Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas
Oakland will be looking to extend its two-game winning streak when it faces Northern Kentucky in a Horizon League matchup on Friday night. The Golden Grizzlies have bounced back from their eight-game losing streak with a pair of wins over Milwaukee and Green Bay. Northern Kentucky has won seven of its last nine games, beating IUPUI in a 55-42 final on New Year’s Eve.
Oakland got off to a terrible start this season, with only one win over a Division I team in its first 12 games. The Golden Grizzlies played a brutal five-game road trip to open the month of December, with four of those losses coming by double digits. They were underdogs in all five of those games, covering the spread twice. Oakland bounced back with a pair of wins over Milwaukee and Green Bay in its most recent outings, covering the spread as a favorite in both contests. The Golden Grizzlies cruised past Green Bay as 12-point favorites in an 81-65 win on New Year’s Eve.
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— Oakland Basketball (@OaklandMBB) January 4, 2023
They are now heading on the road for a pair of conference games, facing Wright State on Sunday afternoon. Oakland has not been a good offensive team this season, ranked No. 236 nationally in effective field goal percentage (48.6). The Golden Grizzlies are struggling on the offensive glass as well, sitting at No. 328 in that category. Their one strength on the offensive end has been their low turnover rate, as they rank tenth in the country in that statistic. Oakland is facing a Northern Kentucky defense that is No. 26 in turnover rate, creating an interesting matchup. Sophomore forward Trey Townsend leads a balanced lineup with 16.6 points per game, and he is also pulling down 7.1 rebounds per game. Senior guard Jalen Moore (14.1), senior forward Keaton Hervey (13.5) and junior guard Blake Lampman (11.4) are both scoring in double digits as well.