On Sunday, Nov. 13, the Oakland men’s basketball team welcomed the Big 12’s Oklahoma State Cowboys to the O’rena. Unfortunately for the Golden Grizzlies, the Cowboys came ready to play, and knocked Oakland off 91-62.

Oakland looked to build off its 56-55 thriller over Oklahoma State on Nov. 12 of last season, but the Golden Grizzlies didn’t come anywhere close.

Oklahoma State basketball alum and current Detroit Piston Cade Cunningham was in attendance for the showdown, and Cunningham’s Cowboys made him proud.

The Golden Grizzlies jumped out to a slight, early lead. Trey Townsend connected on a layup, and Rocket Watts made two free throws to give Oakland a 4-0 lead. 

However, that would be about the only good thing that happened for Oakland in this one. The Cowboys went on an ensuing 17-2 run, and put the Golden Grizzlies behind by double digits less than 10 minutes into the game.

Oakland had a few small runs and cut the lead to six, but Oklahoma State did an excellent job of keeping the Golden Grizzlies at a distance. The Cowboys led 42-27 at halftime.

A big storyline in the first half was Oakland’s poor 3-point shooting. The Golden Grizzlies shot just 1-13 from distance, which equates to 7.7%. This shooting percentage from behind the arc isn’t going to equate to many wins, and that certainly was proven true on Sunday. 

One bright spot from the first half was that the Golden Grizzlies converted on eight of their nine free throw attempts. Oklahoma State was 2-3 on their free throw attempts, so Oakland was plus six in that category in the first half.

The second half didn’t fare any better for the Golden Grizzlies, though. Oakland was outscored 49-35 in the second half, and the Cowboys walked out of the O’rena with a 29-point stomping of Greg Kampe’s squad. 

Keaton Hervey led the way for Oakland with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double. Lorne Bowman finished with 14 points in just nine minutes of play, which was good for an efficiency rating of 19.0, tied for second best on the team.

Townsend finished with 12 points, and Blake Lampman added 10 in the losing effort. No other Golden Grizzly finished with more than four points on the afternoon.

Oakland will hit the road for the first time of the season this week, as it will head to Ohio on Nov. 16 to take on the Toledo Rockets. The Golden Grizzlies will then come back home for a star-studded duel with Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m.

The Eastern Michigan Eagles boast one of the most highly touted high school players ever in Emoni Bates. Bates is a 6-foot-9 guard who spent one season at Memphis before transferring to Eastern Michigan in the offseason.

In the Eagles’ most recent game, Bates poured in 30 points in a remarkable effort against the University of Michigan at Little Caesars Arena. Following the matchup with Toledo, Oakland will have quite the task on its hands when Bates and the Eagles come to town.