2008–09 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team

2008–09 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball
CIT, Quarterfinals, L, Bradley 75-76
ConferenceThe Summit League
Record23–13 (13–5 Summit)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaAthletics Center O'rena
Seasons
2008–09 Summit League men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North Dakota St. † 16 – 2   .889 26 – 7   .788
Oral Roberts 14 – 4   .778 16 – 15   .516
Oakland 13 – 5   .722 23 – 13   .639
IUPUI 9 – 9   .500 16 – 14   .533
Southern Utah 8 – 10   .444 11 – 20   .355
IPFW 8 – 10   .444 13 – 17   .433
South Dakota St. 7 – 11   .389 13 – 20   .394
Centenary 6 – 12   .333 8 – 23   .258
Western Illinois 6 – 12   .333 9 – 20   .310
UMKC 3 – 15   .167 7 – 24   .226
† Summit League Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008–09 Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball team was a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college basketball team representing Oakland University.

Oakland was picked to finish third in The Summit League's preseason poll. Oral Roberts was voted to finish first and North Dakota State second. However, only eight votes separated the three teams. Senior forward Derick Nelson and junior guard Johnathon Jones were named to the Preseason All-League First Team. Senior guard Erik Kangas was named to the Second Team.[1]

Prior to the first game of the year against Cleveland State, senior forward Derick Nelson suffered a foot injury and sat out most of the season. Nelson played in two games against Eastern Michigan and Michigan State, but did not record a point and took a medical redshirt.[2] Oakland lost their first game against CSU and defeated Pacific-10 Conference opponent Oregon for the second year in a row.

Roster

No. Name Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown (Previous school)
34 Keith Benson C 6'11" 225 So. Farmington Hills, MI (Country Day)
21 Ricky Bieszki G 6'2" 190 Sr. Shelby Township, MI (Notre Dame Preparatory)
22 Blake Cushingberry G 6'4" 225 Fr. Romeo, MI (Romeo)
4 Will Hudson F 6'9" 225 So. Madison, WI (Middleton)
23 Johnathon Jones G 5'11" 165 Jr. Okemos, MI (Okemos)
30 Erik Kangas G 6'3" 205 Sr. DeWitt, MI (DeWitt)
32 John Kast G 6'2" 175 Jr. Clarkston, MI (Clarkston)
31 Drew Maynard G 6'7" 220 Fr. Lake Orion, MI (Lake Orion)
20 Ilija Milutinovic C 7'0" 255 Fr. Niš, Serbia (Milestone Christian Academy (MO))
1 Derick Nelson * F 6'5" 235 Sr. Lansing, MI (Bridgton Academy)
12 Matt Samuels G 6'0" 215 Fr. Washington, D.C. (Patterson)
44 Jay Thames * F 6'9" 220 Fr. Port Huron, MI (Port Huron Northern)
45 Dan Waterstradt C 6'10" 240 Sr. Dearborn Heights, MI (Rutgers)
2 Larry Wright * G 6'2" 172 Jr. Saginaw, MI (St. John's)

* Redshirting 2008–2009 season

Awards

  • Keith Benson
    • Summit League Player of the Week
      • Week 12 – Averaged 15.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.5 blocks, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game and shot 82.4 percent (14–17) for the week.[3]
  • Johnathon Jones
    • Summit League Player of the Week (2)
      • Week 2 – Averaged 23.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals against Oregon, Syracuse and Iowa.[4]
      • Week 13 – Averaging 15.0 points and 12.5 assists per game against Oral Roberts and Centenary.[5]
  • Erik Kangas
    • Summit League Player of the Week (2)
      • Week 10 – Career-high 39-point game that included 8–13 shooting from three-point range in victory at IPFW.[6]
      • Week 11 – Averaged 30.0 points and 7.5 three-pointers per game. Kangas shot 65% from three-point range. Kangas was the first player to earn back-to-back player of the week awards since the 2004–2005 season.[7]

Milestones

  • Erik Kangas set the Oakland record for career three-pointers made
  • Keith Benson set the Oakland record for single-game blocks with eight
  • Keith Benson set the Oakland record for single-season blocks

