COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL: Michigan State takes advantage of Oakland, 72-49
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
DETROIT — Greg Kampe and Tom Izzo are longtime friends.
As part of their friendship, the duo get together annually through various charities to help raise money for cancer.
In a recent 24-hour period, the two college basketball coaches helped raise some $160,000-plus through the Coaches Beat Cancer Initiative. Their two respected schools, Oakland University and Michigan State University, get together every December for a non-conference basketball contest for cancer research, as was Saturday’s non-conference meeting at Little Caesars Arena.
While the fundraising numbers are impressive, some of Oakland’s play was less than inspiring against Michigan State.
Michigan State (7-3) led for the final 15:09 and pounded the Golden Grizzlies, 72-49, in front of 18,145 pro-MSU fans at LCA. The win moved the Spartans’ all-time record to 18-0 against Oakland over a 21-year span dating back to the 1998-99 campaign, when OU first transitioned to a Division I school.
Michigan State’s Gabe Brown (No. 44) pulls down this rebound over Oakland University’s Babatunde Sowunmi (No. 20) during the Spartans’ 72-49 victory Saturday over the Golden Grizzlies at Little Caesars Arena. Photos By Amanda Thick, Amanda Leigh Photography
While Oakland (5-6) held Michigan State to just 44.8 percent shooting from the floor (26-for-58) and just 21.2 percent shooting from outside the three-point arc (7-for-33), Oakland’s offensive woes continued against a team that opened the season No. 1 in the country and is still clearly a top-20 team in a college basketball season of parity.
“We forced them to take a lot of threes, which was our game plan,” said Kampe. “You probably won’t talk about our defense, which I though was very good. We played very good defense against one of the better teams in the country and a team that I think can still make the Final Four again. But we couldn’t hit a shot to save our lives. That’s what makes me so disappointed.”
With a wide array of bodies, Michigan State wore down Oakland’s inexperienced backcourt, while the Spartans matched Oakland’s size inside to hold a 54-31 rebounding edge. That led to a 36-20 scoring edge in the paint.
Izzo credited Oakland’s defense into the Spartans chucking it from the cheap seats an uncharacteristic 33 times. Michigan State simply overpowered Oakland, which features 10 newcomers and not a seasoned, true point guard on the roster.
“We took 33 threes, which is a joke, but they were mostly because the way Greg (Kampe) decided to guard us and it was probably right in some ways,” offered Izzo.
Oakland University freshman guard Emmanuel Newsome brings the ball upcourt during the Grizzlies 72-49 loss Saturday to Michigan State at Little Caesars Arena. Photos By Amanda Thick, Amanda Leigh Photography
“I’ve never in my entire time knowing Cassius Winston seen him miss that many open threes that he was just short on. But what I loved about Cassius today, he was a little better defensively and I loved the fact in huddles and that he just accepted it and was fired up for other guys,” continued Izzo. “I thought we also did a good job on their bigs, challenging shots and getting rebounds. (The inside play) is their strength and we took that away from them.”
Ice-cold shooting Oakland made just 26.2 percent of its field goal attempts (17-for-65) and just 31.8 percent of its three-point shots (7-for-22), and several of those made threes came late after the game was already decided.
The nationally-ranked Spartans (No. 16 Associated Press/No. 15 USA Today Coaches Poll) led by as many as 29 points with 7:29 to go (59-30) on an Aaron Henry jumper before both teams cleared their bench.
The Spartans took the lead at 7-6 on a three-pointer by the aforementioned senior guard and preseason All-America Cassius Winston (Detroit Jesuit) with 15:09 left in the first half. That kickstarted a 24-3 run to blow the game open and the Golden Grizzlies failed to mount any type of comeback the rest of the way.
MSU closed the half on a 26-7 run and led 34-19 at the break. The Spartans opened the second half with a 10-2 spurt to build a 44-21 lead on a layup by Henry and cruised from there.
Senior forward Xavier Hill-Mais led Oakland with 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Blake Lampman (Haslett) made three of his team’s seven 3-pointers and finished with nine points.
Oakland University freshman guard CJ Gettelfiner battlesMichigan State freshman forward Malik Hall for a rebound during Saturday’s down this rebound at Little Caesars Arena. Photos By Amanda Thick, Amanda Leigh Photography
No other Oakland player scored more than six points, as the Grizzlies dropped their second game of the season against a Top 25 team. OU also lost to Maryland back in November.
“(Lampman) the only guy that seems to be making (threes) so we’ll try to get him minutes,” said Kampe. “We’ve always had shooters, guys that could flat-out shoot the basketball. We would’ve had two of the best in the country, but they (both transferred) and by that time it was too late to recruit someone to replace them. Shooting is not our strength. Our inside is our strength and I feel that no one in our league (Horizon League) will be able to match up with us inside. But again, we couldn’t make those shots today, either. That’s what’s so disappointing. We have a game with this type of atmosphere in front of 18 thousands people and we don’t really show up offensively.”
MSU held a 54-31 rebounding edge to aid the 23-point win.
The Spartans were paced by junior center Xavier Tillman (Grand Rapids Christian), who scored nine points and added a game-high 13 rebounds. Henry scored 10 points with six assists, sophomore forward Gabe Brown (Belleville) and Winston added nine points apiece, while sophomore center Thomas Kithier (Clarkston) chipped in with eight points six boards off the bench. Sophomore guard Foster Loyer (Clarkston) joined the balanced attack with seven points and three assists, as the Spartans assisted on 21 of the 26 made field goals.
Oakland University senior center Brad Brechting and Michigan State sophomore forward Marcus Bingham leap for the tip during the Spartans’ 72-49 victory Saturday at Little Caesars Arena. Photo By Amanda Thick, Amanda Leigh Photography.
“I’m not as worried about Cassius and Xavier. I had been more worried about Aaron Henry and Gabe Brown and a little bit of (about) our other fours,” said Izzo. “And I guess in that respect we’ve made some progress there. We got some nice production from a lot of those guys.”
Category: Basketball, Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Featured Articles, Most Recently Updated Stories, NOS reference, Oakland University, Sponsors, Sport, Top Stories, Uncategorized
