the Grizzlies. Watt was held to just 10 points, with only two coming in the second half. Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon repeatedly said the entire game boiled down to foul calls.
While Oakland had 24 free-throw attempts, the Bulls visited the line for just four shots.
“We must have made somebody mad somewhere because we didn’t get to the free-throw line,” Witherspoon said, leaving little room for interpretation in his comments. “There’s not a whole lot that our guys can do about that. That’s clearly the case when you shoot four free throws the entire game … We can say that people did a good job against this person or that person did a good job against that person, but it’s very helpful if there’s no fouls called on you to have a good game.”
Bader added 16 points and a career-best eight rebounds for OU, while redshirt freshman Corey Petros held his own against the Bulls’ experienced big men, contributing 10 points.
“This is why you play in this tournament. I mean, it’s exciting and all that, but it also gave Petros another game … and Bass another game to look into next year and the future,” Kampe said. “I think this tournament is going to help us so much next year.”
While Oakland’s quarterfinal matchup has not been officially announced, it is expected the Grizzlies will host another game on Tuesday night.
Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Oakland University
