Golden Grizzlies head coach Greg Kampe said he had to stretch to find an aspect of Saturday night’s game that wasn’t up to his expectations.  The lone culprit, a below average night from the free-throw line, was hardly enough to dampen Oakland University’s performance, as the team downed UMKC, 99-62, to improve to 2-0 in Summit League play.

“That’s as clean of a game as I’ve ever seen played here,” Kampe said. “A lesser team at halftime would have come out and just gone through the motions … But these guys stayed focused and that is what good veteran teams do.”

The win was also Kampe’s 450th career victory as head of the program.

Far from unusual was senior Keith Benson’s double-double effort, as he finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, along with three blocks to pace the Grizzlies’ onslaught.

Also chipping in offensively for OU was forward Will Hudson, who had 17 points, while junior Reggie Hamilton, a transfer from UMKC, scored 16 points in his first game against his old team.

“The matchups were good for us in this game,” Hudson said. “(Benson) and I are used to going up against much bigger people, so we really took advantage of it. We could work inside-out and open up shots for our guards.”

The Grizzlies dominated on the glass, grabbing 20 more rebounds (50-to-30) than the Kangaroos, which led to a lot of second opportunities to score.

“Defending and rebounding wins championships, and this team understands that,” Kampe said. “They know how athletic they are, but they know our key is to wear people down.”

Oakland began the game on a 10-0 run, and steadily built on its lead, going into halftime up 60-27 following an over-the-shoulder layup from beneath the basket by Hamilton as time expired.

“I just came out and played Oakland basketball,” Hamilton said. “Playing against my old team really had nothing to do with it. The ball was just going in the hoop for us (tonight).”

Much to Kampe’s delight, the dominance his team displayed in the first half carried over to the second half, even when the bench was emptied and the younger players got a chance to play.

Oakland finished with a 57.6 percent field goal percentage, while limiting the Kangaroos to below 35 percent at the other end.

“Our ball movement tonight, that first half we put on a clinic,” Kampe said. “We moved the ball, we flew up and down the court. Our post players sprinted and ran and we got easy baskets as a result of it.”

Senior guard Larry Wright also reached double figures in points (10) and rebounds (11), while sophomore Ledrick Eackles scored 11 points off the bench.

Up next for the Grizzlies is a trip to face Illinois on Wednesday in the second of five games against the Big Ten this season. From there, OU will return home to take on Michigan State in a game played at The Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday afternoon.