2009–10 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team

The 2009–10 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team were a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball team representing Oakland University. Oakland finished the season 26–9 overall, 17–1 in The Summit League and were the league's regular season and conference tournament champions. The Golden Grizzlies received The Summit League's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament and, as a No. 14 seed, lost to No. 3 Pittsburgh in the first round.

2009–10 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball
The Summit League regular season champions The Summit League tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, First round
Conference	The Summit League
2009–10 record	26–9 (17–1 Summit)
Head coach	Greg Kampe
Assistant coaches	Jeff Tungate Darren Sorenson Saddi Washington
Home arena	Athletics Center O'rena

2009–10 Summit League men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
†-Oakland	17	–	1		.944			26	–	9		.743
x-IUPUI	15	–	3		.833			25	–	11		.694
x-Oral Roberts	13	–	5		.722			20	–	13		.606
x-South Dakota St.	10	–	8		.556			14	–	16		.467
x-IPFW	9	–	9		.500			16	–	15		.516
x-North Dakota St.	8	–	10		.444			11	–	18		.379
x-Western Illinois	6	–	12		.333			13	–	17		.433
x-UMKC	6	–	12		.333			12	–	18		.400
Centenary *	3	–	15		.167			8	–	21		.276
Southern Utah	3	–	15		.167			7	–	22		.241
† Conference tournament winner As of March 22, 2010; Rankings from AP Poll * Ineligible for conference tournament x-Clinched berth in conference tournament

Preseason

Oakland was picked to win The Summit League championship, receiving 34 of the 35 first place votes.[1] The Golden Grizzlies returned three starters from the 2008–09 team, plus senior Derick Nelson, who sat out the majority of the previous season due to a foot injury.[1]

Also returning for Oakland was senior point guard Johnathon Jones, who led all Division I players in assists[1] and junior center Keith Benson, who was being projected as a first round National Basketball Association draft pick.[2] Benson, Jones and Nelson were each selected to The Summit League's pre-season all-league teams with Jones being selected as the pre-season Player of the Year.[1]

Oakland's schedule included road games against the pre-season consensus number one and two teams, Kansas and Michigan State.[3]

Season

Oakland finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 6–7 record. OU lost all their games against BCS conference teams (0–5) and went 6–2 against the rest of the schedule, losing to Eastern Michigan and Memphis.

The Golden Grizzlies opened The Summit League schedule winning their first nine games, marking their best start in league history.[4] During the steak Oakland defeated Oral Roberts 67–64, their first win at the Mabee Center in 10 years. The loss for ORU was just the sixth Summit League home loss for ORU in its last 59.[5]

Records

Jones became The Summit League's all-time leading assists leader with 11 assists against Central Arkansas on November 28, 2009. Jones broke the record of 626 held by Bryce Drew of Valparaiso.[6]

Jones broke the conference and school records for consecutive free throws, having made 43 in a row from December 5 through January 23. Jones broke the school record of 33, set by Scott Bittinger in the 1987–88 season.[4]

Jones also set Oakland school records for career games played and career games started. Jones passed Patrick McCloskey for most games played with 125 from 2004–08[7] and Dan Champagne, who set the previous record of 113 games started from 1997–2002.[4]

Oakland tied The Summit League's record for consecutive regular season win with their 16th victory in a row against South Dakota State. The 16 wins span two seasons and tied the Cleveland State team that won 16 in a row in 1992 and 1993.[8]

Milestones

Benson became the 28th player in Oakland history to score at least 1,000 career points. Benson reached the plateau during a 99–53 victory over Southern Utah. Current teammates Jones (1,674) and Nelson (1,529) are also members of the 1,000-point club.

Jones scored his 1,500th career point in the January 24 victory against South Dakota State.[8] Nelson scored his 1,500th point during the finals of The Summit League tournament in which he led Oakland to the title with a career-high 36 points. Jones was the 15th and Nelson the 16th player in OU history to join the 1,500-point club.

