Kurt Szymanski

On Tuesday, Dec. 17, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies men’s basketball team lost to the No. 20 Michigan State Spartans 77-58 after a competitive first half from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
The loss is Oakland’s sixth on the season and their 23rd straight against Michigan State, who have beaten the Golden Grizzlies in every meeting dating back to the 1998-99 season.
“For me, it’s the most important game, and it’s not because I want to win,” head coach Greg Kampe said. “If you come in and talk to our players, they’ll tell you I don’t care about the results. This is all for them.”
Despite Oakland being closer to Detroit than Michigan State, the 12,011 fans in attendance overwhelmingly supported the Spartans, creating an unexpected road-game atmosphere for the Golden Grizzlies.
Among those in attendance were some familiar faces from last year’s Oakland team. Jack Gohlke sat in the lower bowl directly behind the Oakland bench, and Oakland’s leader in games played, Blake Lampman, now a graduate assistant with Michigan State, was on the Spartan bench.
Adding to the game’s uniqueness, Kampe and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo donned matching Grinch sweaters the entire game, a first in the duo’s history of wearing sweaters when playing one another.
“I want this because nobody’s ever done it, so we’re doing it,” Kampe said about the matching sweaters. “He (Izzo) laughed about it, and I told him this shows a different side of you.”
For the Golden Grizzlies, DQ Cole led the team in scoring with 17 points and was a presence on the glass with a team-high of eight rebounds. Malcolm Christie was the only other Oakland player to reach double-digits with 15 points, a season-high for the Canadian senior.
On the other side of the court, Xavier Booker led the Spartans in scoring with a career-high 18 points off the bench, and Jaxon Kohler stood out for the Spartans, notching a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
In the first half, both teams had a lot of back-and-forth action. The Spartans took a four-point lead early, but Oakland held their own with a three-pointer from Cole and multiple buckets from Allen Mukeba.
Cole’s hot hand from deep eventually led to the Golden Grizzlies taking their first lead of the game with around eight minutes left to go in the first. Although the Spartans quickly took back the lead, Oakland wouldn’t go away as the team entered the half down by just a point.
The first half’s back-and-forth battle gave way to a different tone in the second half. Michigan State toned up the intensity on defense, forcing Oakland into tough looks while disrupting their offensive rhythm early.
Halfway through the second, the Spartans started to pull away, taking their first double-digit lead of the night with just over ten minutes to go with a layup from Kohler. Still, Oakland kept it competitive with a fastbreak bucket from Mukeba.
As the final half came to a close, the Golden Grizzlies succumbed to a fast-paced Spartan offense that continued to find easy buckets in transition. On offense, the Golden Grizzlies’ consistency vanished as an 8-0 Spartan run shut the door on an Oakland comeback.
“I think they’re going to be a damn good team,” Izzo said of Oakland. “Let’s put pressure on Kampe to make another run like last year’s run.”
Next, the Golden Grizzlies turn their attention to a flurry of four games next week, starting with a conference road game against the Cleveland State Vikings on Thursday, Dec. 19.
Following the matchup against the Vikings, Oakland will compete in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic for the first time in program history. The Golden Grizzlies will see three matchups in the tournament, starting with Loyola Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 22.