The target for Travis Bader in the record book is everything defenses aren’t guarding him: Stationary.
A new league and the absence of another significant contributor has had opposing coaches game-planning for Oakland’s shooting guard more than ever, but his quest to eclipse J.J. Redick as the NCAA Division I 3-point field goal leader has been statistically inevitable. Considering the weight he carries on offense, Bader’s attempts or makes would have had to essentially deteriorate for the senior guard not to break the barrier sometime in the middle of Horizon League play.
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Regardless, the narrative already set is that Bader has already shattered all expectations of himself. A skinny kid from Okemos, MI., Bader’s offer from Greg Kampe was his only from any DI schools.
While few considered Bader in high school, we look at 10 of his very memorable barrages as a Golden Grizzly:
No. 1 – The Debut — L at West Virginia, 95-71 (11/12/10): A redshirt freshman, Bader makes his debut in a tough environment, also drawing the start. He gets the green light from the go, and his first career 3-pointer is part of a 15-point night. Oakland would have to wait for a marquee non-conference win, but got one a month later at seventh-ranked Tennessee.
No. 2 – Breaking the 20-point barrier — W vs. South Dakota State, 105-96 (2/19/11): In the closing stages of his freshman year, Bader would become one of six Oakland players to score 20 or more points in a game with a 22-point performance off the bench against a major conference foe. He rebounded from a 0-for-8 game two nights prior to hit a season-high six 3-pointers in 10 attempts, another piece of evidence that Oakland could hit you from every angle. They did just that en route to a NCAA Tournament birth, and Bader would finish his first season shooting a touch above 44 percent from beyond the arc.
No. 3 – Heating Up — W vs. South Dakota, 101-83 (12/01/11): Bader got started 12 seconds into the game, and wouldn’t stop welcoming newcomer South Dakota to the Summit League there. It’d be one of the last times he would break a personal high without torching an all-time Golden Grizzly mark. He’d reach a new individual high in points with 28, while his eight 3-pointers made came in just one behind the school record for most in a game. Oakland would go 3-0 in games which he scored 25 points or more, including a Mount Rushmore performance against a South Dakota-based opponent again.
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