Roster

No.	Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown (Previous school)
3	Travis Bader *	G	6'3"	164	Fr.	Okemos, MI (Okemos)
34	Keith Benson	C	6'11"	221	Jr.	Farmington Hills, MI (Country Day)
22	Blake Cushingberry	G	6'3"	243	So.	Romeo, MI (Romeo)
12	Ledrick Eackles	G	6'1"	184	Fr.	Zachary, LA (Zachary)
4	Reggie Hamilton *	G	5'11"	175	Jr.	Harvey, IL (UMKC)
11	Will Hudson	F	6'9"	233	Jr.	Madison, WI (Middleton)
23	Johnathon Jones	G	5'11"	160	Sr.	Okemos, MI (Okemos)
33	John Kast	G	6'2"	181	Sr.	Clarkston, MI (Clarkston)
32	Drew Maynard	G	6'6"	231	So.	Lake Orion, MI (Lake Orion)
50	Ilija Milutinovic	C	7'0"	247	So.	Niš, Serbia (Milestone Christian Academy (MO))
1	Derick Nelson	F	6'5"	236	Sr.	Lansing, MI (Bridgton Academy)
44	Jay Thames	F	6'8"	202	Fr.	Port Huron, MI (Port Huron Northern)
15	Drew Valentine	F	6'4"	212	Fr.	Lansing, MI (Sexton)
2	Larry Wright	G	6'2"	162	Jr.	Saginaw, MI (St. John's)

