ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. — After a rocky start to their season through the closing months of 2024, Oakland University men’s basketball returned to the O’Rena for only the fourth time this season to host the Milwaukee Panthers, who sat atop the Horizon League standings with a 10-4 record.
Entering the evening at 4-10 on the season and 1-2 in conference play, the Grizzlies looked to put a 30-point road loss to #23 ranked Arkansas on Monday behind them, while the Panthers entered the matchup having just notched an undefeated 5-0 record in December.
It’s no secret that this OU team has been burdened with untimely injuries and the growing pains of introducing a bevy of new players to Greg Kampe’s very demanding system. One thing the long-standing coach for Oakland has been adamant about through the years is giving his teams every opportunity to challenge themselves against the best squads in the country. In the first six weeks of the season, the Grizzlies faced off against the likes of Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State and Arkansas — each of whom would deal them a double-digit loss.
But the value of these experiences began to reveal itself against the Panthers.
Valuable experience
This year’s Oakland roster isn’t built to rely on talent v. talent in search of winning games, much less fulfilling the aspiration of defending their status as champions of the Horizon League. Instead, this group needs to dictate the tempo of the game early and often — and they did it wonderfully on Thursday night in their building.
The first key to establishing this modus operandi is a simple one: the Grizzlies have two exceptional forwards who can post up man-to-man with virtually anyone in their conference — and make any efforts for opposing offenses to return in kind a very daunting task. The standout is Allen David Mukeba, who led the game in total points (15), FG% (64%), and defensive rebounds (7) — coming dangerously close to recording his second double-double of the season. Both he and Milwaukee’s Jamichael Stillwell ended the evening with nine boards each.
After the game, Mukeba acknowledged that he doesn’t expect teams to give him one-on-one looks, but when they do, he’s as taken aback as anyone.
“(I’m) really surprised. Really surprised. Sometimes I just don’t know what to do.” Mukeba shared when asked what goes through his head when he’s not double-teamed. Adding, “Usually, I go score.”
The second key, of equal import to the first, is the ability of Oakland’s guards to push the pace on the break and stretch their defense on the backend to stymie the break of the opposing team. In the first half, Isaiah Jones demonstrated that the Grizzlies are a much different team when they have him on the court. The junior from Nashville led OU in offensive rebounds (5) and fouls drawn (7), creating second-chance shots and points at the line early in the game. His 11 points at halftime — the most of any player at that point — would also be his final score on the day.
The Other Jones
But it was the other Jones – 6’0 sophomore Jaylen Jones (also from Nashville) who continued to apply pressure on the Panthers in the second half. In his first year with the Grizzlies, the budding point guard delivered his best outing of the season by forcing Milwaukee into a track meet. Jones would produce two of Oakland’s three 3-pointers – which ties for their lowest mark of the season (interestingly, they won both games). But it’s the scrappy, ball-hawking tendencies he showed on defense that can force a team that hadn’t scored 60 or fewer all season into producing only 49 points.
With a season-high 14 points, Jaylen recorded 7 rebounds and 3 steals while playing over 29 minutes — demonstrating a form that can challenge opposing teams at every level on either side of the ball. After the game, he spoke about how coaching and maturation have been integral to his growth as a player.
Addressing his production on the boards against Milwaukee, he shared, “Coaches. They get on us about getting to the nail each and every day. Sometimes I do get to the nail, but I just try to track the ball.”
If proof of concept was needed to affirm that pace, and not necessarily perimeter shooting, is the winning formula for this iteration of the Golden Grizzlies – here’s a thought. With the win over Milwaukee, Oakland moves to 3-1 on the season when the defense produces 8+ steals. They are also holding opposing teams to an average of under 58 PPG in those matchups. Furthermore, Coach Kampe agrees that when his players perform on the defensive end the way they did against Milwaukee, they can be a handful for anyone.
“I think the way we control tempo – and they struggled for the perimeter shots. We took ’em out. I mean, we were just so good defensively. And we didn’t foul.”
Doubling down on the Grizzlies’ path forward as they approach the second half of the season, Kampe continued to opine on the success of the evening.
“We held them to .75 points per possession tonight – that’s how good we were defensively. So my whole thing is we’ve got to continue to grow there and hope that we start making shots.”
Final: Oakland 65, Milwaukee 49
