The last time Oakland University went to the NCAA Tournament, the Golden Grizzlies gave 4th-seeded Texas all it could handle.
That 2011 team had a lights-out shooter in Travis Bader and a great big man in Keith Benson. Though he wasn’t on his game that night, OU fell by just four points in a game that came down to the final minute.
Thirteen years later the Golden Grizzlies, back in the Big Dance thanks to their first-ever Horizon League Tournament title, will be hoping to recapture that magic — and then some — when they take on 3-seed Kentucky Thursday night in Pittsburgh in the South Region. Tip-off is set for 7:10 p.m. on CBS.
Here are five things to know about Oakland’s matchup with the Wildcats:
The Horizon League Player of the Year calls Metro Detroit home
Trey Townsend grew up in Oxford, about 20 minutes from the Oakland campus, and it was his dream to play for the Golden Grizzlies -- just like both his parents did.
Townsend not only fulfilled that dream, he earned Horizon League Player of the Year honors as a senior and brought them back to the Big Dance.
The 6-foot-6 Townsend averaged 16.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this season. He put up a career-high 38 points in the Horizon League title game, with 11 boards to boot.
Kentucky’s got a high-powered offense
Go figure, a John Calipari team that likes to score. The Wildcats rank second to only Alabama with 89.4 points per game, come in at fifth in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency, and own the nation’s best 3-point shooting percentage.
Kentucky has put up 90 points or more in 17 games this season, including reaching triple digits on six occasions. Meanwhile, the Cats were only held under 80 points six times this year, going 3-3 in those games.
Oakland has shooters
We all know in order to pull off an upset of this caliber, you’ve got to be able to shoot the longball.
Much like Greg Kampe did in 2011, he’s got a sharpshooter in Jack Gohlke, who enters the tournament tied for second in the country in 3-point field goals made per game (3.6) and ranks 15th among all tournament players in 3-point percentage (37.0)
Gohlke went a combined 12-for 26 in the Golden Grizzlies' Horizon League semifinal and final. He hit a season-high 10 three-pointers against IUPUI, one of six games with six or more from distance.
But he’s not the only one. Blake Lampman averages 3.2 3PM per game, ranking 15th in the country, while shooting just behind his teammate at 36.9%.
The Golden Grizzlies hung tough with good competition this year
Oakland may only have one Quad-1 win on its résumé this year — a two-point win at Xavier in November — but they put up a good fight against several NCAA tournament teams.
The Golden Grizzlies only lost at 3-seed Illinois by 11 points in a game that was tied deep into the second half. They also fell by 8 on a neutral court against 10-seed Drake in a game that was within reach down to the end.
Despite big margins, OU turned in respectable efforts against 9-seed Michigan State and 7-seed Dayton.
Kentucky has laid some stinkers this season
While the Wildcats have put up some gaudy numbers, they’ve fallen flat a handful of times. The most obvious example is a seven-point loss to UNC Wilmington at home for an unsightly blemish in Quad 3, albeit way back in early December.
Despite coming out on top, UK put up just 63 points against Arkansas, one more than the season-low of 62 in a blowout loss at South Carolina. The Cats also squandered a big lead in a 75-74 loss at middling LSU.
That’s not to say they’re due for a stinker against Oakland. They may have gotten that out of their system in their 98-87 loss to A&M in the SEC Tournament, which was only their second game under 90 in the last six.