Oakland basketball's March Madness opponent is Kentucky to open 2024 NCAA tournament bracket
Oakland basketball and longtime head coach Greg Kampe are getting ready for their first Big Dance in 13 years.
Oakland is a 13 seed playing against No. 4 seed Kentucky in the South Region in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament on Thursday in Pittsburgh in their first March Madness appearance since 2011.
Oakland earned an automatic qualifying bid after winning the Horizon League tournament for the first time ever, capping off a strong season where the Golden Grizzlies also took home the regular season conference crown. Oakland finished the season 23-11 (15-5 Horizon League) in the regular season.
Oakland finished the season averaging 76.4 points per game while giving up 72.9 points per game, meaning they have a plus-3.5 scoring margin per game for the season. The team played a gauntlet of a nonconference schedule, including three Big Ten opponents on the road, and finished with a 5-6 nonconference record.
The Golden Grizzlies flipped a switch when the calendar flipped to 2024, winning five straight games and eight of nine games until early February. After an OT loss to Northern Kentucky, Oakland finished the regular season winning five of six before winning three straight in the conference tournament.
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It is the fourth trip to the tournament for Kampe, the longest-tenured Division I men's college basketball coach in the country in his 40th season in charge. After finishing at the top of the Horizon to finish the regular season, Oakland took down Purdue Fort Wayne, Cleveland State and Milwaukee in the Horizon League tournament, earning three wins by 10 points or less to secure their tournament bid.
Oakland closed out a tight championship game against Milwaukee with a late 13-6 flurry in the last two minutes to pull away. The Golden Grizzlies were led by Horizon League Player of the Year Trey Townsend, who finished with a career-high 38 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to lead the charge. Townsend was at his best when it mattered most, scoring 27 second-half points and six of the 13 that proved to be the difference late.
It was the finishing touch on Townsend's dominant season after he won the league's top award for averaging 16.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Graduate student Blake Lampman was the team's second-leading scorer, who was second-team All-Horizon, averaging 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3 assists per game while shooting 36.9% (83-of-225) from 3.
The team also had the Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year in graduate transfer Jack Gohlke, who used to play at D-II Hillsdale, after he averaged 12.2 points and 4.1 rebounds while serving as the team's primary shooter, making 37% (121 of 327) of his 3s on 9.6 attempts per game and only attempting eight 2-point field goals all season.
The team had one other player average double-digits on the season in Chris Conway, who averaged 10.1 points per game. The team has also received significant contributions from players such as Rocket Watts and DQ Cole.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Oakland basketball's March Madness: Kentucky in 2024 NCAA tournament
