The top-seeded Oakland University men’s basketball team will face its first test in the Summit League Tournament Saturday night (7 p.m. EST) against No. 8 Southern Utah.

The Golden Grizzlies (22-9, 17-1) defeated the Thunderbirds in both regular season meetings, winning 81-65 on Dec. 2 at home and 82-68 on the road in the season finale last weekend.

The back-to-back meetings between the two programs is an interesting wrinkle that head coach Greg Kampe is admittedly weary about.

“I hate the fact that we just played them,” Kampe said. “But I have a mature, veteran team and they understand that we’re playing in the NIT if they don’t come to play on Saturday. It isn’t about matchups. (We’ve) proven what we can do, but now on the biggest stage they have to compete. I’m very confident.”

The Thunderbirds (11-18, 7-11) feature a balanced scoring attack with all five starters averaging between eight and 10 points per game.

Senior guard Ryan Brimley scored a team-best 9.7 points per game during the regular season.

The Grizzlies hold a narrow, 14-13, edge in the all-time series between the two teams. OU has won the last five meetings.

But as any member of the team would tell say, the past has nothing to do with the present in the single-elimination Summit League Tournament.

“We look at it as the regular season being over with,” senior Larry Wright said. “We can’t look at the past and be satisfied with what we did. It’s tournament time, and if you lose, you go home. We focus on the next game and have to be prepared.”

Southern Utah’s roster features a lot of size in the frontcourt, and is one of the few teams that can rival Oakland in terms of height.

With a win, the Grizzlies would advance to face the winner of Sunday’s matchup between No. 4 South Dakota State and No. 5 IPFW.

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Follow @DanFenner on Twitter for updates and analysis throughout the tournament March 5-8.