* Redshirting 2009–10 season

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 10, 2009* 7:00pm		Hope	W 97–62[9]		Athletics Center O'rena (1,115) Rochester, MI
Regular season
November 14, 2009* 7:00pm		Eastern Michigan	W 81–77[10]	0–1	Athletics Center O'rena (3,115) Rochester, MI
November 18, 2009* 8:00pm		at Wisconsin	W 58–42[11]	0–2	Kohl Center (17,230) Madison, WI
November 21, 2009* 6:00pm		Rochester	W 97–63[12]	1–2	Athletics Center O'rena (2,315) Rochester, MI
November 23, 2009* 8:00pm		at Tennessee Tech Hall of Fame Showcase	W 77–56[13]	2–2	Eblen Center (901) Cookeville, TN
November 25, 2009* 8:00pm, ESPN Full Court[14]		at No. 1 Kansas Hall of Fame Showcase	W 89–59[15]	2–3	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS
November 28, 2009* 6:00pm		Central Arkansas Hall of Fame Showcase	W 83–75[16]	3–3	Athletics Center O'rena (2,095) Rochester, MI
November 30, 2009* 8:00pm, WKNO[17]		at Memphis Hall of Fame Showcase	W 77–46[18]	3–4	FedExForum (15,689) Memphis, TN
December 5, 2009 7:00pm		at IPFW	W 84–76[19]	4–4 (1–0)	Memorial Coliseum (3,426) Fort Wayne, IN
December 10, 2009* 7:00pm, Big Ten Network[20]		at No. 12 Michigan State	W 88–57[21]	4–5	Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, MI
December 13, 2009* 4:30pm, Fox Sports Detroit[20]		Green Bay	W 76–52[22]	5–5	Athletics Center O'rena (2,355) Rochester, MI
December 17, 2009* 10:10pm		at Seattle	W 77–68[23]	6–5	KeyArena (2,243) Seattle, WA
December 19, 2009* 10:30pm, CSN Northwest[24]		at Oregon	W 72–60[25]	6–6	McArthur Court (6,121) Eugene, OR
December 22, 2009* 7:00pm, TWCS[26]		at No. 5 Syracuse	W 92–60[27]	6–7	Carrier Dome (18,669) Syracuse, NY
December 28, 2009* 7:00pm		Alma	W 106–58[28]	7–7	Athletics Center O'rena (2,055) Rochester, MI
December 31, 2009 1:00pm		Western Illinois	W 75–63[29]	8–7 (2–0)	Athletics Center O'rena (2,035) Rochester, MI
January 2, 2010 5:30pm, Fox Sports Detroit[30]		IUPUI	W 85–82[31]	9–7 (3–0)	Athletics Center O'rena (2,855) Rochester, MI
January 7, 2010 8:05pm, FCS Central[32]		at Oral Roberts	W 67–64[33]	10–7 (4–0)	Mabee Center (4,089) Tulsa, OK
January 9, 2010 8:30pm		at Centenary	W 88–50[34]	11–7 (5–0)	Gold Dome (405) Shreveport, LA
January 14, 2010 7:00pm		UMKC	W 87–73[35]	12–7 (6–0)	Athletics Center O'rena (2,755) Rochester, MI
January 16, 2010 6:00pm		Southern Utah	W 99–53[36]	13–7 (7–0)	Athletics Center O'rena (3,125) Rochester, MI
January 21, 2010 8:00pm		at North Dakota State	W 85–79[37]	14–7 (8–0)	Bison Sports Arena (3,126) Fargo, ND
January 23, 2010 8:30pm		at South Dakota State	W 85–82[38]	15–7 (9–0)	Frost Arena (4,064) Brookings, SD
January 28, 2010 7:00pm		at IUPUI	W 78–54[39]	15–8 (9–1)	IUPUI Gymnasium (1,188) Indianapolis, IN
January 30, 2010 8:00pm		at Western Illinois	W 68–64[40]	16–8 (10–1)	Waste Management Court (997) Macomb, IL
February 4, 2010 7:00pm		Centenary	W 75–64[41]	17–8 (11–1)	Athletics Center O'rena (2,115) Rochester, MI
February 6, 2010 6:00pm		Oral Roberts	W 79–77[42]	18–8 (12–1)	Athletics Center O'rena (4,034) Rochester, MI
February 11, 2010 9:00pm		at Southern Utah	W 85–72[43]	19–8 (13–1)	Centrum Arena (1,418) Cedar City, UT
February 13, 2010 8:00pm, Metro Sports		at UMKC	W 83–71[44]	20–8 (14–1)	Municipal Auditorium (1,783) Kansas City, MO
February 18, 2010 7:00pm		South Dakota State	W 88–83[45]	21–8 (15–1)	Athletics Center O'rena (2,485) Rochester, MI
February 20, 2010 6:00pm, Fox Sports Detroit[46]		North Dakota State	W 88–81[47]	22–8 (16–1)	Athletics Center O'rena (3,101) Rochester, MI
February 27, 2010 6:00pm		IPFW	W 86–83[48]	23–8 (17–1)	Athletics Center O'rena (3,823) Rochester, MI
2010 The Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament
March 6, 2010 7:00pm, ESPN Full Court		vs. UMKC Quarterfinals	W 85–70	24–8	Sioux Falls Arena (2,854) Sioux Falls, SD
March 8, 2010 7:00pm, Fox Sports Detroit		vs. IPFW Semifinals	W 71–58[49]	25–8	Sioux Falls Arena (2,033) Sioux Falls, SD
March 8, 2010 9:00pm, ESPN2		vs. IUPUI Finals	W 76–64[50]	26–8	Sioux Falls Arena (3,122) Sioux Falls, SD
2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
March 19, 2010* 2:45pm, CBS		vs. No. 18 Pittsburgh First round	W 89–66[51]	26–9	Bradley Center (17,847) Milwaukee, WI
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

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2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "NCAA College Basketball Polls, College Basketball Rankings, NCAA Basketball Polls - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. November 4, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
4. http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/oakl/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/10Notes-atNDSU-0121.pdf
6. Archived November 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
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8. "Oakland University Golden Grizzlies Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball". Ougrizzlies.com. January 23, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
9. "Oakland University Golden Grizzlies Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball". Ougrizzlies.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
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13. "Oakland University Golden Grizzlies Official Athletic Site - Men's Basketball". Ougrizzlies.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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26. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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29. "Western Illinois Leathernecks vs. Oakland Golden Grizzlies - Box Score - December 31, 2009 - ESPN". Espn.go.com. December 31, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
30. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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49. "IPFW Mastodons vs. Oakland Golden Grizzlies - Box Score - March 08, 2010 - ESPN". Espn.go.com. March 8, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
50. http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=300682473
51. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=300780221