For the fourth time since 2017, Oakland and Michigan State men’s basketball delivered a special night for college hoops fans and their players at Little Caesars Arena, returning to the home of the Pistons and Red Wings for College Basketball In The D.
The event has become a special date on the calendar for many reasons. Both programs are helmed by two of the most esteemed and tenured coaches the state of Michigan has and will likely ever see: Tom Izzo and Greg Kampe. The accolades of each speak for themselves – conference championships, NCAA tournament wins and a bevy of players that have gone on to find success in the pros, both as players and coaches.
Last year, Oakland and Michigan State both made the tournament. The Grizzlies pulled off a thrilling upset of 3-seed Kentucky before falling to NC State in the round of 32, which the Spartans would see their run end in the same round with a loss to 1-seed North Carolina. While both teams have seen turnover and lineup changes since last season, Oakland has been uniquely challenged in that department.
Kampe’s roster features 11 new players compared to the group that won the Horizon League last season, while losing the likes of standouts such as Trey Townsend and Jack Gohlke.
Gohlke did make an appearance on Tuesday night at LCA – but he was in the stands wearing street clothes.
To add to the early season adversity – much like another team that plays down the road from last night’s venue – Oakland has been bitten by the injury bug with almost comical timing.
Heading into their win against Defiance in the season opener, senior forward Allen Mukeba suffered an injury in practice that sidelined him on the night of Kampe’s 700th career win. A big presence in his absence that night was Buru Naivalurua, who would similarly suffer an injury during practice heading into the team’s matchup with the Spartans that would sideline him.
“We wore out,” Greg Kampe said, addressing the media after his team’s loss to Michigan State. “I believe it’s because we were down a player. It’s like the Lions – gotta find a way to win, and we didn’t. I mean, they’re 15th in the country or whatever they are, and we’re not. So eventually, the talent just took over.”
Luckily for the Grizzlies, they did get some reinforcements, with junior guard Isaiah Jones getting his first start of the season after returning from a right foot injury that sidelined him for two months. Even more fortuitous – the one established starter on the Grizzlies roster that hasn’t been battling with an injury, DQ Cole, came out on fire in the first half against MSU. The senior from Pontiac was in rare form from behind the arc in the opening half, going 5-9 from 3-point range in the period to give Oakland 15 of their 30 points at halftime – trailing Michigan State by one point going into the break.
With both teams coming off ten days’ rest since their last game, Oakland’s zone defense managed to frustrate and disjoint the Spartans’ offensive break early on – making up for the discrepancy in physical presence that the Buru-less Grizzlies brought to the evening. Mukeba also provided a presence in the paint that delivered buckets at the rim in the early goings, but foul trouble and a lack of bodies to back him up would cause that well to dry as the game progressed.
Despite losing the second half to the tune of 46-28, the Grizzlies displayed some promising depth that can win them games down the road when the likes of Cole and Mukeba play to their potential. Chief among them is Malcolm Christie, who Kampe believes – similar to Gohlke – can be an asset on the perimeter as long as they don’t let the opposing side exploit him on defense.
“That’s who we recruited,” Kampe said of the performance from his first-year senior from New Brunswick. “If we can get that from him – we’ve been looking for that. And he wasn’t as bad defensively as he’s been all year, but we can hide that. We hid Gohlke. We can hide him, right?”
Christie shot 4-9 from 3-point range and 50% from the field to finish with a season-high 15 points.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe, left, and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo wore matching holiday sweaters during Tuesday’s game in Detroit. The two spoke highly of each other and their respective programs after the game. (Tony Patroske/TPM)
After the game, both Tom Izzo and Greg Kampe addressed the media to discuss their takeaways from the evening and the mutual admiration they share for one another – all while dressed in matching Grinch sweaters that Kampe went out of his way to arrange for the occasion. The Oakland head coach would go on to share why he cherishes the opportunity to have his players compete with the Spartans and his relationship with Coach Izzo.
“For me, it’s the most important game. And it’s not because I want to win. If you talk to our players, they’ll tell you – this is all for them. We get to play, in my opinion, the best college basketball coach, maybe ever. I believe that. You get to play against a Hall of Fame coach. You get to go against a blue blood. Michigan State basketball is a blue blood. It’s our state, and we get to play Little Caesars Arena – the mecca of basketball in the state against the blue blood team. We’re on that stage for one night every year, and that’s for them. It’s a memory for a lifetime.”
700+ wins and 41 years into his coaching career, Kampe has fully leaned into his stature as a totem of the sport’s better virtues – with gratitude being at the forefront. After crashing the latter part of Izzo’s presser, the man from Defiance, Ohio spent some of the back half of his own to speak on his appreciation for Tom.
“I said, ‘This shows a different side of you.'” Kampe reflected on his conversation with Izzo while coordinating their festive attire for the night. “The world really doesn’t know how good of a person he is. He laughs, he’s funny. When we’re on the road and we go to a high school tournament – we were in the smallest town I’ve ever been in in Michigan, and we went in to have lunch, just the two of us. The waitress walked up and her eyes got big, and within thirty minutes, that whole town was in that restaurant getting pictures with him. He sat there and took every picture – I started eating his food.
“I want the world to know that about him, and that’s why I made him do this.”