Schedule

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
November 15, 2008*
7:00pm 		at Cleveland State L 55-58  0–1
 Wolstein Center (2,078)
Cleveland, OH
November 17, 2008*
10:00pm, CSN Northwest 		at Oregon W 82–79 OT 1–1
 McArthur Court (7,924)
Eugene, OR
November 21, 2008*
7:00pm, Time Warner Sports 		at Syracuse L 66-86  1–2
 Carrier Dome (18,932)
Syracuse, NY
November 23, 2008*
6:05pm, Big Ten Network 		at Iowa
Las Vegas Invitational 		L 57-66  1–3
 Carver-Hawkeye Arena (8,079)
Iowa City, IA
November 25, 2008*
8:00pm, FSN Kansas City 		at Kansas State
Las Vegas Invitational 		L 64-83  1–4
 Bramlage Coliseum (8,356)
Manhattan, KS
November 28, 2008*
6:30pm 		vs. Delaware State
Las Vegas Invitational 		W 75–70  2–4
 Orleans Arena (2,067)
Las Vegas, NV
November 29, 2008*
5:00pm 		vs. Southeast Missouri State
Las Vegas Invitational 		W 81–63  3–4
 Orleans Arena (N/A)
Las Vegas, NV
December 2, 2008
9:00pm 		at Southern Utah L 66-82  3–5
(0–1) 		Centrum Arena (2,059)
Cedar City, UT
December 4, 2008
8:00pm, Metro Sports 		at UMKC W 84–78  4–5
(1–1) 		Municipal Auditorium (1,412)
Kansas City, MO
December 7, 2008*
1:00pm 		Toledo W 67–58  5–5
 Athletics Center O'rena (2,315)
Rochester, MI
December 14, 2008*
4:00pm 		Rochester W 88–54  6–5
 Athletics Center O'rena (2,125)
Rochester, MI
December 18, 2008*
8:00pm, WACY 		at Green Bay W 79–76 OT 7–5
 Resch Center (2,587)
Green Bay, WI
December 20, 2008*
4:00pm, FSN Detroit 		vs. Michigan L 76-89  7–6
 The Palace of Auburn Hills (10,113)
Auburn Hills, MI
December 22, 2008*
7:00pm 		at Eastern Michigan W 66–53  8–6
 Convocation Center (389)
Ypsilanti, MI
December 27, 2008*
5:00pm, Fox College Sports 		vs. No. 11 Michigan State L 66-82  8–7
 The Palace of Auburn Hills (15,361)
Auburn Hills, MI
December 31, 2008
4:00pm 		South Dakota State W 86–81  9–7
(2–1) 		Athletics Center O'rena (2,165)
Rochester, MI
January 2, 2009
7:00pm 		North Dakota State W 77–76  10–7
(3–1) 		Athletics Center O'rena (2,665)
Rochester, MI
January 8, 2009
9:00pm 		at Centenary L 60-80  10–8
(3–2) 		Gold Dome (775)
Shreveport, LA
January 10, 2009
8:05pm, Fox College Sports 		at Oral Roberts L 65-68 OT 10–9
(3–3) 		Mabee Center (5,354)
Tulsa, OK
January 17, 2009
7:00pm 		at IPFW W 93–88  11–9
(4–3) 		Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (2,650)
Fort Wayne, IN
January 22, 2009
7:00pm, FSN Detroit 		IUPUI W 75–57  12–9
(5–3) 		Athletics Center O'rena (2,805)
Rochester, MI
January 24, 2009
6:00pm 		Western Illinois W 86–46  13–9
(6–3) 		Athletics Center O'rena (3,125)
Rochester, MI
January 29, 2009
8:30pm 		at North Dakota State L 71-81  13–10
(6–4) 		Bison Sports Arena (4,552)
Fargo, ND
January 31, 2009
8:30pm 		at South Dakota State L 68-74 OT 13–11
(6–5) 		Frost Arena (5,740)
Brookings, SD
February 5, 2009
7:00pm 		Oral Roberts W 81–69  14–11
(7–5) 		Athletics Center O'rena (2,355)
Rochester, MI
February 7, 2009
6:00pm 		Centenary W 78–65  15–11
(8–5) 		Athletics Center O'rena (3,855)
Rochester, MI
February 14, 2009
6:00pm 		IPFW W 83–72  16–11
(9–5) 		Athletics Center O'rena (2,905)
Rochester, MI
February 19, 2009
8:00pm, WIU TV 		at Western Illinois W 77–52  17–11
(10–5) 		Western Hall (878)
Macomb, IL
February 21, 2009
7:00pm 		at IUPUI W 81–76  18–11
(11–5) 		IUPUI Gymnasium (1,215)
Indianapolis, IN
February 26, 2009
7:00pm 		Southern Utah W 78–62  19–11
(12–5) 		Athletics Center O'rena (2,365)
Rochester, MI
February 28, 2009
6:00pm 		UMKC W 100–88  20–11
(13–5) 		Athletics Center O'rena (3,875)
Rochester, MI
March 8, 2009
9:30pm 		vs. IPFW
Summit League conference tournament quarterfinals 		W 75–62  21–11
 Sioux Falls Arena (2,411)
Sioux Falls, SD
March 9, 2009
9:30pm 		vs. South Dakota State
Summit League conference tournament semifinals 		W 74–56  22–11
 Sioux Falls Arena (5,986)
Sioux Falls, SD
March 10, 2009
8:00pm, ESPN2 		vs. North Dakota State
Summit League conference tournament finals 		L 64-66  22–12
 Sioux Falls Arena (3,804)
Sioux Falls, SD
March 17, 2009*
7:00pm 		Kent State
CollegeInsider.com Tournament first round 		W 80–74  23–12
 Athletics Center O'rena (2,155)
Rochester, MI
March 23, 2009*
8:00pm 		at Bradley
CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinals 		L 75-76  23–13
 Carver Arena (5,007)
Peoria, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

References

  1. ^ [1] Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "OU's Derick Nelson to Redshirt - Oakland University Official Athletic Site". Ougrizzlies.com. December 30, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  3. ^ [2] Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ [3] Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ [4] Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ [5] Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ [6] Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine