Oakland men’s basketball failed to notch their third straight win against SEC opponent Tennessee Monday night, falling 77-50 in Knoxville, Tenn.

For their second straight game, Oakland failed to shoot over 30 percent, shooting only 29 percent good for 16-56 attempts. Oakland shot 27.6 percent Friday night at Michigan State, making 16 of 58. The scoring stats are the lowest since Oakland joined Division I.

Oakland is a worn and weary team, being on the road since Nov. 11. Their first, and so far only, home game was the season opener Nov. 9 against Albion, in which they won 96-62.

Since then, Oakland has faced stiff competition and traveled to every corner of the country to face teams like Boise State and Pitt.

With a record of 2-5 on the season and falling short against Michigan State, Pitt and Tennessee, could all the travel be too straining on the team?

After the Michigan State game Friday, head coach Greg Kampe said the game was probably the worst Spartans-Golden Grizzlies basketball game the two teams ever played. Kampe called it very bad basketball.

“I don’t know what was going on in our minds the first five or six minutes of that game,” Kampe said. “Our shot selection was just awful.”

Oakland only made 16 of 58 attempts from the paint, while shooting 3-21 from beyond the arc, good for a mere 14 percent.

Kampe said he was very disheartened by the performance Friday night.

The Golden Grizzlies once again failed to perform against a major opponent in Tennessee. After the first half, Oakland had only managed to score 15 points, the lowest halftime score Oakland has ever recorded in the Division I-era.

Junior Travis Bader led the team with 18 points Monday night, while sophomore Corey Petros recorded 10 points and six rebounds.

Oakland is also off to their worst start since the 2004-05 season, when they began with a record of 0-7. The Golden Grizzlies went on to appear in their first NCAA tournament that year.

Oakland does not play their next home game until Dec. 6, when in-town neighbor Rochester College visit the O’rena. But Oakland has a stop in Kalamazoo first, playing Western Michigan Dec. 1.

Oakland only plays 12 home games this season and has already traveled over 10,000 miles seven games in.

Kampe remains optimistic about the season moving forward.

“I think this is going to make us who we will be in March, and I think we’re gonna be a pretty good basketball team in March,” Kampe said.